What’s New in Summer 2025: Science Olympiad Prep
Summer is a great time for your child to get ahead and sharpen their academic skills. While many students fall behind in the summer and end up struggling when the school year begins, at MEK, we won’t let that happen! When you plan for a summer at MEK, you can increase your potential and get ahead of the new school year. And if you register by May 2nd, you can get 10% off or more on all summer classes! MEK has a wide selection of summer classes to choose from, and we’ve made it so that you can customize your schedule to take as many as you like. This summer, for the first time, we’re offering Science Olympiad Prep for the Biology, Chemistry, and Physics Olympiads for 10th and 11th graders!
What is the Science Olympiad?
The Science Olympiad is the most prestigious team STEM competition in the nation. Middle school and high school students compete in 23 science events including earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering. Winners can receive awards like medals, trophies, and even scholarships.
While the Science Olympiad is the broader science competition, there are also Biology, Chemistry, and Physics Olympiads for high schoolers. For those three competitions, MEK is offering courses this summer.
MEK’s Science Olympiad Prep
Our new Olympiad Prep courses are a great way for high schoolers to explore the Science Olympiad program. Whether you’re sure you want to compete or you just want some exposure before you decide, this is an excellent course to brush up on your science skills!
With MEK’s Olympiad Prep, you can build your science competition and critical thinking skills, while learning the advanced science topics you’d encounter in the competitions. At MEK, you can experience what the competition topics and tests look like and start prepping for the qualifying exams in the Spring now, before the school year even starts!
We’ll be offering Olympiad Prep in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Also, keep in mind, many schools require students to be members of Biology, Chemistry, or Physics Olympiad clubs in order to participate in the Olympiad exams. For all three of these competitions, the qualifying exams are the first step to National and International competitions.
Should Your Child Take MEK’s Science Olympiad Prep Courses?
If your child excels in science, then our Olympiad courses could be a great fit. However, this shouldn’t be your child’s first exposure to these subjects. The main requirement for the courses is to have had first-year experience in Biology, Chemistry, or Physics before signing up. In these classes, we will not be teaching new content from scratch, so your child should have some familiarity with the subject already.
If you’re unsure, you can give us a call to discuss!
Biology Olympiad Prep
MEK’s Biology Olympiad Prep is for upcoming 10th to 11th graders who have first-year Biology experience and are interested in the USA BIOlympiad (USABO).
We’ll be going over the following topics:
- Lab equipment & skills
- Cell & molecular biology
- Plant anatomy
- Animal anatomy & physiology
- Ecology
- Genetics & evolution
- Biosystematics
- Statistics, modeling
- Computational biology, bioinformatics
Course Length: 7 weeks, 7 sessions; Course Format: Virtual; Course Schedule: Thursdays, 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Everything you need to know about the USABO competition
The USABO is a competition of four rounds: the Open Exam, Semifinal Exam, National Finals, and International Biology Olympiad (IBO).
- USABO Open Exam (*Administered in February)
- 50-minute online nationwide multiple-choice exam, administered/proctored at a registered school or authorized USABO Test Center.
- USABO Semi-Final Exam (*Administered in March)
- 120-minute online exam of three parts, including multiple-choice questions, true/false questions, and a short answer/essay focused on International Biology Olympiad (IBO) Practical Topics.
- Taken by students who score in the top 10% of the Open Exam.
- USABO National Finals (*Hosted in June)
- Hosted by a university over 12 days, with 10 days of instruction and two days of testing.
- Attended by students with top 20 scores on Semifinal Exam.
- International Biology Olympiad (*Hosted in July)
- Hosted at an international location over 8 days with 4 days of social programs and instruction and two days of practical and theoretical exams; total of 12 hours of exams.
- Attended by Top 4 Students from National Finals.
*Administration months are based on testing timelines of previous years and are subject to change by the administering bodies.
Chemistry Olympiad Prep
MEK’s Chemistry Olympiad Prep is for upcoming 10th to 11th graders who have first-year Chemistry experience and are interested in the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO).
We’ll be going over the following topics:
- Stoichiometry & solutions
- Descriptive & laboratory
- States of matter
- Thermodynamics
- Kinetics
- Equilibrium
- Oxidation & reduction
- Atomic structure & periodicity
- Bonding & molecular structure
- Organic & biochemistry
Course Length: 7 weeks, 7 sessions; Course Format: Virtual; Course Schedule: Thursdays, 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Everything you need to know about the USNCO competition
The USNCO is a competition of four rounds: the Local Exam, National Exam, Study Camp, and International Chemistry Olympiad (ICO).
- Local Chemistry Olympiad Exam (*Administered in March)
- 110-minute exam with 60 multiple choice questions, covering broad chemistry topics.
- National Chemistry Olympiad Exam (*Administered in April)
- Three-part exam: (1) 90-minute problem-solving exam of 60 multiple choice questions, (2) 105-minute problem-solving exam of 8 written questions, (3) 90-minute lab practical exam of 2 laboratory practicals.
- Taken by top scorers in Local Competition (number of nominees depends on number of local participants).
- Study Camp (*Hosted in June)
- Hosted by a university over two weeks to undergo rigorous Chemistry training.
- Attended by students with top 20 scores on Semifinal Exam.
- International Chemistry Olympiad (*Hosted in July)
- Hosted at an international location over 8 days with 4 days of social programs and instruction and two days of practical and theoretical exams; total of 12 hours of exams.
- Attended by Top 4 Students from National Finals.
*Administration months are based on testing timelines of previous years and are subject to change by the administering bodies.
Physics Olympiad Prep
MEK’s Physics Olympiad Prep is for upcoming 10th to 11th graders who have first-year physics experience and are interested in the USA Physics Olympiad (USAPhO).
We’ll be going over the following topics:
- Kinematics
- Statistics
- Newton’s laws
- Momentum and energy
- Oscillations
- Orbital mechanics
- Rotational dynamics
- Fluids
- Dimensional analysis
- Elementary data analysis
Course Length: 7 weeks, 7 sessions; Course Format: Virtual; Course Schedule: Thursdays, 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Everything you need to know about the USAPhO competition
The USAPhO is a competition of two rounds: the F=ma exam and the USA Physics Olympiad (USAPhO). The USAPhO is the qualifying exam for the USA Physics Team, which goes on to compete at the International Physics Olympiad.
- F=ma exam (*Administered in February)
- 75-minute exam with 25 multiple choice questions, focused on Physics Mechanics.
- USA Physics Olympiad (*Administered in April)
- Two 90-minute parts, taking place on two separate days, of free-response questions.
- Taken by students who score over a designated cutoff score. Top scorers on the USAPhO are invited to be on the USA Physics Team.
*Administration months are based on testing timelines of previous years and are subject to change by the administering bodies.
How to Register for MEK’s Olympiad Prep
To learn more about our Olympiad Prep, you can download our Summer course catalog here and start your registration at https://mekreview.com/.
For more information, give us a call at +1 551-296-1806 or send us an email at mek@mekreview.com.
Plus, when you register by May 2nd, you can get 10% off or more on all summer classes!
