Our Values

" Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!"

- Ms. Frizzle

Welcome to the High School Biology Olympiad Club, where we're dedicated to preparing you for success in the national exam and other competitions while making learning engaging and enjoyable!

Personalized Learning Styles: At our club, we believe in personalized learning. We offer a variety of resources designed to cater to different learning styles, ensuring that every member finds their ideal study method. Whether you thrive with hands-on experiments in our fully equipped labs, prefer diving into detailed study notes curated by our experienced mentors, or excel through interactive practice tests, we have what you need to excel.

Encouraging + fun environment = success: But it's not just about study materials. We're committed to creating a supportive and fun environment. From collaborative study sessions where members help each other grasp challenging concepts to lively trivia competitions that reinforce knowledge in a relaxed setting, there's always something exciting happening in our club.

Curiosity leads to innovation: Bring your questions, concerns, and comments. While we may not always have the answers, we can certainly look for them together. Here at biolympiad, we encourage to question anything and everything, and to never stop looking for the right answers. Our open discussions combined with our friendly environment make this the perfect space for explroung any questions you may have.

Join us and discover how preparing for the Biology Olympiad can be both enriching and rewarding. Together, we'll achieve academic excellence while building lasting friendships and unforgettable memories. Don't miss out—come be part of our dynamic community and unleash your full potential!

What is Biology Olympiad?

A competitive event where high school students-just like YOURSELF- demonstrate their knowledge and skills in biology. It involves a series of exams and practical tasks that cover various topics in the biological sciences, including biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, ecology, and physiology. The competition is designed to challenge understanding of biological concepts and your ability to apply this knowledge in problem-solving situations. Exams consist of multiple choice and free-response questions.

Click to see the official USABO website!

Scoring well enough on these exams allows you to advance to as far as the international level, which is a stellar and highly prestigious award for those looking to apply to Ivy Leagues and highly-selective schools. Any high school student in grades 9-12 can participate in the first exam, the Open Exam (February 2025), registered by a school or authorized USABO center.

1) Open Exam:

Format: Online

Is a 50-minute, online nationwide multiple-choice exam
US Citizenship and green card are not required for the Open Exam, but are required for students to progress to the Semifinal Exam.
Structured with multiple choice questions with one response.
NO Penalty for guessing.
The Open Exam recognition will include Honorable Mention Certificate (Top 20%) and Certificate of Merit (Top 30%).

How does Biology Olympiad work?

2) Semifinal Exam

Format: Online

120-minute online exam containing three parts available only to high school students (Grades 9 to 12) who are US citizens or are legal permanent US residents (green cards):
Part A is primarily multiple choice questions with one answer.
Part B has more complex, sequenced multiple choice questions that may have several correct answers and may require calculations or extensive interpretation of graphs.
Part C may be short answer or essay and multiple true/false choice questions. .
Proctored at a registered school or authorized USABO Test Center (classroom or location designated by the teacher/test administrator) over a 120-minute period on the designated date and during the online time period identified by the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) on the USABO Calendar.
Taken by students who score in the top 10% of the Open Exam and who are US Citizens or a legal US residents (green cards).
NO Penalty for guessing. For Part B multiple choice questions with more than one answer, the question value will be 2 points if all correct responses are selected.
Part C contains Short Answer and Multiple/True False (MTF) Questions. MTF questions will be scored as follows: 4 correct responses = 1 point; 3 = .6; 2 = .2; and 1 or 0 = 0.
The Semifinal recognition will include Recognition of Academic Excellence (Top 50 scores), Honorable Mention (Next 75 scores), Certificate of Merit (Next 100 scores). Certificates will be mailed to the school.

3) National Finals

Format: In-person at a university

Top 20 scores on Semifinal exam
Held at a host university with 10 days of instruction and 2 days of testing (12 day period in total)
Instruction focuses on the laboratory and conceptual understanding for all 20 Finalists.
Activities are led by university professors and experts with experience in research and undergraduate and graduate teaching assisted by former USABO Finalists.
Practical Exams are approximately 6 hours in duration and the Theoretical Exam is approximately three hours.
Practical: laboratory-based skills, techniques, data interpretation, and real-time laboratory competency exam involving conceptual understanding and problem solving.
Theoretical: multiple true/false choice questions and multiple choice involving interpretation of diagrams and graphs, integration of information, and data analysis.
Room and board are provided.

4) Internationals

Top 4 National Finalists

2025: Held in the Philippines

Benefits of joining

Not only are we the only specialized olympiad at Denmark High School, we also LOVE giving back to the community and taking an active part in it! We're the founders, organizers, and planners of Denmark High School's " STEM Night," an event specially designed and catered towards piquing 3rd-5th graders interest in the field of STEM! Read more about their super cool event on our " STEM Night" section on this website! We also love hosting drives and having fun-filled spirit nights. Join now to be apart of a tight-knit community actively making an impact!