High School Chemistry Olympiad

The Southern California Section of the American Chemical Society has been offering the Chemistry Contest since 1914, at which time Nordhoff High School was the top-scoring school. It became the High School Chemistry Olympiad in 1968 when National ACS began sponsoring it. In 2008, the Section won a National award for 25 years of continuous support of the Chemistry Olympiad. In 2014, we celebrated 100 years of offering the High School Contest. The Southern California Section has the longest-running contest in American Chemical Society history.

The Chemistry Olympiad is a way for the Section to locate and recognize high-achieving students and mentor them in chemistry. Each year, we offer the test at over 30 high school campuses all over Los Angeles County. The test is designed to test a student’s knowledge of a wide variety of topics in chemistry. The top scorers on the local exam are nominated to compete in the National Exam. The top 20 national winners are invited to attend an all-expense paid two-week study camp. The top four finalists from the camp are then selected to represent the United States at the International Chemistry Olympiad which is held in a different country each year. We recognize the top local students at an Educational Awards event in May with monetary awards and certificates.

KEY DATES FOR 2025 USNCO EXAM

All students must register ONLINE at the ACS website via the link below in order to participate in the local exams. Online registration opens November 15, 2024. If students have not registered with USNCO by the January 17, 2025 deadline, they will not be able to participate in the local exam. Teachers, please copy and send your students this link: https://www.acs.org/education/olympiad.html

• USNCO Rules & Eligibility – You must read the Rules and Eligibility before you sign up.
• Register ONLINE. Registration will open November 15, 2025. Check ACS website: https://www.acs.org/education/olympiad.html
  Deadline to register: January 17, 2025
  NOTE: When completing the registration form, there are multiple California sections. SCALACS is listed as “Southern California” on the dropdown menu. Choose this option.
• Once the registration closes on January 17, 2025, SCALACS will receive the list of registered participants from USNCO.
• SCALACS  will then reach out to all teachers with students who are registered.
  *If there are multiple teachers at the same school, SCALACS will reach out to these teachers in a group e-mail so that we are all on the same page and we can determine which teacher will proctor the local exam.
  *Please let SCALACS know if your school would be willing to accept students who do not have a testing site.
  *SCALACS will the list of students, student information, and exam payment with the teachers.
• There will be no Scantrons. SCALACS will be sending each school the printed exams along with the bubble answer sheet for students to use.
• USNCO will be handling all the scoring of the exam. Once the exam is over, teachers can either scan all the bubble answer sheets in (1) PDF file and e-mail them to SCALACS office at office@scalacs.org or mail them to the office at 2700 E. Foothill Blvd, Suite 209, Pasadena, CA 91107. The office administrator will scan them and submit them to USNCO.
• Exam Payment — SCALACS will send an invoice to the teachers of the participating students. All payments must be received by February 14, 2025.

Any questions, please contact our administrator, e-mail office@scalacs.org or call 310-327-1216.

VIEW THE 2024 LOCAL EXAM RESULTS HERE.