Nerd Olympics!!!!

TalkISCheap

and then of course there's that biology olimpiad in Janbuary (some time in the next 2 months) in DCU, which no one besides the suspiciously enlightened Aoibheann knows anything about... i am supposedly going...

Aoibheann

TalkISCheap wrote:

and then of course there's that biology olimpiad in Janbuary (some time in the next 2 months) in DCU, which no one besides the suspiciously enlightened Aoibheann knows anything about... i am supposedly going...

all I know is what it says on the form that the schools get.
also, there's a website, I'll dig out the address of it for you, if you dont already have it.

frenchman

im in the science olympiad whatever the f*** that is about!

PurpleFistMixer

EUSO possibly? I did it last year. Failed horribly. Remember, don't accidentally not do half the paper.

Speaking of the maths olympiad, anyone know when the lectures in UCD are starting this year?

Piste

I wish I got to do the Science olympiad, but aparently only the top JC students in the country get in for it ;_;

Frenchman did your school tell you about it?

Thursday*

God I love CTYIzens with their doing-maths-in-their-spare-time.

I vaguely remember some kind of first year maths thing...not actually getting into it, mind, just mention of it. I think we did a test....in class...and then in the next class the teacher said something good about me and possibly some other person in terms of 'best in' but I don't remember if it was the school, or the universe, or what - nothing further came of it anyway. I looked on in vague detachment, I'd be ****-scared if I had to go to mathsy things. I'm only just starting to figure out what maths is. Maybe later.

I did actually get into CTYI on the maths bit as well as the English bit though...presumably because they mismarked my paper....Oh, on the subject of my paper, there was totally a little pencil circle beside the right answer to one of the multiple choice questions. I told them about it but they just said not to worry. I haven't a clue how it got there.

Oh and I know someone who did the Maths Olympiad, and someone else I was talking to at the time said, 'Oh God, poor thing, she's not doing that, is she? I did it and it's awful.'

PurpleFistMixer

It's terrifying. But it makes the Leaving Cert seem so much... more possible. : p

Aoibheann

Piste wrote:

I wish I got to do the Science olympiad, but aparently only the top JC students in the country get in for it ;_;

Frenchman did your school tell you about it?

Methinks a teacher can nominate you if you show interest/aptitude in it outside of normal expectations too. I'm not 100% sure on that though.

Piste

Haha "interest outside of normal expectation"

"I WANT PHYSICS AND I WANT IT NOW!"

frenchman

yeah i got a letter addressed to me at school about it!

GermanShirtBoy

Hey people, who here is Grainne? This is Chris btw, Im new to this.:)

Piste

frenchman wrote:

yeah i got a letter addressed to me at school about it!

Aw I wish I were good enough to get a letter asking me to do SCIENCE! It's based on JC results isn't it? Did you do the old or new course?



Smiley-Knees is Gráinne.

Jack Lynch

smiley_knees wrote:

Hey, we all know the gretaness of nerd camp (my title for CTYI for the non-intelligent and close-minded) but has anyone been to the maths olympiad? I want to go this year but is it worth the effort???

Thanks xxx

Nooo! Dont do it! I havent read any of the other posts, but DONT DO IT! It's SOOO boring and irrelavant. Having said this, I did it in UCC. It might be different in other places. Also, there was one week that a Welsh guy took the class. He's a very funny man.

Wheere were we?

PurpleFistMixer

Heh, she asked that question almost two years ago. : )

Ba_barbaraAnne

Piste wrote:

I wish I got to do the Science olympiad, but aparently only the top JC students in the country get in for it ;_;

Hi all you nerds

Just got a text from my son to say he's been invited to the Science Olympiad..... he got in the top 200 in JC for maths and science..... tell me more please before he gets home!

He was with all you lot in 2005 doing Marine biology

Aoibheann

Piste wrote:

Haha "interest outside of normal expectation"

"I WANT PHYSICS AND I WANT IT NOW!"

Or, y'know, entering in science quizzes, doing CTYI science-related courses (or any CTYI makes the teacher very impressed. That said, this may only count for my school where I am the only one who was ever at CTYI.), science-related competitions, like essay competitions or the like. *nod*

Aoibheann

Ba_barbaraAnne wrote:

Hi all you nerds

Just got a text from my son to say he's been invited to the Science Olympiad..... he got in the top 200 in JC for maths and science..... tell me more please before he gets home!

He was with all you lot in 2005 doing Marine biology

Ok, I'm sure he's long home by now, but hey, I'll give you a run-through of the Olympiad procedure.

So he's entered into the olympiad exams. Basically he has to pick which one of the three sciences he wants to do an exam in - Biology, Chemistry or Physics. Is he in TY or 5th year? He could maybe take a look at the leaving cert textbook for whatever science he chooses. Anyway, the three exams are held simultaneously in DCU in January. I have no idea of the structure of the other exams (Pfm could maybe fill you in on the Physics one), but I did the Biology exam, which consists of many, many multiple choice questions. There was 2 papers I think (I may be mixing this up with the senior bio one, but I don't think so) in which there was 4 or 5 choices for every question, and about 100 questions per paper. You won't be rushed for time, not in Biology. Genetics featured a fair bit, as did the human defence system. Pretty much everything came up somewhere though, and it's not that bad an exam. The top 3 (and more if there were ties) for each science will be presented with a medal later on that day.. maybe 5 o'clock or so, by the Minister for Education and Science. The top 2 from each science will go forward to the Irish team for the EU Science Olympiad. So if your son progresses to this...
- At EUSO itself you'll be divided into 2 teams of three, with a biologist, a chemist and a physicist in each. EUSO is held in a different country each year, when I did it in '05 it was in Galway! Basically it's a week-long trip somewhere in which 2 days are taken up partially by tasks. The night before will include an instrumentation talk, and perhaps hints as regards what the tasks are. There are a lot of excursions during the week, we got to go to the cinema (twice), bowling (also twice), quasar (and again twice), a boat trip, a costume thingy and a formal banquet-style meal at the end, a medals presentation, with a lot more thrown in throughout! You make a load of friends and it's one of the most fun things possible. If you like CTYI, you'd definitely like this aswell.

Hope your son does well in the Irish rounds of the olympiad, whatever science he picks. It'd be very cool if he got through to EUSO. I'm sure I've covered most stuff here, but if you want any more info, ask away.

Ba_barbaraAnne

thanks a million Aoibheann. Knew you'd have the answer for me! if he wants to know anything else he can get himself on boards.

The letter he got said it is next month that the exams are on. He'll probably do Biology so your tips are great.

Piste

Aw I knew I shoulda gotten better in Science *tearz*

Acid_Violet

Piste wrote:

Aw I knew I shoulda gotten better in Science *tearz*

*empathises and replicates*

frenchman

Piste wrote:

Aw I wish I were good enough to get a letter asking me to do SCIENCE! It's based on JC results isn't it? Did you do the old or new course?



Smiley-Knees is Gráinne.

yeah its based on the jc maths and french results!i did the new course!does any one have any idea what the questions are based on?

Piste

Maths and French? Surely you mean maths and science? I got an A in both, though I guess so did a lot more people.

I like the irony of Cliodhna being in the top 15 in the country but not in the top 200 for science, it's lollerful. (and this isn't a jibe at Cliodhna)

My principal said a letter came to the school for me today and I was all like "yay euso finally!" but it wasn't

Though I am now going to Euroscola in Strasbourg

frenchman

yeah maths and science!sorry!

Piste

So what're you gonna be doing? Physics, Biology or Chemistry(<3)?

frenchman

eh i dont know?do you have to choose for this? there is another one based on the 3 individual sciences but i think this could just be general as far as i know!

Piste

Oh there are two types of Olympiad?

Très interessant.

BMH

Yeah, I got in too, but I'm still not so sure about heading off to Brazil. See you at the exams though.
Oh and Piste, I did the new course of Science, so it might be that it's only rated on the new course(getting the top of both would be a bit iffy). Anyone from Session 2 2006 going?

EDIT
Oh and I think Frenchman is right in saying it's just General.Here's the site:
www.euso.dcu.ie/ijso
EDIT 2

The site wrote:

Application to IrJSO is by invitation only. The finalists are selected on the basis Junior Certificate Examination results in Science and Mathematics. The Department of Education and Science (DES) provided the names of the top two hundred students. The Centre for Talented Youth in Ireland (CTYI) also provides the names of twenty additional students.

Anyone going as a result of the second option?

Acid_Violet

Piste wrote:

I like the irony of Cliodhna being in the top 15 in the country but not in the top 200 for science, it's lollerful. (and this isn't a jibe at Cliodhna)

Top 115 actually..............

PurpleFistMixer

There's the EUSO which is for just-done-the-JC people, and the separated Science Olympiads which are for 5th (possibly 6th, not sure) year students. Which are Physics, Biology or Chemistry.
Like, within the EUSO you choose physics, biology, chemistry, but somehow it's more.. connected than the Senior ones. With a capital S!

Piste

Acid_Violet wrote:

Top 115 actually..............

You got 11 As, only 13 people in the country did that!