FAQs

Science Olympiad is a national STEM competition where teams compete in 23 hands-on events across various scientific disciplines.

Absolutely not! While background knowledge or prior experience may be helpful for certain events, they are not necessary to succeed. Mentors, peers, and resources will be available for all!

To preface, doing Science Olympiad at MVHS is NOT mutually exclusive with other activities and sports. Many of our members are also committed to a variety of other extracurriculars (ex. badminton, debate, key club, etc), but what joining Science Olympiad does mean is that it will be made a top priority. Your success at competitions is proportional to the effort you put in, and the team and your partners depend on your commitment.

There are 4 broad categories of events: study, lab, build, and inquiry events.

- Study: you will take a written exam, typically using a restricted set of resources as aid. These resources may include a binder, a set number of reference sheets, or a laptop without internet connection.
- Lab: a study event that also includes a hands-on lab portion. This might entail a chemical experiment, testing samples in a forensics situation, or constructing circuits.
- Build: you design and build one or more devices beforehand according to a set of specifications and test them on competition day.
- Inquiry: more of a miscellaneous section. These events emphasize a variety of skills from the scientific process to problem-solving to experimental design.

Yes, tryouts typically occur around October. Our selection process is highly rigorous and only a limited number of students make the teams each year. Individuals pick 4-5 events of their choice to tryout for, this will determine team and event placement. Weekly workshops will occur prior to tryouts to help students prepare for the tryout tests.

We have three teams, ranging in competitiveness. Our most competitive team is Black Team, followed by Gold Team, then White Team. Team placement is determined by tryout performance.

Each team member comeptes in 3-4 events. All events are competed as duos or trios, so everyone will be working with one or more partners for an event. Event placement is determined by performance on tryout tests and an event preference form given prior to tryouts will also be considered.

Weekly workshops are held Friday and Saturday nights from 6:30-9:30. Attendance at these meetings are mandatory with limited exceptions. There is also an optional potluck before every workshop from 6-6:30.

Our Science Olympiad teams compete in around 4-6 tournaments throughout the season (vary depending on which team). Some of our competitions are local while others may require overnight travel (ex. Boston, Davis, etc). More information will be communicated later in the season when tournament lists are finalized.

Tournament days begin early in the morning and the day is split up into ~6 blocks, with each block hosting certain events. Students will report to their event rooms at the designted time/block. There will be a lunch break around noon. The tournament day concludes with an award ceremony where medals are awarded for top scorers in each event. Before awards the team usually has downtime to go for boba runs, play card games, or other fun bonding activites.

We ask for a fee at the beginning of the season, however if this is not feasible financial aid is available. We want everybody to be able to participate in Scioly!
All overnight tournament cost (transportation, hotels, etc) will be covered by individuals as well.