Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

Just wondering:

What is this (official website doesn't offer much info), how to enter, and how many APs are needed to win?

Thanks in advance.

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Sunday, October 26, 2003 - 04:15 pm: Edit

Only scores of 5 "count". Only tests taken prior to senior year "count". Only the following 8 tests "count":
calc BC, Physcis C (EM), Physics C (mech), stat, chem, bio, comp sci AB, env sci

Number needed varies by region/gender/year. It's possible to win a regional award with 5 or 6 exams, the national winners generally have 5s on all 8 of them. If more than one student in a region has the same number of 5s, they'll break the tie using the raw score on the actual exams (ie: how high the 5 was). Entry is automatic; the CB figures out who the winners are and notifies Siemens.

By Ihatesats (Ihatesats) on Monday, October 27, 2003 - 02:52 am: Edit

Prior to senior year? Whoops, there goes another award opportunity.

How could anyone have taken Calc BC before senior year without skipping at least a year in math? My school doesn't allow this sort of skipping.

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Monday, October 27, 2003 - 09:59 am: Edit

"My school doesn't allow this sort of skipping."

I think this would be a difficult award for most students to get. Probably most schools do not allow AP courses to be scheduled in such a way to allow their students to be eligible for this. I think the students who win this have self-studied for the exams, or doubled up on courses, or taken summer school to get ahead, or are so obviously unusual that their schools have made exceptions along the way.

The 2002 male national winner was a junior. That means that he had 5s on all or almost all of these tests prior to his junior year. The female winner was simultaneously a senior at her high school and a freshman at Princeton.

Even with cooperation from the school, this award would also require getting a very early start. I know 2 people who have won the regional version of this, and both took their first AP exam that counts for this when they were still in middle school.

By Ihatesats (Ihatesats) on Tuesday, October 28, 2003 - 09:46 pm: Edit

Thanks for the info Texas137. What a BS award -- I hate awards that are obtained through unequal opportunities that other people may not have.

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Tuesday, October 28, 2003 - 10:07 pm: Edit

You can make your own opportunities. It would be possible to self-study for all of these.

By Maverick27 (Maverick27) on Tuesday, October 28, 2003 - 10:54 pm: Edit

are u kidding? you could probly self study env. sci and comp sci...but thats about it yo....stat, calc, u need strong backgrounds in all that stuff to get a 5...phew...

By Vegangirl (Vegangirl) on Tuesday, October 28, 2003 - 11:03 pm: Edit

geez, that award sounds crazy hard.
at my school if you don't skip a year of math/get a year ahead in middle school, you can't even take calc AB until sr. year, let alone BC. Do people ever take calc AB and BC together in one year and then take both AP tests at the end, or would that be too insanely hard?

By Ilovemath (Ilovemath) on Saturday, November 08, 2003 - 12:53 am: Edit

you aren't allowed to take AB and BC the same year... BC includes some of the stuff from AB. You even get an AB subscore for the BC exam.

By Acinommta (Acinommta) on Sunday, November 09, 2003 - 07:08 pm: Edit

Ilovemath: Where were you informed that people can't take Calc AB & BC the same year? The college board website makes no official mention of this. Although both exams are on the same day, there is another exam day set aside later in May on which people with schedule conflicts can take an exam initially scheduled on the same day as another exam.

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Sunday, November 09, 2003 - 08:18 pm: Edit

The 2003 Nat'l winner took 10 AP exams at the end of his junior year, including the 8 that "count" for Siemen's. Most of them were self-study, and he got 5s on all 10.

By Memememe (Memememe) on Wednesday, November 19, 2003 - 11:13 am: Edit

Hmm... I appreciate this discussion.

The 2002 Nat'l winner took all the exams by self study. As in, he didn't take a single AP class before taking the exams. And he was a junior when he won it.

Don't say this is not an equal-opportunity event. You guys don't know anything.

By Ecismyhome (Ecismyhome) on Wednesday, November 19, 2003 - 09:32 pm: Edit

I've met the 2002 National winner. IMHO, he's a real jerk... He honestly thinks he's better than everyone else around him. This just isn't cool. Don't think that success in something like this means anything, guys.

By Eurostar (Eurostar) on Sunday, November 23, 2003 - 04:24 am: Edit

I had 5's on Chemistry, Biology, Physics C: Mechanics, and Calculus BC and I didn't get it . You definitely need to do some Computer Science and Environmental Science if you want any shot at even getting the regional award.

HTH

By Ihatesats (Ihatesats) on Sunday, November 23, 2003 - 03:32 pm: Edit

Self-studying for 8 APs/year is insane. It's definitely possible, but that means no life whatsoever.

Quote:
I've met the 2002 National winner. IMHO, he's a real jerk... He honestly thinks he's better than everyone else around him.

Not at all surprised. All the 'good' colleges are filled with these idiots.

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Sunday, November 23, 2003 - 04:39 pm: Edit

You don't have to take all the exams in one year. You can start early and spread them out.

Eurostar - you need 5s on five or six exams in most regions, and you only have four. If you're only a junior, you're in good shape for next year. Maybe physics C EM?

By Mazzystar (Mazzystar) on Sunday, November 23, 2003 - 05:06 pm: Edit

Hehe, I love Kentucky.

I'm pretty sure you only need an average of a 4.5 on all the AP tests you've taken or something like that.

At least, that's what I made of the jumble on our morning annoucements , since one of our seniors won the regional one

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Sunday, November 23, 2003 - 05:57 pm: Edit

Your senior must have won a different award. No one from Kentucky won this. There are only 6 regions. I'm guessing that Kentucky would be in the same region as Virginia, which tends to be dominated by the Thos Jefferson Schl of Sci and Tech.

By Memememe (Memememe) on Sunday, November 23, 2003 - 09:40 pm: Edit

Quote:
I've met the 2002 National winner. IMHO, he's a real jerk... He honestly thinks he's better than everyone else around him.

Haha. Well, Ecismyhome is a friend of mine and that "real jerk" he's talking about is me.

Quote:
Not at all surprised. All the 'good' colleges are filled with these idiots.

Thanks! I'll live by these words.

By Islam2nkorea (Islam2nkorea) on Monday, November 24, 2003 - 12:16 am: Edit

Siemens kids aren't really smart or distinguished, you just have to be REALLY good at explaining

By Memememe (Memememe) on Monday, November 24, 2003 - 12:51 am: Edit

Wrong Siemens. You're thinking of Siemens Westinghouse. Yeah, Siemens AP award winners tend to be quite bright. However, last year's Siemens Westinghouse winner, Steve Byrnes, is brilliant. There's no denying it.

By Mahras (Mahras) on Tuesday, November 25, 2003 - 05:32 pm: Edit

Hey mememeeme,

You are the regional winner rite?!!!
How the heck do you take 8 APs a year man...and self study. Plz could you give me some advice.

"Not at all surprised. All the 'good' colleges are filled with these idiots"

Not really. Some are (no offense memememe i don't kno you) but not the majority. Some of my cousins have graduated from MIT and UPenn and they are down to earth people. They are fun to be around and also are great soccer players (I am playing starting at their former club) So, no good colleges are not filled with jerks.

Just my .02 cents!!!

By Memememe (Memememe) on Wednesday, November 26, 2003 - 02:26 am: Edit

Yeah, I was regional winner this year. The year before, I was national winner. I got upended by an upstart. :-) I didn't study for 7/8 tests at once (it's actually 7, when you consider Physics C as one). I did Calc and Comp Sci in freshman year, leaving me Stats, Phys, Chem, Env Sci, and Bio. Now, I've always been a lover of science. I have always had an interest in probability so stats was a breeze. I was taking regular level Phys and Chem at school. Although AP is so much tougher, it's really the same stuff. You can get a lot out of general level courses. Physics C, however, was a humbling experience for me. It is really, really incredibly hard. Bio, lot of memorization. Env Sci, the same. Those Cliffs books can really help. They give you what to study. The AP prep books I used in addition to my texts were: Kaplan for Stats, Princeton Review for Physics and Chemistry, Cliffs for Bio, and Awesome Guides for Env Sci. Cliffs Biology, great. Chem Princeton Review, also great, although I've heard it's too easy. I found it excellent. Princeton Review Physics, not so great. Kaplan Stats, pretty good. Yeah.

By Maverick27 (Maverick27) on Wednesday, November 26, 2003 - 05:30 pm: Edit

for comp sci...how hard is it for a person with no background in it at all? do you need extra computer programs or something to help you study?

By Memememe (Memememe) on Thursday, November 27, 2003 - 03:10 am: Edit

Comp Sci AB is a joke for a good programmer. However, if you have no background, I doubt whether Comp Sci AB is the best way to learn. IMO, learning how to program is more important than getting a 5 in an AP test. The AP test emphasizes theory, which is the best way to learn CS, mind you, but it doesn't even teach you how to write a program. I suggest get an introductory text in Java, which you should be able to follow easily, and do huge amounts of programming exercises until you're a good coder. Then pick up some elementary CS texts and learn about data structures. It shouldn't go beyond a few chapters of a good theoretical algorithm book. Then sit with some AP prep materials and find what you have missed. Seriously, if you're a good coder with solid theoretical basics in data structures, you're set.

By Ecismyhome (Ecismyhome) on Sunday, December 07, 2003 - 04:25 am: Edit

Comp Sci AB *is* a joke. memememe, you know me... I haven't had much background in cs, but I'm a pretty logically-minded sort of person. I've gotten practice 5's and whatnot, and everyone that I know who's decent at prog'ing has gotten 5's. It's basically AP Write Algorithms in Java.

By Webhappy2 (Webhappy2) on Wednesday, January 14, 2004 - 01:12 am: Edit

Huh? I thought both physics c parts together count as only 1 test... the system sucks BTW.

Physics C and Calc BC are by far the toughest 2. If I had known about this test, I could've self-studied stats an earlier year and possibly one of the other easy ones too (biology or env. sci).

By Memememe (Memememe) on Wednesday, January 14, 2004 - 11:01 am: Edit

Yes. Physics C parts are half each.

The system doesn't suck. Just because you know it doesn't mean you'll get 5s on everything, and just because you get all 5s doesn't mean you'll win.