The Evolution of Cambridge Advanced Biology Olympiad

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The first Cambridge Advanced Biology Olympiad class began in 2012, with 4 students. All of them had already taken the Intermediate Biology Olympiad class and all of them made the USABO Semifinals in 2013, with one of them going on to make the USABO Finals. Ever since then, the Advanced Biology Olympiad class always had close to 85% passing rate on the USABO Open Exam, even as its size continued to grow, up to 26 students in 2016-2017, of whom 22 made the 2017 USABO Semifinals.

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For the 2016-2017 class, considerable effort and countless hours were expended to try to make it the best high-school level biology class possible. All the lessons were updated with materials from upper level college textbooks, extending

significantly beyond Campbell Biology. More importantly, 13 original exams were created to simulate the USABO Open Exam, each with 50 multiple choice questions covering all topics on the USABO.

The Advanced Biology Olympiad class "underperformed" on the 2017 USABO Open Exam, because the expectation for the Advanced Biology Olympiad class has always been to obtain an 100% passing rate. However, it contained some very impressive biology students from all over Southern California, many of whom surpassing former Cambridge USABO Finalists and medalists in knowledge of biology. Nevertheless, they have to compete against the top biology students from across the country who are improving by leaps and bounds year after year, and that is why the Cambridge Advanced Biology Olympiad class will continue to improve in the future as well.

Congratulations, USABO Finalists!

Making the Finals (Top 20) and attending the study camp of USABO, the most prestigious competition in biology in America, is an extraordinary achievement. For 5 years in a row (2013--2017), the top student from the Cambridge Advanced Biology Olympiad class made the USABO Finals, with every finalist outshining the previous year's finalist because USABO continues to be ever more difficult each year.

2013: Kevin Bao (2015 Silver Medalist)

2014: Austin Wang (2014 Bronze Medalist)

2015: Maxwell Zhu (2015 Bronze Medalist)

2016: Alexander Tsao (2017 Gold Medalist)

2017: Allen Huang (2018 Gold Medalist)

Kevin Bao and Austin Wang, together in the 2014 Advanced Biology Olympiad class. Both of them went on to receive bronze medals at the 2014 USABO Finals.