Will/Did you make it to nationals?

[paleonaps]

From Washington, all I know that the Western side is much more competitive than the Eastern side.
Camus is crazy. o_e
They slaughtered us.

I wonder why that is? I've noticed that a lot of winnng teams come from near large colleges and/or scientific facilities, but I'm not sure of this. Is that true, or is it just my imagination?

[gneissisnice]

From Washington, all I know that the Western side is much more competitive than the Eastern side.
Camus is crazy. o_e
They slaughtered us.

I wonder why that is? I've noticed that a lot of winnng teams come from near large colleges and/or scientific facilities, but I'm not sure of this. Is that true, or is it just my imagination?

Well lets see.

Ward Melville's practically right next to Stony Brook University. Half Hollow Hills is a bit too far from Stony Brook, I think.
Spackenkill, Weber, and FM are all top NY schools and as far as I know, they're not near any major colleges or science facilities, but I'm not totally sure.

[personasaurus rex]

I don't think being near a college has much to do with it. I mean honestly, how much help/support do you get from Stonybrook for science olympiad?

[aubrey048]

Well, I don't know much about Nats. I'm just going to try to get through regionals, for which I have to leave in about 5 minutes...

That is an interesting phenomenon. But by that theory, my team and every one in North Alabama*, would be nats-bound, which is impossible.

*Note: My town (Huntsville) is VERY science/engineering inclined. VERY.

[gneissisnice]

I don't think being near a college has much to do with it. I mean honestly, how much help/support do you get from Stonybrook for science olympiad?

Pretty much none.

Unless you count me, a Stony Brook student, coming to Ward Melville to help out. =)

[paleonaps]

Well, I figured that the professors at the university would have children at the schools, thus meaning that, at the very least, their parents might help them.

[Kokonilly]

That could be true to an extent - it all just depends on how much a university professor is willing to help out the team.

[paleonaps]

Also, I am of the opinion that intelligence fosters intelligence- so a very intelligent university professor would probably raise children who are very intelligent, due to the things they do with them as young babies.

[Kokonilly]

Well, I wouldn't say that - my parents let me watch all the TV I liked when I was a kid and I'm okay. I don't believe all of that Baby Einstein crap, but I do think that parents who value intelligence and hard work are likely to have kids that value intelligence and hard work.

[paleonaps]

That's what I mean. I watched a lot of TV as a kid- Spongebob, Fairly OddParents- as do my sisters. Now I have to highest GPA of all of my chem teacher's students, and my littlest sister could skip two grades, because my parents did all sorts of other things with us when we were VERY little- such as flashcards, and now, for my littlest sister, the Kumon program. We can still have fun, but having parents that value intelligence allowed us to have those extra opportunities.