The United States was initially not going to send a team to the 48th International Chemistry Olympiad, held in Karachi, Pakistan in late July this year.

The Department of State officially advises against “all non-essential travel to Pakistan,” claiming that “protests due to domestic events and against the United States are not uncommon.”

However, Pakistan later withdrew support of the olympiad, and it will now be held in Tbilisi, Georgia. The American Chemical Society, which organizes the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad, will form and send a team.

Students competed in the local level of the Chemistry Olympiad after school today. Two top-scoring students from each participating high school will then advance to the national exam.

“Unlike the other olympiads, which will allow multiple kids to participate from the school, the American Chemical Society limits every school to a maximum of two to compete in the national exam,” local olympiad organizer Robbie Korin said.

The top 20 students in the national exam will then attend a two-week chemistry training camp at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs in June.

“Roughly about 30 kids [turnout every year],” former local olympiad organizer Dr. Mala Raghavan said. “We’ve only had two [participants] in the past who have gone to the national level.”

Based on these students’ performance, four will be chosen to comprise a U.S. team sent to represent America on the international level. Teams from countries across the globe will be in attendance.

As the local olympiad is completely comprised of multiple choice questions, it can serve as practice for AP exams.

“It’s like a month before the AP and it covers a lot of the same concepts, so I think it’ll be a great AP review,” Kevin Xu (10) said.

Competitors are predominantly AP Chemistry students, although participation is open to all.

This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on March 23, 2016.