News
This page will be updated periodically with important information about the 2020 F=ma exam, USAPhO exam, and the U.S. Physics Team training camp.
5/22/2020
We would like to thank all of the students that joined us for the USAPhO Discussion webinar on April 29th. For anyone that is interested, you can view a recording of the webinar at this LINK.
5/2/2020
A listing of students who qualified for the 2020 USAPhO exam can be found by going to this LINK. Congratulations to all of you! If your name, school, or teacher is listed incorrectly, please send an email with the corrections to programs@aapt.org.
A certificate for the exam will be emailed to the teachers/proctors.
For anyone who would like to view the video of the USAPhO Webinar from April 29th, we will be posting a link to it soon.
4/28/2020
Welcome to the 2020 USAPhO exam. There are two links below, one for the exam, and one for the solutions to the exam.
We hope that you enjoy the challenge of the USAPhO exam questions, and we hope that you enjoy your summer.
2020 USAPhO Exam
2020 USAPhO Solutions
We will be sending a certificate to the proctor/teacher of all students who qualified for the USAPhO exam. If you are not in contact with your proctor/teacher, please email us at programs@aapt.org. The qualifier listing will be posted here by Monday, May 4, 2020.
Don’t forget to tune in to tomorrow’s Zoom webinar, 12:30-2:00 pm eastern standard time. You must register in advance for this webinar, register at this LINK. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
4/24/2020
Dear USAPhO Qualifiers,
Thank you for participating in the F=ma exam, and congratulations on qualifying to take USAPhO exam.
The USAPhO problems will be available on this webpage on Tuesday, April 28th at 9 am Eastern Standard Time, and all students can practice the exam in whatever location is best for them. Exam solutions will also be posted so that you will be able to see how you did on the exam. All who qualified for the USAPhO exam will receive a participation certificate, as well as being listed on our website as Qualifiers for the USAPhO exam.
Even though we will not be able to grade the test as in previous years, we are committed to supporting the physics learning community. To this end, we the U.S. Physics Team coaches will be hosting a webinar on Wednesday, April 29th from 12:30-2:00 pm Eastern Standard Time via Zoom. You must register in advance for this webinar, register at this LINK. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
During the webinar, we will briefly go over this year’s USAPhO exam. More importantly, we would like to take this opportunity to connect with you all and answer any questions you may have concerning learning physics.
We hope you will continue to enjoy learning physics and solving problems.
Sincerely,
AAPT Programs & Conferences
U.S. Physics Team Academic Director and Coaches
4/16/2020
This statement is in response to numerous emails that AAPT has been receiving.
Dear USAPhO Participants and Physics Community,
We understand your disappointment with the decisions that AAPT has made in regards to choosing and training a team for the IPhO.
However, please note:
- The USAPhO exam is NOT cancelled. It is proceeding on 4/28, for all who are qualified, and can be taken by anyone who is interested.
- The students’ hard work is being rewarded with a carefully written test that the coaches volunteered their time to write in the midst of disrupted work-life schedules.
- The mission of the US Physics Team is to “to promote and demonstrate academic excellence through preparation for and participation in the International Physics Olympiad”. We are still promoting such a mission, which is why we are offering the USAPhO exam.
- The work of USAPhO and Fma is largely by a small group of volunteers. We do not have the resources, especially in the current challenging work environment given the COVID19 disruption, to continue what we have always done in the past.
- The decision to continue offering USAPhO is for the bigger benefit of the entire student community.
- We do not have any obligation to align our efforts with other organizations, which may or may not carry the same mission.
Again, we understand your concerns and thank you in advance for your understanding.
Sincerely,
AAPT Programs & Conferences
U.S. Physics Team Academic Director and Coaches
4/10/2020
USAPhO Exam Update
Dear students, parents and teachers,
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, AAPT has made the difficult decision to not send a team of students to the International Physics Olympiad in Vilnius, Lithuania. This means, unfortunately, that we will not be selecting a U.S. Physics Team, and we will not be holding a Training Camp.
We would however, like to give students a chance to challenge themselves with the USAPhO exam. The USAPhO problems will be available on this webpage on 4/28, and all students can practice it in whatever location is best for them. Those who qualified for the USAPhO will receive a participation certificate, as well as being listed on our website as Qualifiers for the USAPHO exam.
The U.S. Physics Team Academic Director, and Coaches would like to host a virtual panel discussion of the USAPhO exam problems. The panel discussion will most likely be the weekend after the exam is posted online. Exact details will be posted within the next two weeks.
Once again, we know what a disappointment this is, and we understand the importance of this program and how hard the students have worked to study and prepare. We hope that everyone can be understanding of our decisions, and that you all stay safe and healthy.
3/17/2020
Statement regarding COVID-19
Dear students, parents, teachers and all supporters of the U.S. Physics Team,
We here at AAPT have been closely monitoring the rapid development of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and its impact on our program. We understand that many of you have worked hard and look forward to participating in the USAPhO competition and being part of the U.S. Physics Team. Meanwhile, it is important that we all minimize social contact to help curb the spread of the virus, and stay safe.
After much deliberation, we would like to provide you with a few updates:
1. The 2020 USAPhO will be postponed to April 28th. The date is chosen because, at the moment, most schools are scheduled to reopen by then.
2. We continue to work with the University of Maryland to identify several possible training camp options, as the community-building experience through this living-learning community has proven to be extremely valuable. We will try our best to make it happen, but would ask for your understanding in the case that the training camp is cancelled.
3. We will send you another update on or around April 21st as the events continue to develop.
We are grateful for your support of this program. We hope that by postponing the USAPhO to a later time, we can better protect our students and teachers, without having to sacrifice the opportunity to compete amongst the best U.S. high school students.
Meanwhile, we hope you all remain safe and healthy...
2/20/2020
The F=ma exam results are available at this LINK!
Solutions for the F=ma exams are also available, January 23rd exam solutions are at this LINK, January 28th exam solutions are at this LINK.
Student scores are still being compiled, they should be available by the last week of February, and will be emailed to the exam proctors. Student scores will not be given out over the phone at the AAPT office, students and parents will need to contact their teachers/proctors to find out their scores.
Teachers/proctors will be receiving an email by the last week of February, with a password protected link to check student scores.
The teachers/proctors who have student(s) that qualified to take the USAPhO exam will be receiving an email informing them which of their student(s) have qualified. Please note that the date for the USAPhO exam is April 2, 2020.
A formal listing of students qualifying for the USAPhO exam, and the Medal Ranking for the USAPhO exam will not be posted online until after the USAPhO exam is completed.
 |