How to Register for USABO: Step-by-Step (Including If Your School Isn't Participating)

How to Register for USABO: Step-by-Step

The most common USABO registration mistake is looking for a "register as a student" button. There isn't one — and understanding why is the whole key. USABO registration is school-based. Here is exactly how it works, and what to do in the tricky cases.

⚠️ Registration dates and fees change every cycle. The mechanics below are stable, but always confirm the current deadline and fee on the official sources — cee.org and usabo-trc.org — before you act. Specific dates in this guide are examples from a recent cycle, not a promise for yours.

The core rule: schools register, not students

You do not sign yourself up for USABO. Your school registers with the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE), pays the school registration fee, and is then able to enrol its students to sit the Open Exam. A recent cycle's fee has been about $125 per school, which covers all of that school's students — but confirm the current figure, because it can change.

So the first question is never "how do I register?" — it is "is my school registered, and if not, who can register it?"

Step by step (the normal case)

1. Check whether your school already participates. Ask your biology teacher, science-department head, or a science-olympiad coordinator. Many schools with strong science programmes register every year.
2. If it does, ask to be enrolled. The school's USABO coordinator adds you to the roster for the Open Exam. You may also need to complete a linked account (in recent cycles, students link to an Art of Problem Solving account) — the coordinator will point you to the current step.
3. Confirm the Open Exam logistics. The Open is a proctored exam (recent format: 50 multiple-choice questions in 50 minutes, online) held in February. Your school proctors it.
4. Watch the deadline. School registration typically opens in the autumn and closes before the February Open — commonly around early November in recent cycles. Verify your cycle's exact date.

If your school is NOT participating

This is the case that panics families, and it has real solutions:

• Ask a teacher to register the school. The most direct fix. Registration is not onerous for a teacher, and one registration covers every interested student at the school — so you are helping your classmates too. Bring them the official CEE registration link.
• Arrange a host school. If your own school genuinely will not register, students can sometimes sit the exam through another registered ("host") school in the area. Ask around local schools with science-olympiad programmes, or ask CEE about the current host-school process.
• Homeschoolers: homeschooled students are eligible, generally by arranging to test through a local registered school. Check the current official guidance for the exact mechanism.

The one thing that does not exist is an individual, last-minute back door once the window closes — which is exactly why you should sort this out in the autumn, not in January.

A quick timeline to plan around

Roughly, in order (confirm each cycle):

• Autumn — school registration opens.
• Early November (typical) — registration deadline.
• February — Open Exam.
• Spring — Semifinal for those who advance.
• June — National Finals (recently held at Harvard).

If you want a dated planning calendar, see our USABO timeline guide — and remember every date needs confirming against the official site for your year.

Stuck on your school's status or the deadline?

If you are not sure whether your school is registered, whether you have missed the window, or how the host-school route works, message us on WhatsApp at +91 88264 44334. Tell us your school and grade and we will help you figure out the registration path — genuinely, and for free. Getting a capable student to the Open Exam is the whole first step; we are happy to help with it whether or not you ever coach with us.

Related reading: Is AP Biology Enough for USABO? · Self-Study vs USABO Coaching · Our USABO coaching program