Loading...
Loading...
Everything we know about the 2026 cycle — Open Exam window (early February), Semifinal date (mid-March), expected cutoff ranges based on 2022–2024 history, and a live tracker for cutoffs and Finalist announcements once CEE publishes them.
All exam dates and cutoffs are confirmed by the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE), which administers USABO. The numbers below are factual where stated and labelled "expected" or "historical range" everywhere we're estimating.
Stage-by-stage windows based on the historical USABO calendar. CEE confirms specific dates each autumn.
Format: 50 MCQ, 50 minutes, school-administered, single sitting
Next step: Top performers (~10% of registrants) advance to the Semifinal
Format: Theory + free-response, 3 hours, individually proctored
Next step: Top ~20 students nationally are designated USABO Finalists
Format: Multi-day camp at a host university — theory, lab, and ethics rounds
Next step: Top 4 form the US team for IBO 2026
Format: Hosted by the year's designated country — 80+ nations compete
Next step: Medals (Gold ~10%, Silver ~20%, Bronze ~30%)
Status updates as CEE releases each milestone. Subscribe via WhatsApp to get notified within 24 hours of each announcement.
The Open Exam cutoff to advance to the Semifinal has historically sat around the 28–30/50 mark, depending on year difficulty. Use this as a calibration target — but CEE sets the cutoff each year based on the actual score distribution.
How to use these: if you're consistently scoring 30+/50 on past Open papers under timed conditions, you're in Semifinalist range. 35+/50 puts you in serious Finalist contention. 40+/50 is the team-camp tier.
We'll notify you within 24 hours of CEE's Open cutoff and Semifinalist list releases, plus next-steps guidance for either outcome.