Preparing for the Canadian Biology Olympiad can be quite the hassle. Without immediate access to past papers or a set curriculum, it can be hard to know what to study for if you’re preparing. I assume since you’re reading this article, you’re either preparing for the CBO or at least considering taking it, so here’s the breakdown.
- What is the CBO? What are the benefits of taking it?
- How do I study for the CBO?
- What will be on the CBO?
- What does test-day look like?
In this article, I will break it down step by step. Without further ado, here we go!
What is the CBO and what are its benefits?
The Canadian Biology Olympiad is an incredibly difficult biology exam, meant for students who wish to challenge their knowledge and biology abilities. The entire exam is about an hour and consists of multiple choice, true/false, calculations, and short answer.
Assuming you’re interested in Biology somewhat since you’re still reading this, and that you’re a high-achieving student, here are the benefits of taking this exam:
- Above and beyond prep for other advanced exams, including the Alberta Biology 30 Diploma, AP Biology Exam (I took both)
- Could potentially be helpful for IB as well, but I didn’t take IB so I can’t say for sure
- MCAT material – each topic is explored quite deeply, and sometimes you approach undergraduate biology that is categorized as MCAT prep. It’s a nice look-ahead though!
- Preparation for other biology exams, like the National Biology Competition with the University of Toronto
- The opportunity to progress to the International Biology Olympiad, which is hosted in a different country each year! The top 3 participants in the country will be chosen to represent Canada at the IBO each year.
- University and scholarship recognition – this contest is challenging enough that if you do well, it makes an insanely impressive line on your resume/achievement list
How do I study for the CBO?
I won’t lie. This competition is probably the most difficult exam I’ve taken, granted that I took it without specialized studying specifically for the CBO, didn’t get a tutor, and didn’t have a textbook to study. I was taking AP Biology and preparing for the Biology 30 Diploma, both of which I did well on, but the preparation was nowhere near enough for the CBO. If you want to do well, you need to have structure and scheduling.
If you’ve ever studied for a contest before, you’ll know that previous contest questions are a precious but non-comprehensive resource. Although you won’t have those questions for the CBO, you’ll have IBO papers that are available online for public access. While they might cover some of the same topics, the questions they ask are usually in a completely different format and can involve specific on-site lab data.
The way you schedule your studying will depend on your personal schedule and however much time you have to dedicate to studying. It’s critical that you have consistency over all. You will be overwhelmed if you procrastinate.
Split your time between learning from your biology textbooks, Youtube videos, AI tools, and testing similar questions from contests like the NBC (tend to be easier) and the IBO (go up in abstraction significantly). Leave certain days to review knowledge you’ve already learned so as not to forget it.
What Do I Study?
There’s no textbook for you to do this from. There’s no set curriculum, and that’s what makes studying for this competition so difficult.
It mentions that it’ll go over basic high school biology on the website, but seeing as I’ve finished basic high school biology and am still totally confused by some of the questions I saw last year, this is not enough.
Now, by no means is this a comprehensive list of study topics. But knowing the microbiology and even organic chemistry of this should be considered the “basics” for this competition.
General Biology Basics:
- amino acids – structures, properties, locations, behaviors, zwitterion concept
- thermodynamics and energetics of metabolism
- membrane structure and FMM
- cell organelles and cytoskeletal structure
Molecular Biology
- DNA and RNA
- RNA Processing
- Gene regulation
- Genetics
Ecology:
- Population genetics
- plant structure
- Nervous System
- Circulatory System
- Ecology and population dynamics
You want to get into the nitty gritty, because these are broad topics and there’s a lot to know.
Test Day
You’ll get a link, a code, and a bunch of nerves.
Keep calm and keep going when you get overwhelmed. Remember, you’ve prepared a long time for this moment and you know your stuff. If you get stuck, skip the question and flag it so as not to lose momentum. Try not to guess, because the contest docks marks for incorrect answers.
You got this. I believe in you!