Physics Olympiad Advice
From an IPhO Gold Medalist and MIT Physics Graduate
Hey everyone! A few people have asked me about my journey to IPhO and for advice on how to prepare. Instead of repeating myself in DMs, I figured I’d just put everything down in one place for anyone interested. My contact information can be found on my website: My website
Introduction
My name is Eddie Chen, and I am a physics graduate from MIT with a passion for physics, math, and computer science. My journey in physics has been a rewarding one, culminating in a gold medal at the IPhO in 2021 as part of the USA team. I've also achieved success in other competitions, including a gold and platinum in the Physics Cup, a perfect score on the F=ma exam, and qualifying for the USAMO 3 times. Moreover, I’ve written problems for the F=ma and USAPhO exams. This guide shares the path I took, the resources I used, and the lessons I learned along the way.
How I Got into Olympiads
Unlike in some other countries, the US doesn’t have a super-centralized Olympiad culture right from the start of high school. It’s more of a thing you seek out. I had done many math competitions throughout middle school, and naturally I wanted to try physics. I found physics to be very interesting, and so I prepared for the F=ma exam. In 8th grade I passed the F=ma, but didn’t do well on the USAPhO. I realized I didn’t really have a good grasp of anything besides mechanics. So I studied hard (using textbooks listed below) and was selected to the US Physics Team Training Camp in 10th grade. Finally in 12th grade, I obtained an IPhO Gold medal representing the US Team.
I didn’t have a formal program unfortunately, so I spent a lot of time self studying, and had to work very very hard. A cool thing I did in 8th grade was learn Java and then build my own N-body simulator to watch how gravity works. Seeing my code actually simulate planets was what really pushed me to see how far I could take physics.
How I Prepared for Olympiads
It did take a lot of focused time and effort, especially since there weren’t that many good physics olympiad programs at the time. I used these undergrad physics books:
HRK Physics
Morin’s Introduction to Mechanics (Red Morin)
Purcell’s Electricity & Magnetism
Blundell’s Thermal Physics
And of course, Jaan Kalda’s physics Olympiad handouts as well as Kevin Zhou’s are amazing. Whenever I got stuck on a particular problem, I would make a note of it and come back to it later. The feeling of solving a problem that stumped you for days is way better than just looking up the solution.
The single most memorable experience for me was the USAPhO training camp. It was about 1-2 weeks of intense lectures and labs. Figuring out the lab equipment was sometimes as hard as the exam problems. The camp is a really challenging experience where you get to meet people who are just as competitive and passionate.
But don’t think you have to lock yourself in a room for years. During the pandemic, when we were worried USAPhO might be cancelled, my friends and I created the Online Physics Olympiad (OPhO). We organized the whole thing, from the website to the problems. It was a massive effort but also incredibly fun and a great way to learn. The point is you can still be social and do creative things while chasing your physics goals.
What I Wish I Had Done Differently
I definitely wished I had gotten in touch with other olympiad contestants sooner, such as asking advice from past medalists. There are a lot of tips and tricks that can’t be found online or in textbooks, but are very useful for physics olympiads. This would have saved so much time and effort, as I was essentially trying to figure everything out on my own. However, I have compiled a lot of my insights and intuitions that I developed throughout my physics olympiad journey on this website, to hopefully save you some time and effort: My Physics Site. I will continue to add to it.
F=ma Advice
To do well on the F=ma exam, the first step is to have a strong understanding of mechanics, which you can learn from HRK (calculus-based), Giancoli (algebra-based), or Blue Morin (and also do the problems to check understanding!). F=ma does not require calculus, but if you do know some calculus (basic derivatives/integrals), then you might as well start with HRK. If you do not know calculus, then you could learn mechanics with Giancoli and learn calculus on the side. Spend about a couple of months, and 2-3 hours per day of focused study to master the fundamentals. Focus on clear physical reasoning rather than memorizing formulas: most problems reduce to a small set of core ideas. So draw diagrams early, and always think about why an equation applies before writing it down. Don’t blindly use equations. Look for the simplest valid approach, using conservation laws, symmetry, dimensional analysis, or limiting cases whenever possible. For time management, solve problems you are confident in first, returning to the ones you are unsure about later. Since there is no penalty for wrong answers, make educated guesses by ruling out unphysical options rather than leaving blanks. Do as many practice exams as you can under real exam conditions to build speed and confidence. Also, review mistakes to identify recurring patterns. It is important to keep a calm mind and trust that you have learned everything needed for the problems (assuming you have the fundamentals down of course): once I realized this in 10th grade, I scored 24 or 25 on all the subsequent F=ma exams I took (10th, 11th, and 12th grade).
If you want structured preparation, I built a full F=ma course here: F=ma Course
USAPhO Advice
The USAPhO exam is very different from the F=ma. Instead of speeding through multiple choice questions, you must construct a complete solution and clearly communicate your reasoning. The most important skills are setting up the physics correctly and organizing your work so that each step logically follows from the previous one.
When practicing, focus less on the final answer and more on whether your assumptions, diagrams, and equations make physical sense. Even partial progress can earn significant credit, so always write down your reasoning and don’t leave a problem completely blank. To give you some sense of scoring, here is an actual past rubric: USAPhO 2013 A4 Rubric
Medal cutoffs are usually, in terms of problems solved: HM/Bronze/Silver/Gold/Camp = 1/1.5/2.5/3.5/4
The 2 biggest topics on the USAPhO are mechanics and E&M, which take up at least half of the test, so focus on these 2 topics first. Then there usually is some thermodynamics and modern physics (relativity, waves/optics, basic quantum, etc.). For USAPhO-level mechanics, red Morin is a helpful textbook. For E&M, Purcell is in my opinion the best textbook (it presents the information in a very motivated and beautiful manner). Usually HRK is enough for thermo and modern, but Blundell is also a good, comprehensive choice for thermo.
As long as you’ve studied all the topics, you should have enough knowledge to do all the problems, so don’t be intimidated by the unfamiliarity of the problems. If you haven’t studied all the topics, read all the questions first and start with the problems based on topics you are more comfortable with. Do many past exams for practice.
I also wrote an original mock USAPhO exam: Mock USAPhO Exam (with solutions)
I Didn’t Do Well on My National Olympiad. Now What?
Look, not doing well on an exam isn’t the end of the world. The skills you build just by preparing for the USAPhO and other olympiads are insane. You learn problem-solving and analytical thinking that gives you a great advantage for university, career, etc. I’ve seen plenty of people who didn’t do well on olympiads go on to do amazing things in research and at top universities. The process of trying is a huge achievement in itself. If you enjoy the physics, keep going.
Also it’s important that you keep an open mind. If self-studying from textbooks just isn’t working for you, don’t hesitate to try something else, like joining a study group, or signing up for physics olympiad classes.
How Does This Help with US Universities?
In the US, college admissions officers care about subjective things like you showing passion and initiative, in addition to awards/honors of course. Grinding for the Physics Olympiad is a massive spike. Not only is it an award, it’s a story. It shows you can dedicate yourself to something incredibly difficult over a long period. In my application essays, I wrote about my passion and journey in physics olympiads. My research experiences, which grew out of my physics interests, were also huge. I worked on projects combining physics with machine learning and AI, which opened up even more doors. Use your physics journey to show who you are and what drives you.
Note: MIT is the university that cares about olympiads the most. So if you do well (like camp), I recommend earlying MIT (like I did).
Questions? Feel free to reach out at ezchen@alum.mit.edu. Good luck!