USESO Introductory Earth Science Exam

About the US Earth Science Organization

The foremost competition for Earth Science in the United States, the USESO aims to promote and inspire education of the Earth and its global systems to students across the nation. USESO organizes the US Earth Science Team at the annual International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO), where students are assessed for individual content knowledge in the various earth systems, including the geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and solar system astronomy.

Schedule

All times listed are Eastern Time.

Scoring System & Results

The USESO Introductory Earth Science Exam will be a one-hour multiple choice exam. The scoring system for the USESO Introductory Earth Science Exam is different from the standard IAC and USGC exam scoring systems.

The exam consists entirely of multiple-choice questions, though some questions [marked (*)] will allow students to choose more than one response. For those multiple-selection questions, students will earn one point for each correct answer marked, lose one point for each incorrect answer marked, and neither earn or lose points for any correct answer left unmarked. For all single-selection questions, students will earn one point per correct answer.

Beginning at IAC Varsity & Junior Varsity National Championships in 2022, USESO will offer their National Open Exam, which allows students to qualify for their Summer Training Camp and the United States Earth Science Team selection process.

** Note: The USESO Introductory Earth Science Exam is designed to introduce students to the USESO National Open Exam, and is not an IAC National Championship Exam. For the Introductory Earth Science Exam, student scores will be reported individually to students, and not posted publicly. We will, however, indicate the percentile rank of the student relative to all students taking the Introductory Exam and relative to all students that took the National Open Exam.