USA Biology Olympiad

Mission San Jose High School is an official USABO testing site.

Registration

Taking the exam at MSJ

Mission San Jose High School serves as an official testing site for the USA Biology Olympiad (USABO) exams. Information sessions and registration details are shared via email and club meetings at the end of August. Students interested in participating must complete registration by the deadline announced during those meetings.

The USABO Open Exam is typically held in early February, while the USABO Semifinal Exam takes place in March. Exact dates may vary from year to year, so students are encouraged to stay informed through our Discord server and mailing list.

If you have any inquiries, please reach out to the MSJ Biology Club officers at msjbiologyclub@gmail.com, or our USABO coordinator at asultana@fusdk12.net.

Get date announcements on Discord
About the competition

What USABO is

As the premier biology competition for high school students in the United States, the USA Biolympiad (USABO) enriches the life science education of nearly 12,000 talented students annually. It provides the motivation, curricular resources, and skills training to take them beyond their classroom experience to the level of international competitiveness.

After two rounds of challenging online exams, twenty finalists (T20) are invited to a residential training program where they learn advanced biological concepts and exacting lab skills at the USABO National Finals.

  1. Early February

    Open Exam

    The first round, open to all registered students and taken at our school site.

  2. March

    Semifinal Exam

    A longer, harder second round for students who advance past the Open Exam.

  3. Summer

    National Finals

    The top 20 attend a residential training camp covering advanced concepts and lab skills.

  4. International

    Team USA

    Four students are selected from the finalists to represent the United States abroad.

Exam content

Content topics of the USABO exam

Animal Anatomy and Physiology 25% Cell Biology 20% Genetics and Evolution 20% Plant Anatomy and Physiology 15% Ecology 10% Ethology 5% Biosystematics 5%
  • Animal Anatomy and Physiology25%
  • Cell Biology20%
  • Genetics and Evolution20%
  • Plant Anatomy and Physiology15%
  • Ecology10%
  • Ethology5%
  • Biosystematics5%
Recognition

Award tiers

Awards are given out according to where a student places nationally.

  • Top 500Semifinalist
  • Top 225Certificate of Merit
  • Top 125Honorable Mention
  • Top 20National Finalist
2026 results

Twelve semifinalists

In 2026, Mission San Jose High School achieved a record-breaking milestone by producing 12 USABO Semifinalists, placing them among the top 500 students nationwide out of more than 12,000 participants.

  • Theenash Sengupta
  • Brian Lu
  • Anish Agarwal
  • Gautham Ramkumar
  • Aarush Iyer
  • Adrian Poon
  • Aravind Muralidharan
  • Brandon Wang
  • Emma Zhou
  • Katherine Chen
  • Maxwell Zhang
  • Milan Nair
The 2026 MSJ Biology Club USABO semifinalists Add assets/photos/semifinalists-group.jpg for a wide group photo here.
Bronze Medalist

Theenash Sengupta: Bronze Medal, Top 12 in the nation

Theenash Sengupta (Class of 2027) qualified for the USABO National Finals and earned a Bronze Medal, placing among the top 12 students in the country. He was invited to attend the USABO National Finals Study Camp, held at Harvard University during the summer of 2026.

Resources

Competition Textbooks

If you're just getting started with USABO preparation, we strongly recommend beginning with Campbell Biology. It provides the essential foundation across nearly all major biology topics. Once you feel comfortable with Campbell, move on to Vander's Human Physiology to build a deeper understanding of anatomy and physiology. After that, explore either Raven Biology of Plants for plant biology or Griffiths' Introduction to Genetic Analysis for genetics.

While this page contains many additional resources, we recommend saving advanced texts such as Molecular Biology of the Cell (MBOC) and Lehninger's Principles of Biochemistry until you feel extremely comfortable with the material covered in the other books. These texts are significantly more challenging and are best used to deepen your understanding after you've mastered the fundamentals. Happy reading!

Cover of Campbell Biology

Campbell Biology

Cover of Vander's Human Physiology

Vander's Human Physiology

Cover of Raven Biology of Plants

Raven Biology of Plants

Cover of Griffiths' Introduction to Genetic Analysis

Griffiths' Introduction to Genetic Analysis

Cover of Molecular Biology of the Cell

Molecular Biology of the Cell

Cover of Lehninger's Principles of Biochemistry

Lehninger's Principles of Biochemistry

Interested in taking the exam?

Join the club, come to Friday meetings, and watch Discord for the August information session. You do not need to be an experienced competitor to register. Most of our semifinalists started exactly where you are.

Join the club Email the officers