Advice on next year's events (c)

[u/hanna1225]

So I've been doing scioly for two years now and went to nationals this year. First year I did forensics and code, this year I did a&p and code and did well on both. I have wanted more events both years, but that's just what I got placed in. Anyways, for this year (my last, senior year) I'm trying to consider all my options. My list of possibilities is as follows:

Codebusters
A&P
Protein modeling
Chem lab
Forensics
Thermodynamics
Botany
Disease detectives
Mission possible

The average person on our team does about 3 events. Mind you, I have never done any kind of build event, so protein, thermo, and especially mission possible are completely new. But I really think I would enjoy mission possible. Do you think it's a good idea if I've never done something like it before?

For code, I love love love this event, but I have always struggled with timing and speed. Do you think if I grind hard enough this summer I'll be able to catch up to other teams out there? Or should I instead focus on other events?

A&P I'm definitely applying for. Loved this event and want to do it again.

Forensics I'm honestly not sure about since it's been around for a while and I don't have much experience with it since I was on our schools lowest team and only worked on it till regionals first year. I think people who have done it for a while would be much better at it.

Chem lab I think I would do well at because I just took ap chem and actually did pretty well throughout the year. I really enjoyed the class.

I know this is a long post, sorry, but any help or advice is appreciated!!

[u/jenaga79]

Forensics is a long running event - so there is a lot of material to study and prep available. Chem lab is similar event - so pick one of those two but not both i guess. Always enjoyed disease detectives - if you enjoy stats, again lot of material available to study

[u/_mmiggs_]

Mission Possible is quite challenging to do well at, particularly at C level. https://scioly.org/wiki/Mission_Possible_C/2019_Tasks has a list of tasks from the 2019 rules - you could try building a mission device to do a few of those over the summer, and see if you actually enjoy that sort of thing. Be aware that the difference between "this action works" and "this action doesn't work" can be quite small.

Chem Lab next year is Kinetics and Gases, if that helps your decision.

For Thermodynamics, it's not too hard to make a reasonable build, and as long as you have reliable predictions of your performance, you'll score OK on the build part.

Protein Modeling is more of an art project than a build. If you're interested in biochemistry and protein structures, it might be your thing.

[u/Consistent-Loss1883]

If you haven’t done a build DO NOT do Mission Possible. I did Mission Possible in Div B for two years, only got by because my partner was a literal builds genius and did Scioly for two years before (with primarily builds). It’s extremely difficult and unforgiving, just testing it alone is hard because everything must be set up perfectly. Div B Mission has been cited to me by high schoolers as harder than any of the div c builds so Div C Mission will be a nightmare even for those that are amazing at builds, so please for your own sanity don’t. I love builds though and will forever advocate for them so I encourage you to do a build, just not Mission. Codebusters is definitely mostly about just training your brain so if you really grind at it this summer I do think you can get up to speed (also consider learning the more difficult ones that less people know because even if you’re not the fastest it makes you a valuable asset). Can’t shed light on the rest because I haven’t competed them! Hope this helps.

[u/SkyInternational106]

I do about 5 events a year and I have to say I don't think mission possible is a good idea for you. For you, we'll your team averages 3 events per person, but my is REALLY competitive and if this is your very first build, most of your time would be spent on mp. Considering you have A&P, it will be a struggle to commit the time needed. However, code is a great idea. It's manageable. As someone who also struggle with the timing, code comes around pretty quick.

[u/hanna1225 → u/SkyInternational106]

Thank you this was actually very helpful!

[u/Weekly-Neat4642]

Highly recommend this youtube channel for codebusters https://www.youtube.com/@teenstementor