North Central College on March 14 will host a sectional competition in the Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE) Academic Challenge.
The Academic Challenge is a competitive series of tests created and administered by WYSE and offered to high school students in Illinois and Missouri. This competition has been hosted by North Central College for more than 10 years and is designed to present a challenge to the brightest students.
Test material is drawn from senior high school and freshman-level college curricula. Written by teams of college and university faculty, subjects include biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering graphics, English, mathematics and physics.
Each test production team produces three tests of increasing levels of difficulty for regional, sectional and state finals. Students compete as individuals and as part of a team (when their school fields a team); they have 40 minutes to complete multiple-choice tests that range in length from 30 questions (computer science) to 100 questions (English).
More than 470 students from 47 high schools will attend and compete in divisions based on high school enrollment. The sectional challenge will take place in classrooms throughout campus on Thursday, March 14, and be hosted by the North Central College Board of Trustee Associates. Top placers will advance to state competition in April. The annual Illinois WYSE challenge is sponsored by the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Students who compete at WYSE and later attend North Central College may be eligible for a scholarship funded by the College’s Board of Trustee Associates. For more information about WYSE or North Central College’s Lederman Scholars program for talented high school students, contact Wilders at (630) 637-5234 or rjwilders@noctrl.edu.
North Central College offers both B.A. and B.S. degrees in mathematics with focused study in pure mathematics, applied mathematics or actuarial science. The program prepares students for successful careers in education, actuarial science and wide range of math-related jobs in business and academia.
