Academic Decathlon

1. Competition Introduction
In the competition, students learn an exciting new theme each year. For 2024-2025, the theme is Our Changing Climate. Students will explore seven subjects connected to that theme: Art, Economics, Literature, Mathematics, Music, Science and Social Science. They must also master ten different skills and disciplines related to that theme.

2. Eligibility
A team consists of nine full-time students from the ninth through twelfth grades of the same high school; or, if there is no ninth grade, a team consists of nine full-time students from the tenth through twelfth grades of the same high school. Each team is made up of three Honor students, three Scholastic students, and three Varsity students in accordance with the following grade point average definitions:

Honor: 3.80 – 4.00 GPA
Scholastic: 3.20 – 3.799 GPA
Varsity: 0.00 – 3.199 GPA

Contestants may compete in a higher division than their own grade point average category but not in a lower division.

3. Deadline

• Registration Documents Due – December 8, 2023
• Scrimmage – Subject Area Exams Only – January 11, 2024
• Essay for Regional Competition – January 25, 2024
• Regional Competition – February 15, 2024
• Essay for State Competition – March 7, 2024
• State Competition – March 28, 2024
• National Competition Registration Due – April 11, 2024
• Essay for National Competition – April 18, 2024
• National Competition: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: April 25 – 27, 2024

3. Events Details 
Students will participate in five different types of events.

• Super Quiz™: The team will take turns solving multiple-choice challenges in front of a live audience. At the national finals, 3 members in a team will work together to figure out the best answer to each question before time runs out.
• Speech: Students will speak for up to four minutes on any topic of choice. Afterward, students will speak for up to two minutes on a new topic they haven’t seen before.
• Interview: Students will have seven minutes to answer questions about themselves. Be ready to answer questions about background, interests, and goals.
• Essay: Students will write a paper within 50 minutes. Topics are related to six of the seven Academic Decathlon subjects—excluding only math.
• Tests of Knowledge: At the end, students will take seven multiple choice exams, one in each of the Academic Decathlon subjects: Art, Music, Social Science, Science, Economics, Literature, and Mathematics.