A 60-question test at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning is not unusual for senior Ankit Gupta.
Gupta competed and advanced through multiple rounds of UIL science. He will head to the state competition on Monday, May 18, at 8:30 a.m., at the University of Texas Austin.
“I joined UIL science, and a little bit of UIL math at the time, because I wanted to compete,” Gupta said. “I also wanted to meet more people who were also interested in the same subjects as me.”
Gupta began his journey in UIL science, headed by science teacher Ines Muniz, during his sophomore year. He studied outside of school to learn content from AP Biology, AP Chemistry and AP Physics that would appear on the tests.
“Throughout junior year, I was learning a lot of that content as I took those classes, so it translated nicely to studying for UIL itself,” Gupta said. “That made it kind of easy, and it was good to review a lot of the things from AP Biology and AP Chemistry. Besides that, I had to rely on textbooks a bit for physics, but overall, it’s not too bad”
The UIL science test includes 20 questions on biology, 20 questions on chemistry and 20 questions on physics. The maximum score is 360 points, with each correct question scoring six points, each incorrect answer taking away two points and empty questions costing zero points.
“Your goal is to get through as much as you can,” Gupta said. “There’s strategic orders for some people, but I usually start with biology, go to chemistry, and then just see how much physics I can do. That’s always a ‘we’ll see how far we get’ situation.”
Gupta arrives at each competition around 20 minutes early, equipped with pencils and a scientific calculator for the two-hour test. Several optional invitationals and meets occur before the district round, where the top three in each category advance from district to region. Gupta advanced to the regional meet after placing third overall, third in chemistry and third in physics.
“I think one of Ankit’s best attributes is leading by example,” sophomore Connor Mckenzie said. “He’s always very on top of studying really hard for every competition and encouraging the rest of us to follow suit. He is dependable and always sets an itinerary for each meeting.”
Mckenzie also heads to the state meet after placing second overall, second in chemistry and fifth in physics. At regionals, the team, including Gupta, Mckenzie, junior Evan Cargol and sophomore Arjun Vajapeyazula, won third overall team.
“I would encourage others to try UIL because it just gives people exposure to science in general and what it means to participate in a science activity at a high level,” Gupta said. My favorite subject is chemistry because I feel like chemistry can explain a lot of biology concepts, but isn’t too mathematically complicated in comparison to physics. You can honestly intuitively understand a lot of the things with just some base principles.”
Outside of UIL academics, Gupta plays the saxophone in band and is heavily involved in HOSA where he runs a medical research club. He also participated in science bowl for two years and spent summers doing research work.
“[The teacher who impacted me the most] is really between Ms. Pearce or Ms. Muniz, both of whom have provided me with a lot of support throughout the four years of high school,” Gupta said. “Ms. Muniz helped me a lot with UIL science and science bowl, and Ms. Pearce was there to help me with a lot of HOSA stuff. I’m really grateful I could have great mentors along the way.”
According to Muniz, by the time UIL team members join, they usually have at least one field of science they feel comfortable enough to explore further. Muniz provides practice questions and sources, but mostly allows them to work with each other to solidify their own knowledge by explaining and understanding concepts.
“Ankit shows leadership by taking charge of our Google Classroom, organizing weekly meetings, teaching some concepts in chemistry and more,” Muniz said. “He also communicates with me when he needs me to have copies of practice questions printed for them to use in class. His growth and achievements through high school have been impressive.”
Starting on the district team in his junior year, Gupta placed second overall and third in chemistry at state. This year, Gupta earned fourth overall, first in biology and first in chemistry at regionals on April 25 at the University of Texas San Antonio.
“During sophomore year, it was kind of sad because I felt like I was doing pretty well with getting used to the testing format and such, but in the end, I wasn’t selected for the district team that year because there were some upperclassmen that just had more experience than I did,” Gupta said. “I was sad that I didn’t get that opportunity, but I came back next year and learned a lot more.”
While in every other subject, the number of advancers from each category is set to three, for science, the number fluctuates every year because a student can advance from just one category or multiple. Even if a student only advances for one category, they take the overall test and have the opportunity to place in another subjects like physics, chemistry, biology and overall.
“UIL taught me to just try your best and see where it takes you,” Gupta said. “Because I put as much effort as I really could have into UIL science around the other circumstances that I had, it was really successful. I encourage people to put in the work and try to do the same.”
