Most students at The Charter School of Wilmington may not know it, but the next Einsteins could be in their midst.

In an unprecedented result both for the school and for the state of Delaware, three finalists from Charter were named to the U.S. Physics Team.

Most years, it is rare even for one student from Delaware to survive the rounds of elimination in the process, let alone three from one school.

“It is surprising, but very nice…These are first rate minds,” physics teacher David Stover said.

Despite Stover’s astonishment, The Charter School of Wilmington is hardly new to success when it comes to the U.S. Physics Team, albeit never with as many students as this year.

In past years, Chintak Hossein and Chor Hang Lam both made the national team, although they were each the sole representative from Delaware in their year. Beyond that, Hossein was also the first national representative ever from Delaware.

Before the naming of the finalists, Stover was already excited by the fact that six students entered the semifinalist round consisting of 200 of the top scorers on a qualifying exam, something that had never before occurred in school history.

Senior Kyle Srivastava; juniors Hetul Patel and Phil Tynan; and sophomores Rui Hu, Ben Connell, and Chetak Hossain were the top scorers who became semifinalists.

After yet another exam, Patel, Tynan, and Hu emerged as three out of the 24 finalists nationwide.

They will join the other 21 students at a six-day camp in Maryland in May, where they will practice problems with team coaches. From the sessions there, five students will be chosen to represent the United States at the 37th International Physics Olympiad at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore from July 8 to 17.

Despite their immense success, all three stay humble about their achievements.

“Usually I don't go out and tell people that I've made the physics team; it is just a part of my nature [not to],” Patel said.

Hu insists that he is not a prodigy of any kind, and that others could attain similar results more easily that he could.

“I'm definitely not the best in my class in terms of studying for exams. So I would think that more people will make the team once they have learned enough physics,” Hu said.

Of the three, Hu and Tynan both feel reasonably confident in making the team again next year, and both aspire to make the U.S. Mathematics Team as well. Patel will be unable to compete for a spot on either as he will be attending the California Institute of Technology next fall.

Before heading off to college, he leaves behind a bit of advice about how to approach the team tryouts.

“Practice and get sufficient sleep on the night before the exam,” he said. “Also, if you cannot get any answers, it would be a good idea to try different approaches to the problems, rather than giving up entirely.”

If completely out of approaches altogether, Tynan suggests a trick that Lam once shared with him.

“I'll give the same advice that Chor gave me: ‘Whenever you don't know anything, just square E and everything will be alright’,” Tynan said.

Whatever their individual strategies, hopefully Tynan, Hu, and Patel will have continued victories when competing at the national level in May.

Statistics about the International Physics Olympiad:

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Number of Finalists for the U.S. Team: 24

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Number of U.S. Representatives to be Chosen for the Traveling Team: 5

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Place of International Competition: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

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Date of Competition: July 8-17

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Format of Competition: 5 hours for a three-question theoretical examination and another 5 hours for a laboratory-based practical examination

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Awards Won by the U.S. from 1986-2005: 26 Gold Medals, 20 Silver Medals, 26 Bronze Medals, 11 Honorable Mentions