What are these "national awards" that every kid on here has?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think ops point is that they are not as fancy or impressive as they sound (many of them, anyway). I think that’s true. My kid kicked butt on the national Spanish exam. I’d take a long deep breath before describing it as a “national award.” But I think that’s what others on these board do.

Agree. I am the parent of the dancer above. I’d never describe it as a national award but I think some parents do.

[Anonymous]

There’s also a whole bunch of national awards at the various speech and debate tournaments ( 3 big ones). Not jut the winners in each category but on the debate side as far down as double octo- finalist which is pretty amazing

[Anonymous]

How about FBLA State/National Finalist?

[Anonymous]

Regeneron, national level debate, math/ Chen olympiads- those are the big ones. National language are a dime a dozen, but my dd still listed hers

[Anonymous]

Nationals for sports 🏀 🏈 ⚽️ ice skating

[Anonymous]

A ton of competitions have national awards.

My sister won at National History Day - which meant she won’t county, state, and then nationals.

Plenty of sports, arts, and academic organizations have national competitions

Not sure what’s confusing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:National Latin Exam

And the other national language exams.

[Anonymous]

“Every kid”

Do you always resort to hyperbole?

[Anonymous]

If you compete in nationals in anything: Quizbowl, a sport final, a music or chess competition, a national poetry contest with lots of entries -- it's a national award. If there are kids from multiple states (not just the DMV) and your kid wins, fair game for being called a national award. And if there are kids from multiple countries, it's an international award.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think ops point is that they are not as fancy or impressive as they sound (many of them, anyway). I think that’s true. My kid kicked butt on the national Spanish exam. I’d take a long deep breath before describing it as a “national award.” But I think that’s what others on these board do.

Agree. I am the parent of the dancer above. I’d never describe it as a national award but I think some parents do.

And I think you’re just plain wrong not to. It’s not even a matter of a difference of opinion. You are incorrect to deny it’s a national award when it clearly is.

[Anonymous]

Admissions officers are asking the same question when they see some of the claims that they are not familiar with or impressed by.

[Anonymous]

Is getting to nationals in speech and debate meaningful or do you need to break to elim rounds? What about invites to things like TOC??

[Anonymous]

I would consider C-SPAN Student Cam competition a national award. There was a post about this year's winners in the MCPS forum.

[Anonymous]

National French Exam and National German Exam also not explicitly mentioned.

It’s so myopic to only think of stem awards. There are of multiple, highly competitive, well-regarded by admissions reviewers that are non-stem national awards out there. Most scholastic awards build prominently into merit scholarships for many students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On CommonApp Honors category, you are supposed to list your awards and the levels- regional, state, national or international. A simple Google can verify. You cannot lie.

My kid has regional and national awards in sport (Individual)….