Reply to Using Noetic Math Contest Results in TJ Application?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Your kid can try to weave this in to one of the essays, but the key is not to force it.  First and foremost, the kid should make sure that they are actually answering the essay prompt.  If the prompt is about being an ethical and global citizen, the answer should not be about doing well in a math competition.  If the prompt is about being a goal-directed and resilient individual, the answer still shouldn’t just be that the kid did well in a math competition.  But if the kid overcame an obstacle and/or set a goal to do well in the competition, then the accomplishment can be slipped-in on that prompt.  But even then, the essay shouldn’t just list this as an accomplishment; instead, it should focus on the kid and say something about the kid’s personality and how it maps on to the attributes they are looking for, perhaps noting that this was the end result of the kid’s overcoming an obstacle or achieving a goal.  At the end of the day, the priority should be to write an essay that 1) says something about the kid and why they would fit into TJ; and 2) why TJ would benefit from having them attend (in other words, what would the kid add to the TJ community and its learning environment).  The accomplishments can support those themes, but they need to serve the essay’s overall goal of responding to the prompts.[/quote]

I agree.  If a kid were to force it and somewhat clumsily weave a major achievement into the essays, like making USAJMO, Mathcounts nationals, Science Olympiad nationals, or even AMC 10 top 1% honor roll, it still may likely help the kid.  For everything else, they really need to answer the portrait of a graduate essay question being asked.  They're likely to still be impressed by great results at known math or science competitions if the results are well integrated into an essay that is responsive to the question.  I doubt it's worth even trying to insert fringe contest results or somewhat mediocre achievements into the essay, unless they somehow are a perfect illustration of whatever trait the essays is requesting.

If anything, I would think that using Noetic Math contest results in absence of other math competition results would backfire.  It's a largely unknown contest that gives out a lot of awards and is relatively easy.  If your kid is portraying themselves as a math whiz who is into math contests, but they don't have good results from the two most known and most major middle school contests, it would not speak highly of your kid's abilities.  [/quote]

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