Anonymous wrote:My kid is an equestrian and participated in national finals, "national" as in, people came from all over the country to attend and they are year end "finals". She did this for several years so this has always been described as "nationally ranked" and "national championship" level. She did not actually want to ride D1, though she was recruited, so it was just listed as an EC.

Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:My kid is an equestrian and participated in national finals, "national" as in, people came from all over the country to attend and they are year end "finals". She did this for several years so this has always been described as "nationally ranked" and "national championship" level. She did not actually want to ride D1, though she was recruited, so it was just listed as an EC.

where did your kid go to college? where did she get in?

My kid is an equestrian and participated in national finals, "national" as in, people came from all over the country to attend and they are year end "finals". She did this for several years so this has always been described as "nationally ranked" and "national championship" level. She did not actually want to ride D1, though she was recruited, so it was just listed as an EC.

OP here,

I am not asking what colleges value, or what colleges mean when they talk about national awards.

I am asking what DCUM posters who say

"My kid has national awards"

or

"My kid does an EC at a national level".

mean.

Anonymous wrote:Courseload, GPA relative to the high school, Scores(SAT and APs), and LOR from teachers are more important than awards. We know someone who had an 8 and some 3s on the above list, shut out of all T20s. Top10%, great but not max course difficulty, 1510, got Echols at UVA. Kid with a 7 on this list and two 4s and a 3, max rigor possible and valedictorian and 1570, also Echols: into multiple T10s . Both unhooked. The difference was relative rigor and rank and scores.
National level awards will not make up for an outstanding but not off the charts academic resume.

I think it depends on the HS?
We've seen national awards might help get your kid into a T25 (without max rigor but top 10% etc).....agree not for T10 without the max rigor.

Anonymous wrote:Can someone give examples?

colleges use Tiers to score the ECs. There's a post on this site about how that scoring works. Search.
Tier 1 ECs include national level ECs

also:

https://blog.collegevine.com/breaking-down-the-4-tiers-of-extracurricular-activities

https://www.collegevine.com/faq/14876/what-are-some-examples-of-tier-1-2-extracurriculars

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1213376.page


Tier 1 Extracurricular Examples:

National and International Competitions:
Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)
International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)
Google Science Fair
Model United Nations (MUN) – Best Delegate
International Baccalaureate (IB) – 45 Points
Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology
National Geography Bee
National History Day Competition – 1st Place
DECA International Career Development Conference – Top 10
HOSA International Leadership Conference – 1st Place

Leadership Roles:
Founder of a successful non-profit organization
CEO of a student-run startup with significant revenue
President of a nationally recognized student organization
Student body president with impactful initiatives
Organizer of a large-scale charity event with national coverage
Youth ambassador for a well-known international NGO
Editor-in-chief of a nationally distributed student magazine
Lead organizer of a national or international conference for youth
Music director of a nationally acclaimed youth orchestra
Captain of a national championship-winning sports team

Unique Personal Projects:
Development of a patented invention or innovation
Author of a published book on a significant topic
Solo art exhibition at a recognized gallery
Creation of a widely used open-source software project
Independent research project published in a reputable journal
Production of a documentary featured in film festivals
Design and execution of a community development project with measurable impact
Successful campaign for a cause with significant media coverage
Completion of a challenging personal goal, like climbing the Seven Summits
Creation of a viral social media campaign for social change

https://ivyd.com/tiers-of-extracurriculars-for-high-school/

Courseload, GPA relative to the high school, Scores(SAT and APs), and LOR from teachers are more important than awards. We know someone who had an 8 and some 3s on the above list, shut out of all T20s. Top10%, great but not max course difficulty, 1510, got Echols at UVA. Kid with a 7 on this list and two 4s and a 3, max rigor possible and valedictorian and 1570, also Echols: into multiple T10s . Both unhooked. The difference was relative rigor and rank and scores.
National level awards will not make up for an outstanding but not off the charts academic resume.

Odyssey of the Mind world finals

While we were so proud that DD and DS won some very nice awards, it was a bit of a bummer that the awards were made at the end of senior year. In other words, not part of the college app.

This is an incomplete list stolen from a prior anonymous post, please feel free to add more awards in bold and argue about the relative placement of awards in different categories:

National Award Levels

10: Congrats, this is your ticket

D1 athlete
IMO/IPHO/ICHO/IBO/IOI/IOAA/IOL medals
Intel STS Top 10; Siemens Finalist; ISEF Top 3 Grand Prize; Google Science Fair age group winner
History Day National Winner
Single/First Author in High Impact Factor Journal

9: Almost a ticket to a prestigious school

Siemens Westinghouse finalists; Google Science Fair Finalist; MOP; Intel STS Finalist; ISEF Best of Category
FL Nationals winner
RSI (Research Science Institute)
Published in a relatively prestigious journal

8: Amazing accomplishment; Large boost

TASP, USAPhO/USNCO/USABO/USACO National Finalist
Google Science Fair Semifinalist; Siemens Semi-finalists; Intel ISEF 1st-4th place category; Intel STS semifinalist,
Running your own successful business
USAMO qualification
AMC 12 Perfect Score, Presidential Scholar, Davidson Fellow
Writing Portfolio Gold Award, Presidential Scholar of the Arts, Scholastic Art
FIRST Dean's List winner, top 5 at FIRST World Championships,
Google Code Jam Round 2, 3 Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
Facebook Hacker Cup Round 2, 3 Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
MIT PRIMES Participant

7:

SSP, Simons, Clark Summer Program, NIH Research, and MITES and other selective programs
Science Olympiad national medals, EUCYS prizes
State governors schools with acceptance rate <15% (PGSS, NJGSS, most other science governor's schools)
USACO Platinum Division
ARML Tiebreaker Round / Top Team, YES Competition (Young Epidemiology Scholarship), USAMTS Gold Medal
Intel ISEF Finalist, History Day National Level
Scholastic Art & Writing National Gold Medal. NFL Nationals (speech and debate) "breakers" (elimination rounds), Tournament of Champions (debate) "breakers," Congressional Award Gold Medalist,

6:

USAPhO/USABO semifinals, Science Olympiad Nationals qualification
USACO Gold Division
AMC 10 Perfect Score
Less competitive governor's schools (Acceptance rate between 15% and 25%), any other scholarship summer programs not aforementioned
Congressional Award Silver Medalist, NFL Nationals/Tournament of Champions Qualifier, FBLA Nationals
Science Bowl/Ocean Science Bowl/NAQT winners, Technology Student Association Nationals
FIRST Dean's List finalist
Top 5 FIRST Super Regionals (FTC)
Scholastic Art & Writing National Silver Medal
Academic Decathlon State (CA) Honors Top 3
(6.5) Google Code Jam Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
(6.5) Facebook Hacker Cup Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)

5: Pretty good; will complement an already strong record

USAAAO
USNCO semifinals
AIME
National Latin Convention 1st Places Academic Contests,
All-Eastern/all-regional music, State History Day top 3 place
Top 5 FIRST State Championship (or Regionals for FRC), JETS TEAMS National Finalist, Skills USA Nationals
State Science Fair Winner/Top Award
Academic Decathlon State (AZ/TX/MA/WI), Nationals Top 3 Honors & California Event Golds

4:

USACO Silver Division
Science Fair Regional winner
Science Olympiad state medals (depending on what state you're from)
Science Bowl national qualification
Perfect Score (Multiple Years) on National Latin Exam
State awards (all-state music, etc)
Academic Decathlon State (AZ/TX/MA/WI) Event Golds
MUN Gavel
AMC 10/12 school winner (depends on your school)
Art and Writing Regional Gold award
Top 5 FIRST Regional (FTC)

3: Some effort involved, but not uncommon

Winning at local/regional science fairs
All-County music,
Eagle Scout, National Merit Finalist
Head of a competitive club that you did not found (ex: Mock Trial, Model UN, Science Olympiad)

2: Your average go-getter

Bank of America Awards
Local awards/trophies
Essay Contests
Regional History Day

1 : Common activities

National Honor Society
Beta Club
School Departmental Awards
School Honor Roll
Key Club, CSF, Interact Club
National Merit Commended
Member of a club with no distinctions earned

0: A dime in a dozen; meaningless

Who's Who, National Honor Roll, National Society of High School Scholars

It can mean a lot of things from very impressive to not impressive.

Olympic medal down to Scholastic stuff.

Think any national competition or organization that grant awards.

AIME- American Invitation Mathematics Exam
NLE - National Latin Exam
NACLO - North American Computational Linguistics Open Competition
Young Arts
Scholastic Writing Competition

There are a bunch of them for just about any subject area you can imagine.

Please google search this topic...you will find nearly 10 DCUM threads that covers this in all the detail you would ever need.

Competing at the national level of a sport, robotics , debate, science Olympiad for an event where you have to qualify to reach nationals…and ideally placing nationally

Young Arts, national youth orchestras , etc

Can someone give examples?