Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is an incomplete list:

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

This is incredible. Thank you!

It's a great list, but Eagle Scout (and Gold for Girl Scouts) ranks higher. A lot of colleges and universities love to see Eagle/Gold Star because it indicates a commitment and follow through over a number of years to a goal. Many college students no longer have that ability, so AOs watch for this. My Eagle scout got in everwhere he applied except for three Ivies where he was waitlisted.

Anonymous wrote:In our private hs, kids don't have any of these awards yet they got in T5 regularly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The additional twist is that there are dozens of international students each year winning gold medals at IMO, IphO etc. But many of those students come from small countries where it's much easier to qualify. Not saying they are not brilliant or anything, but it's about 50-100 times harder to qualify for the US team than, say, Austrian.

50-100? If that was true, the US TST would be way harder than the IMO, which it isn't. Medaling at the IMO from a random country is not significantly easier than making the US IMO team.

yes, it is. you are competing with 50-100 times fewer kids to get there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The additional twist is that there are dozens of international students each year winning gold medals at IMO, IphO etc. But many of those students come from small countries where it's much easier to qualify. Not saying they are not brilliant or anything, but it's about 50-100 times harder to qualify for the US team than, say, Austrian.

50-100? If that was true, the US TST would be way harder than the IMO, which it isn't. Medaling at the IMO from a random country is not significantly easier than making the US IMO team.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This doesn’t make any sense, honestly? Winning a national competition (a single student in the USA) is just one tier above president of a club? What?

At our school, anyone can get president of the club if they really want it because not many kids want to do it. The same kid has like 4 president of this and that club because nobody wanted it. Also our clubs barely meet.

Really selective schools are not going to care about club president unless that club does something noteworthy

My thoughts exactly. Nobody cares if you were president of the art national honors society. It’s not going to make a huge difference over one kid or another. These admissions officers aren’t stupid.

But some things will make an impression - President of DECA is a good one. Very competitive at the large and smart publics. So too Editor in Chief of an award winning school newspaper. When there are 3000 kids at the school, some positions are extremely difficult to get. And those kids invariably go to top 20 schools.

Also, national awards with some of the regional science clubs - American Rocketry Challenge, Unmanned Aerial Systems, Robotics. DC is a total nerd fest if you look for it. And those kids do very well at the national competitions. There are some really accomplished and passionate mentors that participate in this. It's very cool if you are nerd-inclined.

Anonymous wrote:The additional twist is that there are dozens of international students each year winning gold medals at IMO, IphO etc. But many of those students come from small countries where it's much easier to qualify. Not saying they are not brilliant or anything, but it's about 50-100 times harder to qualify for the US team than, say, Austrian.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This doesn’t make any sense, honestly? Winning a national competition (a single student in the USA) is just one tier above president of a club? What?

At our school, anyone can get president of the club if they really want it because not many kids want to do it. The same kid has like 4 president of this and that club because nobody wanted it. Also our clubs barely meet.

Really selective schools are not going to care about club president unless that club does something noteworthy

My thoughts exactly. Nobody cares if you were president of the art national honors society. It’s not going to make a huge difference over one kid or another. These admissions officers aren’t stupid.

But some things will make an impression - President of DECA is a good one. Very competitive at the large and smart publics. So too Editor in Chief of an award winning school newspaper. When there are 3000 kids at the school, some positions are extremely difficult to get. And those kids invariably go to top 20 schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This doesn’t make any sense, honestly? Winning a national competition (a single student in the USA) is just one tier above president of a club? What?

At our school, anyone can get president of the club if they really want it because not many kids want to do it. The same kid has like 4 president of this and that club because nobody wanted it. Also our clubs barely meet.

Really selective schools are not going to care about club president unless that club does something noteworthy

My thoughts exactly. Nobody cares if you were president of the art national honors society. It’s not going to make a huge difference over one kid or another. These admissions officers aren’t stupid.

Anonymous wrote:The additional twist is that there are dozens of international students each year winning gold medals at IMO, IphO etc. But many of those students come from small countries where it's much easier to qualify. Not saying they are not brilliant or anything, but it's about 50-100 times harder to qualify for the US team than, say, Austrian.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is an incomplete list:

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

IMO medal is not harder than getting to IMO. 1/2 of all participants at IMO win medals.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This doesn’t make any sense, honestly? Winning a national competition (a single student in the USA) is just one tier above president of a club? What?

Tier 1 - National recognition

Name brand competition wins. National championships in sports (individual better than team), Deca, NSDA, USAMO, etc. URM also counts as a free tier 1 EC.

Tier 2 - Regional recognition

Varsity sport leadership, major club leadership, etc. ABRSM 8, black belt in karate, etc also fall in here although because they have no synergy with major, they are worth far less than major specific EC's.

Tier 3 - Everything else, thanks for participating

College Vine has an excellent tier list. You can enter your own EC in profile and see how it stacks up.

Generally you need tier 2's to crack a t20. Multiple tier 2's or tier 1 to hit t5.

EC's that synergize with your major gives double the benefit. I.e. if your goal is CS in MIT, NSDA national champion of debate is not nearly as valuable as USAMO. Even if they are roughly same tier.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This doesn’t make any sense, honestly? Winning a national competition (a single student in the USA) is just one tier above president of a club? What?

At our school, anyone can get president of the club if they really want it because not many kids want to do it. The same kid has like 4 president of this and that club because nobody wanted it. Also our clubs barely meet.

Really selective schools are not going to care about club president unless that club does something noteworthy

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This doesn’t make any sense, honestly? Winning a national competition (a single student in the USA) is just one tier above president of a club? What?

At our school, anyone can get president of the club if they really want it because not many kids want to do it. The same kid has like 4 president of this and that club because nobody wanted it. Also our clubs barely meet.