College applicants can't figure out what awards impress admissions
12 posts in the last 90 days, all from r/ApplyingToCollege.
“hi guys, for context I'm an asian-american male, first-gen, and STARS. i have a few awards that I'm trying to decide between listing. note that i also plan on applying somewhere in the biochem field (or any major that involve bio, chem, math, tech, etc.) and that might affect…”
“Is it worth putting hours in such competitions knowing AI will ruin your application chances and value? And if so, which competition shall be more significant?”
“I know that winning something like an IMO Gold Medal can make an applicant extraordinarily competitive for HYPSM. But I was wondering: how much do other, less universally recognized awards matter in admissions? For example, I’m a member of my country’s national debate team and…”
Applicants struggle to determine which awards or recognitions are worth listing on college applications, especially for newer or niche competitions. The ambiguity leads to wasted effort and uncertainty about how admissions committees will perceive their achievements.
SOURCES (12)
“hi guys, for context I'm an asian-american male, first-gen, and STARS. i have a few awards that I'm trying to decide between listing. note that i also plan on applying somewhere in the biochem field (or any major that involve bio, chem, math, tech, etc.)…”
“Is it worth putting hours in such competitions knowing AI will ruin your application chances and value? And if so, which competition shall be more significant? submitted by /u/Potential_Top_4669 [link] [comments]”
“I know that winning something like an IMO Gold Medal can make an applicant extraordinarily competitive for HYPSM. But I was wondering: how much do other, less universally recognized awards matter in admissions? For example, I’m a member of my country’s national debate team and competed at the World Schools Debating Championship, where I received a single-digit Best Speaker ranking. How significant would an achievement like that be in the admissions process? submitted by /u/user203938”
“I'm having trouble deciding to add awards or not into my honors/awards section in common app. for example: i got top 7 in a science olympiad event not related to my intended major in my state, but i dont know if it's good enough to put on my honors list, can these things ever hurt you or should you just list all the awards you were able to get regardless? submitted by /u/AmazingButterfly6172 [link] [comments]”
“hi!! i’m a current senior applying to college, and was wondering if any AOs could explain how much weight awards carry in the admissions process? for context, i have 1 national award that is a well known writing competition, and i received the highest honors in that competition possible. i also have 3 regional writing awards. 1 is a first place journalism award, 1 is a journalism recognition, and another is a 2nd place poetry award. i’m planning on applying to schools for humanities based degree”
“I see so many posts about “good EC” so let’s rank EC’s and see where they fit S+ : Olympic medalist, IMO/IOI/IPhO/IChO/IBO medalist S : Olympian, international academic Olympiad team, truly elite international achievement A : National champion or medalist, top national academic/research winner, elite nationally ranked athlete B : State champion, national qualifier/finalist, strong academic competition achievement C : State-level recognition, varsity captain, substantive research, club president,”
“How hard is it to get aid as an international at Stanford without major awards like Olympiads, ISEF, etc. submitted by /u/Electrical_Mall_9525 [link] [comments]”
“Was named Semi-finalist in ICSC, Is this considered a strong honor to list in the Common App Honors section? How much weight does it usually carry? submitted by /u/Nearby-Tennis-8261 [link] [comments]”
“What's worth more in applying to college? Having bronze in international psychology Olympiad or having silver in national psychology olympiad? submitted by /u/Nona_1369 [link] [comments]”
“I am going to apply for colleges and heard that the competition has a bad reputation among AO's (admission officers) and I am lost on whether to put it. I received a good amount of medals and even got a trophy for team debate alongside being the team captain of my team. Would that be worth it to put on my college application? submitted by /u/HKumar1243 [link] [comments]”
“I have a bronze award in International Psychology Olympiad - it's not silver, it's not gold, it's bronze. I'm also international top 10 in advanced thinking. I was wandering whether this give you any benefits in entering college, because I've heard that international olympiad awards are pretty useless unless you have a gold award? submitted by /u/Remarkable-Call3566 [link] [comments]”
“I'm trying to figure out whether an award is worth listing in my Common App Honors section. I placed in the top 10 out of 280 participants in the International Cognition Olympiad (INCO). I think its their second year running the competition so its pretty new. How would you view this from an admissions perspective? Does its lack of prestige significantly reduce its value, or is a top-10 international finish still a strong honor? For context, I'm applying to T20 schools as an Applied Math”