I have no good/prestigious awards. This is because
I came into high school only knowing Olympiad awards and nothing else(Like I heard other schools nominate for RPI medals? What?! My school doesn’t do things like that). By the time I figured out what the big awards were, like Intel, it was too late. I also did do an Olympiad and missed the semifinalist cutoff by like 1 question
I spent all my extra time on my EC’s since my top 4-5 activities take up a lot of time each, and I did win a few awards in them but not anything super big, like starting a Quiz Bowl team and leading the team to qualify for Nationals in our first year, which I feel takes up a lot more time than people give credit for, especially since we walked in relatively unfamiliar with the Quiz Bowl landscape.
I completely screwed up my PSAT and only got National Merit Commended, but I took the SAT after and got a 1580.
For the awards I applied for or am preparing for right now, their results won’t come out until after ED applications
It doesn’t matter if you have no big awards like Intel.
You spend a lot of time on your activities. What’s the issue?
They are not going to care about the PSAT…at all. The 1580 is spectacular.
So what?
You have some awards. It doesn’t matter if they aren’t gold at Intel. And you have given us no context for your title. Why do you think no “good” awards are a problem? If you don’t have them, you don’t have them. You can’t do anything about it. You can always update your AO when and if you get an award.
Don’t know what you did beyond starting quizbowl - great for leadership.
Maybe you had a job. Maybe you walked dogs at the animal shelter. Maybe you helped at a place of worship.
Not everything gives an award - but if you worked hard, contributed greatly to things, then you’ve made an impact.
That’s what matters - many awards students list are inconsequential. For example, made the Dean’s List…well, achieving a GPA is what matters. Or an AP this or that…well getting a 3 on at least 3 or 5 tests is what matters.
So I would not be concerned at all. I would be concerned with - what did you contribute, how did you show your passion, etc. That’s where the impact is.
OP did get Commendee…but is Semi-Finalist, Finalist, or Commendee truly not important these days? “Back in the day” it was pretty special to be the first two and good to be the third. Have things changed that much?
I agree with you though: no point sweating it, since “it is what it is”.
While I’m in no way affiliated with admissions, I personally would be turned off by stuff like Quiz Bowl, math contests (except maybe for a math/engineering candidate), spelling bees, etc. Those are canned events to demonstrate heaven knows what. OP started a Quiz Bowl team and that shows leadership potential, which I think is much more important than QB results.
I would be much more impressed with a candidate with grades, scores, and ECs demonstrating care for the community or current school. But that’s just me.
With 1580, no college will give this student extra points for not getting national merit finalist. Students who get to finalist status have to submit extra essays and recs, etc… But that is so they can get merit awards from colleges that participate in NMS. As an example, Princeton doesn’t have any NMS scholarships. The 1580 on its own is all they need to know.
OP can always write NMS Commended in the awards section, but it is not going to put an app in the accepted pile.
I posted my stuff on a chance me in July. Nothing has really changed for me since then except I received some grants for my nonprofit and I got 5’s on all my AP exams except AP Lang(4).
I was a bit worried about NMS since this year my grade had around 30 or so NMS and I wasn’t one of them, so I wondered whether this will count against me.
I think this anxiety about awards is unnecessary. Make sure to apply to your state university as well, where engineering programs are generally pretty good.
I am not sure if you are in an environment that has these kinds of pressures. I hope you also have support to counteract those pressures.
Your SAT and AP’s are stellar. I don’t have a good handle on what else you do but “awards” are hardly the only or main criteria. For schools that emphasize stats you are in excellent shape.
This is yet another post that does not mention COVID, which has had a huge impact on opportunities for high schoolers. Colleges know that. Try not to worry.
Oh - my chanceme is still on my profile. I was worried since my award #2 + award #4 are very obscure awards that really don’t mean anything, and I’ll probably have to replace them with more verifiable awards like AP Scholar + Principal’s Honor Roll, or maybe an essay contest I placed in.
I found your chance me. You will have Pitt and a SUNY. So worst case you are fine. Myself and others suggested back ups. I assume you already applied to Pitt.
You are reaching on the rest. Everyone is who applies to those level of schools you listed.
Again awards are inconsequential. It’s what you’ve done that matters. Not who said how great you are.
Agree that awards like Principal’s Honor Roll and AP Scholar will not move the needle for elite college admissions. If you do choose to update college admissions officers for these types of awards keep it short and sweet.
Apply to a mix of reach match, and safety schools that appear affordable (per the net price calculator) and that you would be happy to attend and you will be fine.
For now I recommend that you keep busy with things you enjoy and stop worrying about things you cannot change.
Since you are considering engineering, I will defer to the other more experienced posters on whether math competitions/Olympiads make any difference to top engineering schools. Perhaps they do, perhaps they don’t (some CC posts suggest they are important for admissions to top engineering schools).
As I said, I couldn’t care less about stuff like that. And, as you point out, you’re in your senior year, adding stuff now won’t be easy. However, I am neither an engineer nor an admissions person, so take this all with a grain of salt, and be guided by the others.
But your SAT score is beyond stellar. And in talking with my own DD just now, the PSAT is way down in importance than what it used to be.
By the way, the ECs you’ve done are also very good too.
Do you mean they are very minor and superficial awards, like “Participant in 2020 Danceathon” or you mean they are legitimate but uncommon awards that might merit further explanation? If the second, use the additional info section to explain them if you need to.
Are you still interested in only these colleges? You say you will be applying for aid but your family is well off. Can they pay $65,000 a year for you to attend Berkeley or UCLA? If not, take them off this list. The UCs don’t give any need based aid to OOS students and very little in merit aid.
You have a strong SAT score and a strong GPA, and your EC list is fine. This list, however, is top heavy except for the NY publics. I think you will get accepted at Pitt, but will it be affordable?
Could you maybe update your current application choices here?