<p>what are some good nationally recognized academic competitions?</p>
<p>not essay contests or anything really science related</p>
<p>I don't know nationally, but in TX, UIL is big.</p>
<p>academic decathlon maybe?</p>
<p>Debate Team, Junior Statesman of America, and Mock Trial.</p>
<p>Junior State of America is not an academic competition, but an organization of students interested in political action and debate. Organizations like Quizbowl and Academic Decathlon are academic competitions. If you are looking for something more science related, there are some Olympiads, but those are pretty hardcore compared to the easier, albeit waaay more well-rounded competitions like Acadec.</p>
<p>Yeah, in my opinion the hardcore ones like AMC and USABO and USAChO are the best...but I do Acadec too and it's fun if you like humanities a little.</p>
<p>academic games! I'm a member of mlag..the michigan league of academic games.</p>
<p>apart from amc and other official science olympiads, I doubt the validity of the competition. I think colleges simply view your awards/honors on debate team, TSA, academic team as mere sign of whether you actually participated or not.</p>
<p>That sucks for me because I have been active on the Acadec team for two years now. Last year I only competed at the state level and I didn't get any medals (they aren't that rare but they are hard to get, especially at state level on the A team). Then this year I participated but couldn't make the regional competition because of band and we didn't make it to states. At this point I'm questioning even mentioning Acadec on my app unless I do better next year.</p>
<p>academic decathlon is recognized right?</p>
<p>Yeah, don't worry it totally is.</p>
<p>Mock trial and any of the olympiads, USAMO especially if you're into math.</p>
<p>anymore?</p>
<p>10 char</p>