"Academic Honors" Section on Common App: Please Help!

Applying to College
1

Bonjour my friends! I am currently a senior in high school applying to colleges, and I have 3 questions about the activities and honors section.

Number 1- The app asks to list academic awards, but I added my 2 video contest awards (one I got 1st place, the other a 2nd runner up). Does that count as academic?? I’m not sure…

Number 2- I’ve also won some Science Olympiad states awards (placed 3rd, 4th, 5th in New Hampshire, a teeny state). It’s great but not fantastic, considering I’m applying to competitive places like Dartmouth and Tufts. I wrote them in the activities under my Sci Oly entry where it says “Please describe this activity, including what you accomplished and any recognition you received, etc.” Should I write them again in the honors section? (or at least the 3rd place one?) It seems like overkill to me, but my family says I should.

Number 3- I got a Yale book award at the end of junior year. I feel like a lot of people get those… Should I write it in the honors section even though I’m applying to Harvard? I don’t want to piss off the admissions officers because of the rivalry or something :))

If anyone who’s experienced in the college app process can answer at least one of these, I would appreciate it so much!! Thank you in advance!

2

I’m not sure about the first, but for #2 I wouldn’t write them again in the honors section. And for #3, I would put the book award in the honors section. I don’t think it’ll bother Harvard lol

btw- I’m a high school senior too, so you might wanna see what other peeps say!

3

not xperienced (senior as well) but…
all these r good
for number 2, i would put it in both categories- thats what i did.
I dont think it matters, and in activity seciton focus more on what the actual event is about and in honors section focus on awards
I would put all these awards if these are the only ones u have. if these are the best, its wise to fll up as many awards as possible

4
  1. Are you referring to your GITW awards that you listed in your chance me? Then I would say yes - academic is a very broad term.
  2. It depends. What other honors have you earned? Most applicants will list them in order of prestige (international; national; state; regional; school) - so for example, Regeneron STS, National Merit Semifinalist, Science Olympiad state medalist, regional robotics competition medalist, Yale book award. Do you have 5 awards better than SciOly states? If not, then I think it should go in the awards section. As for repeating it in the activities section, do you have any leadership positions on the team? That should go first. Also, did you win any regional or invitational medals? You can include those in the activities section. If it doesn't fit, you can put it in additional info and just write something like.... "Medalist at state, regional and invitational competitions. Please refer to the Additional Information section." My kid did something along those lines for his application.
  3. No, you don't need to worry about it. Book awards are sponsored by alumni associations and awarded in conjunction with the high school's administration/guidance office. Basically, you get it because your school thinks you're really smart and have good character.