Aiming for elite colleges 2021- however, I DIDN'T KNOW HOW IMPORTANT AWARDS ARE, please help!

Applying to College
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TL;DR: My grades are good, ECs okay, but NO awards/honors. I want to go to top 20 schools. How can I still stand out this late in the process?

Please give any advice!!! I want to go to top 20 schools (Ivies, Rice, Duke, Vandy, WashU, UCs, etc), but I don’t have anything that stands out! My school is horrible with helping students (we have like 3500 students…) and as a child of immigrants, I have no knowledge in applying to college & I had no idea how important prestigious/national awards are! I want to go into STEM, specifically, med school after undergrad.

I’ve already given up on BS/MD combined programs because they are too competitive. While it was my dream to get into one, clearly I am not the same caliber as the ones who do get accepted. I am just aiming for schools with high med school acceptance percentages.

  1. I will admit, I am relatively impressive in terms of transcript, grades (all As & 12 APs as of junior year, 17 by senior year’s end), GPA (4.64 weighted, 4.0 unweighted), class rank (not recalculated yet, but about 7/780), ACT (35, first try - except, I stupidly got a 32 on math).

  2. My ECs are okay: president of 2 clubs (Key Club and School Science Club, both pretty large) and a couple other smaller officer roles in other years of HS. I was also student rep for Student Council my freshman and sophomore year but lost the other elections and I am in NHS. My most “stand out” EC is that I did was research with a professor at a prestigious university (summer 2020) and I am acknowledged in the published paper. TBH, I did get this role through connections. In addition, using the same connections, I was invited to work at an extremely prestigious lab this summer, however, given COVID, it was canceled.
    This also leads to a sub question, how would I inform colleges of this opportunity that was canceled considering that it was a very prestigious role although I did not get it through any application cycle (therefore no official title)? I know this is privileged and annoying, but I did work very hard in those roles, I learned a lot, and I am forever grateful for those opportunities.

  3. Like I said, basically no awards/honors. I guess I am in NHS which is okay, I have AP Scholar w/ honors from 2019, and the acknowledgement in the publication. I was also selected to be a junior marshal if that means anything.

  4. HOWEVER, my parents are immigrants, and as such, we had no idea about what colleges wanted other than good grades and ECs. I very last minute applied to some high level awards and scholarships: no surprise - rejected. I’m very torn because I have put in so much work into my academics at school, and I thought having a research internship would be good enough, but after looking online, it’s clearly not good enough.

  5. In addition, given the pandemic, SAT subject tests may not be possible. This means I have even less to offer, and I am very concerned given how little I have in other categories. Not to mention, I look pretty dull this summer compared to my friends in prestigious virtual internships. I guess I’m taking a few online courses and I’m keeping up through reading the above mentioned professors manuscripts, but thats not really anything impressive.

  6. Lets say my essays and teacher recommendations are great. Is this enough to get me into those schools? I know the answer is probably no, but what is something I can do to be more impressive this late in my high school career?

  7. I was going to ED Brown for their PLME, but given that I am a NC resident, I think I will ED Duke for higher chances.

Any suggestions for awards/grants/scholarships/honors/etc that are still open to applications for rising seniors (and can be added to college apps) will be greatly appreciated)

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TL;DR: My grades are good, ECs okay, but NO awards/honors. I want to go to top 20 schools. How can I still stand out this late in the process?

Reposting because I realized I should have put this at the top of my thread.

Haha. Just realized you can edit posts. I feel so dumb.

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I can only address the UC’s.

  1. Are you an in-state CA resident?
  2. UC’s will be test optional this admission cycle but your ACT of 35 will definitely be competitive and Subject tests will not be necessary if you are unable to take them.
  3. UC’s tend to be very GPA focused to your advantage.
  4. Your EC’s look fine.
  5. Your personal insight essays will have more of an impact that some awards or honors unless they national or international awards.

All you can do is present the best possible application at this point and make sure you apply widely, have 2 safety schools on your list and make sure all the schools are affordable.

UC’s give little no financial aid to out of state applicants so if you are not a CA resident, then would be close to full pay.

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Thank you so much for your response, I didn’t even expect anyone to see this!

Sadly, I do not live in CA. I live in NC. I am also an overrepresented minority, so I know I am at a great disadvantage.

My mother does work at the above mentioned prestigious university, so I actually have 75% of tuition covered by her benefit, so I am very blessed to not have to worry about price. As such, I feel the need to take advantage of this rare opportunity and get into top schools since I am so privileged to have this benefit.

I guess I’ll just have to work really hard on essays! Thanks again!

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Hi, I’m not the most experienced with answering college confidential questions but you seemed so stressed and I really wanna help. I’m also a rising senior preparing for college and let me just tell you that IT IS OK TO NOT HAVE AWARDS. Seriously. That sounds so cliche to say, but having awards is such a privileged thing for students. Competitions cost money, people have jobs, and people have family responsibilities.

Here’s a link to possible competitions you can apply for this year online that are updated everyday: https://www.idtech.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-stem-competitions-events

1.) You aren’t dumb, and you shouldn’t feel dumb. My parents are also immigrants and know nothing of the American application process. Schools will have “How did COVID-19 affect you?” prompts, so you can write about your cancelled internship/work experience and other things. My friend was going to ISEF this year but it was cancelled because of the pandemic. Lots of people have the same problem so don’t bare the burden alone.

2.) Don’t worry about subject tests. We are all in the same boat. There will be a significantly less amount of subject tests submitted this year. I won’t submit subject tests because there aren’t enough test dates, and frankly, subject tests won’t make or break anything.

3.) About your friends’ “prestigious internships,” I completely get it. I think studying a few courses online is great, and if you are really feeling bad, pick up a new hobby. Perhaps learn art? Start a portfolio? Pick up music (singing, dance, etc.)? If you get good enough, you can submit supplements to give yourself some more confidence. Browse through instagram for virtual programs. The Youth Women’s March had an application for a Feminist Camp for two months free! It isn’t a lot, but you can find so much by following a bunch of nonprofits.

4.) ESSAYS! I think the best bet you have is working on your supplements and common app essay during this time.

I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you. But I want you to know that transferring is also a possibility and is probably a more affordable option too! I hope I don’t sound too condescending or patronizing. I just understand exactly how you feel, and you should have more confidence in yourself. Start a local chapter, start clubs? Have you seen something in your community that you can contribute? I wish you luck, and I hope I could at least ease some stress.

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Hi! Thank you so much for your kind words. It did help me feel better, and you were not condescending in any way :slight_smile:

Your advice is really appreciated, and I’ll definitely check out the link!

I wish you the best of luck applying to colleges, fellow senior!

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First of all, DEEP breathe

Now let us start with a response.

Second, awards are good, awards aren’t critical. About 30,000 students will start each year at the top 20 (however you select them) most popular colleges in the USA. There are about 100-200 of these “top Awards”. Say that each has four awardees, and every student can get them each year. That is, MAYBE, 3,200 awards each year. Let us say that there are even 5,000 of these. That means that, at very most, 17% of the students who are accepted to these “T-20” colleges have big awards.

Here is the thing - these awards are BIG, because very few students get them. Big Awards increase the chances of admissions, however, most students are accepted without having Big Awards.

The most important thing, the VERY MOST important thing for admissions for any college are your academic standards. With a 4.0 UW GPA, with an extremely rigorous curriculum, you’ve got that down. Having that GPA, a ACT of 35, and a solid set of ECs makes you a solid applicant for any college, including the most popular.

The students who come on here asking to be chanced are a very small sample of the type of students who will be applying to the most popular colleges.

Third, you should not be stressed about Getting Into A T-20.

Getting into a T-20 is not a life goal, nor should you put it as your life’s goal. You are smart, you are ambitious, you are talented.

Instead of thinking “WOW, I’m all that, so I MUST attend a T-20 or I will Fail At Life!!!”. you should think “I’m really good, so no matter where I will attend, I will succeed!!”

In all honesty, you have not thought at all about college, except to obsesses about a need to attend a prestigious college. That is unhealthy and it means that you really ahven’t thought about what you want to do in college, what you want to accomplish, what you want to explore, where you want to be after college.

The most important factor in college is (drumroll, please) affordability. Can your parents afford the cost of you attending any of the colleges on your list? Many students are so obsessed with Being Accepted that they forget that they will need to pay once they are accepted.

The second most important factor in college is FIT. You need to fit into the college, and the college needs to be a good place for you. Here is the thing - nobody is a good fit for all the so-called “T-20”, since each of them is different. It is more important that your college is a good place for you than that it be prestigious. Imagine getting into Harvard and being miserable there for four years, or worse, for three years and then dropping out.

None of those T-20s are paradises on Earth, where every one of your needs will be fulfilled. They are great college, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, pluses and minuses. There is absolutely no guarantee that any of these will be a good fit for you, and I am absolutely certain that at least half won’t be good fits.

There are also no such colleges as THE T-20. Not only do the rankings constantly change as the criteria change, but there is absolutely no way in which to provide some objective measure as to who is “Best”. It depends on what you are looking for, and what major you want. You don’t go to Harvard to study Natural Resource Management nor do you go to Caltech to study English Literature. You don’t go to an Urban University a if you want a campus in a rural setting, nor do you attend a small rural Liberal Arts College if you are looking for an urban environment. If you thrive in large, vibrant communities, colleges with student bodies of under 5,000 will not be good places for you. And so forth and so on.

Do you prefer an open curriculum, do you prefer a diverse student community, do you prefer a more progressive student body or a more conservative student body? There was a young man who, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, said that he was looking for the college with the most comfortable dorms.

There are, literally, hundreds of colleges and universities out there which provide a world-class education, and at least a few dozen will be places where you will be happy for four years as you attend college, not only for four days after you are accepted.

Do not focus on THE T-20 as though they are the solution to all your life’s problems, and that if you are not accepted to a “T-20” your life will end. They are not, it will not, and you will be a lot happier of you stop thinking in that manner. You will be a lot happier now and a lot happier attending whichever College you end up attending, whether it be a “T-20”, or another one of the many many amazing schools out there.

Don’t think of college as a place to which you “need to be accepted”. Think of it as a place where you will spend four years, and think what you will need in order to succeed and thrive for those four years.

Success is not “being accepted to a T-20”. Success is finding the college which is right for you, which you can afford, and from which you will graduate in four years, well prepared to take on your next life’s challenges.

Now, back to affordability - what is your family’s NPC?

Also, are you first generation to attend college in your family?

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Out of curiosity, what is your prospective major? Considering Med School’s the final destination, I’m guessing a biological science?

My take is that the vast majority of high school seniors applying to colleges haven’t done stuff that’s absolutely incredible in terms of awards. The dudes you see on College Confidential with International Science Olympiad medals and national essay competitions tend to be of a self-selected minority. ED-ing Duke, I’d say you’ve got a fantastic chance as your academics are insane and your EC’s clear the threshold. I’ve also heard that ED at Duke has an acceptance rate of 30-40% or something so I wouldn’t be too worried about not having awards tbh (I was planning on ED-ing there too, but it’s too hard for me to give up cheaper education at other places :/)

Also some general advice, learn to not compare yourself with others. Seriously, I royally crashed and burned sophomore year getting caught up in all the college drama and it took a full year for my mental health to stabilize and stop following a sine curve. That’s a more extreme example, but it’s important to learn how to live for yourself and get your head on straight before college (and med school, in your case) shoves you through a grinder.

Look, if you could succeed at Harvard, Duke, Dartmouth, or otherwise, chances are you would also thrive going to another lesser-ranked college. Undergrad is not the end all be all. How hard you grind and learn how to kill it in life makes more of a difference.

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I agree with the the above post that you can defiantly mention your research oppurtunity in the COVID-19 section that is what that section is all about

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Thank you so much for your extensive answer, it really put things in perspective for me and calmed me down a little :slight_smile:

I guess you’re right about being a good fit and such, but along with the “affordability”, my parents work at the above mentioned university and thus has the extremely coveted benefit of my tuition being 75% covered by the university. That being said, I feel the immense pressure to take advantage of this since I know this is a position many kids would kill for. This opportunity is so rare and I feel so privileged to have it, so I just need to “pay back” my parents for their hard work and stuff, and I feel like the only way to do that is to get into a great college. I know they’ll be proud of me no matter what, but it’s just the self created stress. I’m certainly working on placing less emphasis on my academics as a form of my self worth, but clearly I still have a bit to go.

My parents went to college in Asia and not America, so I’m not necessarily 1st gen to go to college, but I am the first from my family to go here in America (only child). I still have a lot to learn but your response really took some of the stress off.

Thanks again! :smiley:

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Thank you for replying :slight_smile:

You’re right, I will probably major in some form of biological science or something chem based like biochem.

Thanks for reminding me not to compare myself to others. I go to an extremely competitive high school and you’re completely right about the mental health part… I’m working on not comparing myself to others, but when your friends are shoo-ins for places like stanford and princeton, it’s a little hard :confused:

And I guess Duke might be more possible when you put it like that :slight_smile: I really hope I can make it, and I hope you find a great college that’s affordable. I wish affordability wasn’t an issue for you because it seems like you’re a great person.

Best of luck applying :slight_smile:

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Okay, thank you for confirming! I just hope I don’t sound like I’m complaining.

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Does your mother work at Duke and you will get 75% of your tuition covered? If so, this is a no-brainer, run the numbers to make sure it’s affordable but I would apply ED in a heart beat. @udonlord FYI - Duke’s ED rate is 23.5% (not 30-40%) but will give OP a very decent chance as she is NC resident, parent who works at the college, 35 ACT, 4.6 wgpa and top 1% class rank.

By the way you said a few classmates are “shoo-ins” for Stanford and Princeton but unless they are highly recruited athletes (or something similar) its a high reach for them. Also, Duke isn’t second fiddle to those colleges and has a great national and international reputation as well as great programs in biological sciences, biomedical engineering, and chemistry if you are looking to get into medical school. **one caveat, undergrad GPA is very important as a “premed” so I would really research other colleges that are matches and safeties where you can get a high GPA in case you don’t get an ED acceptance or are deferred.

And to answer your question about needing lots of awards, it’s not that important if you have many other factors going for you like grades, test scores, highest class rank, geography. I will point out that LOR and essays will be very important that you tell the story of why you would be a great fit for the college. What makes you different, special, someone that the adcoms will say “I like this kid, they will thrive on our campus” and will go to bat for you in the committee meetings? Package yourself well…

Good luck to you and keep us apprised of your college choice(s).

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You have a decent shot at Duke. You are a strong candidate for UNC-CH (given the county you likely live in, not a true ‘safety’, but a strong likely). NC State is likely a safety. All three of those are affordable and all three will prep you for medical school.

I don’t know which (if any?) schools have tuition reciprocity with Duke, so if the 75% discount only applies to Duke have you done an affordability check for any of the other schools that you consider “great”?

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Not at all. At many high schools, too much pressure is put on students surrounding which colleges they “should” apply to, and that they “must” get into a “T-20” college or they are a failure. So it’s not surprising that you are worried or freaking out - I’m pretty sure that half of your classmates are in the same situation.

I hope that you feel a bit more relaxed now.

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Thanks for your kind words! My mother does have that great benefit which I am very lucky to have which is why I am EDing Duke. I will definitely have other match and safeties because, like you said, that undergrad GPA for med school is so vital. Thanks again for your advice!

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Yes - I believe that the benefit covers any private or out of state school, thus, the other schools should be covered. I will definitely still have to check overall price, but as of now, it feels like it would be a shame to not take advantage of this great benefit many kids would kill for.

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Yes, I definitely feel better after looking at these responses. You guys are great!

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That is an incredible opportunity with the 75% tuition at Duke. You would get a fantastic education and I really hope that you get in!