How common is a list of awards in boarding school applicants? Obviously it is a younger audience applying to schools (not as much of a resumé as college) but would anyone say kids have some already?
I have a handful of state awards for presentations, projects, etc. with only one national one. Just wanted to see how I was standing with these, no clue!!! I know it isn’t the most competitive, though. Just curious!
Some kids will have some awards. My kids both had sports awards, state cup, national championship but in a team sport. I think this section is probably one of the least important and most often over blown.
My kid had classmates who had been at a national level in sports the school didn’t offer, classmates who had been in award winning films, and kids who had won national music contests to namea few. He also had classmates who probably left that section blank.
The beauty of an award is that it CAN show a level of accomplishment in an objective way. Clearly all of those mentioned above did. At the same time, every one of those kids had not only talent, but also a parent who was willing and able to drive to lessons, pay for coaching, and accommodate the necessary scheduling. Schools understand that everyone may not be in that position.
Having awards can “verify” ability but the AOs are also pretty slick at weighing them as they evaluate applicants.
Definitely list them if you have them - they help paint a picture of who you are. But don’t assume that they will be a huge differentiator.