<p>What are some good academic awards to work towards? I've never really heard of any besides valedictorian of your class.</p>
<p>If by academic awards you mean “in school awards”, there are not many and the few that exist are not very helpful.</p>
<p>Otherwise, there exists all kinds of “awards” and competitions outside of school for all kinds of subjects (math, chemistry, history ) for instance, national history day, the different science olympiads, model united nations etc.</p>
<p>I assume you want these awards in order to stand out among other applicants. In this case, you should look more towards regional, state, and national ( if you are good enough) competitions. In school awards generally do not help; even valedictorian is not as big a deal! Depending on your school the difference in GPA between the Val and lets say another kid in your school who is in the top 5% may be minuscule. Colleges will look more towards ECs and Essays at that point.</p>
<p>That being said, it still important to have a great GPA/ courseload to be considered competitive in the first place</p>