Hi all! I am applying to a top college and I was wondering what awards/contest I should partake in. I have excellent academic scores: Almost perfect SAT scores, ACT scores, SAT II, 10 APs all 5s, etc.) and I plan to major in Finance in college. Any suggestions would help a lot.
You can’t generate awards; they are awarded to you based on your commitment and work.
The adcoms can sniff out padded resumes.
I think that you misunderstood my question. What I am trying to say is what contests (Intel, USAMO, etc.) I should participate in.
Why not all of them?
I don’t know what contest to apply to. Please give me suggestions not obvious answers. Thanks.
The Olympics.
Yes it’s a silly answer, but you know the old expression…
Please, serious answers guys.
Dude stop asking such useless questions. There is no list of awards that will guarantee you into your dream school. Apply for awards you are interested in.
You can’t just participate in USAMO and Intel just for the heck of it… the kids I know who went to USAMO have been learning difficult contest math since they were 5 or 6 and they ended up in college level math by the 8th grade. Both of them spend 20 hours a week doing math to prep for AMC and AIME, and they didn’t even place at USAMO doing that.
As for Intel, I know no one who qualified for it, but I know people who recieved significant state level research awards. It took them 3-4 hours per day over 2 years to prepare those projects, so I’m assuming Intel would take even more.
@annana is correct. To participate in Intel’s ISEF, students work on a STEM research project for a year, then enter a regional or state science fair. From there they are chosen for ISEF. Most students who are chosen have been participating in science fairs since middle school. But it doesn’t sound like the OP is interested in STEM.
If you are interested in finance, look at DECA competitions. Our school went to a regional competition and then a few students qualified for nationals in Nashville.
You could also join your school’s Model United Nations team. There are awards given at every conference and participation hones public speaking skills - no matter what field you want to major in during college. Good luck!
I looked at your profile. Congrats to you for your achievements to date. You’re just looking for icing for your cake. Perhaps spend less time on how you look versus a person who actually wants to help others or learn. This naked grab at honors or awards is unseemly. I’m sure you’ll get into some nice schools.
But this award whoring is distasteful. You better hope you’re good at masking this type of mercenary attitude with your teachers b/c it will come across in their rec letters and in your personal statements.
You go as far as you can in something you are interested in. You don’t get into college just based on awards. Please read your post as a stranger would and think about how it sounds. Then please go back and reread all these responses. Colleges will not be impressed by meaningless awards if there is nothing else behind those awards.
Are you interested in writing? Get something published, enter writing competitions, submit to your school literary magazine. Bike riding? Join a riding group, do a charity ride. Dancing? Participate in a dance group, learn different dance styles. Bee keepng? Keep a hive, harvest honey and make recipes with it. Be involved in the things that interest you and don’t worry about awards. My kid got into a bunch of great colleges with no awards at all. There weren’t HYPSM, but so what? DO WHAT INTERESTS YOU.
Dude, as @encadyma mentioned earlier, all of them. Only your performance will determine what awards you will get.
Personally, I agree with @T26E4. This award whoring attitude for the pure sake of college admissions is distasteful. I hope you don’t actually try to change your last name too as you suggested in the other thread. I don’t know what your parents think. Even if you get into a highly ranked school by that, I don’t think other people will think highly of you.
Oh… This is the person who got DNA tested. 96% asian, 2% white, 25 african and is planning on writing “mixed race” to further his/her chances. Wow. Just wow.
Who would even GET DNA tested?
Go join your Business Professionals of America chapter at your school and compete in something related to finance.
Thanks jbdrakee for your answer. This is the kind of answer that I was looking for.
If usamo is too hard, look into chem, bio, physics, or astronomy Olympiads. It’s easier to make it past first round for those than to qualify for usamo. Scholastic art and writing contests are good. If you’re interested in science try to do research and apply to a selective summer program. Only pick contests that match your interests and strengths though
Thanks for the insightful answer! By the way, is there any history competitions that I could participate in? (I am very interested in history)
Why don’t you google history competitions? If you want some unobjective advice, search the Internet. And by the way, your grammar needs improvement. “Competitions” is plural and you should have said “are.”
And btw, I am very sure you might also have some Native American in you, so be sure to put that down, as well as being black. 
Ways to get involved with history stuff: National History Day. Also The Concord Review.