<p>Just how important are awards for being admitted to MIT? I've won some local awards for debate and speech teams, but nothing major. The only other things are NMS and AP Scholar with Distinction. Is this likely to be a disadvantage, or will it just not affect me much either way?</p>
<p>Well, high-level awards are obviously great if you have them, but if you don't, they're not going to look at your application, sniff haughtily, and put it in the shredder. :)</p>
<p>Lots of people get in each year without national or state-level awards. They're definitely not a requirement.</p>
<p>The key idea of getting accepted is that MIT thinks your overall application is special, this including your characters, leaderships, service to others, and many other things not just awards and grades.</p>