<p>Sadly, my awards/honors section seems very thin. The only things I have are a couple of debate/public speaking awards.</p>
<p>What are some contests/awards people can apply for? How <em>do</em> people fill up this section?</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it. Most applicants lack awards. Most colleges don’t factor awards into admissions decisions. At most, the awards are used for merit aid consideration.</p>
<p>Thanks, northstarmom! I hadn’t known that.</p>
<p>If you’re going for top private schools though, awards can be quite important. Look for local awards and ask your counselor. We had for example an “Outstanding Junior” competition at our school that qualifies as an award.</p>
<p>Awards are pointless…extra curricular is more important</p>
<p>The few colleges that factor awards into admissions decisions are the most competitive colleges – places like Harvard, Stanford, and Amherst where so many outstanding students apply that even being a National Merit scholar doesn’t make students stand out in admission. An Olympic gold medalist was turned down by Harvard within recent years. Even at such colleges, some students get in who don’t have awards.</p>
<p>Northstarmom: The colleges I’m looking at (Harvard-caliber) do factor in rewards.</p>
<p>So, does anyone have suggestions for contests, etc. to apply to? I’ve looked in the local area a little, but living in Vermont there aren’t too many serious opportunities.</p>
<p>You don’t need to have awards to get into Harvard, which is my alma mater. It’s silly to try to hunt down and win awards to try to get into Harvard. If you happen to live in a rural place where not many people go to college or go to top colleges, that may be a far better tip factor than getting some award that doesn’t mean much. There aren’t a lot of students from rural environments who have the stats for Harvard and interest in going there.</p>
<p>Ok, thanks, that’s reassuring.</p>
<p>(The reason this came up is I’m in the process of applying for TASP.)</p>
<p>TASP is a major honor. That’s because it’s very competitive and getting in reflects great intellectual passion, something that is highly desired by adcoms and is rare even among Ivy applicants. </p>
<p>Good luck to you!</p>