<p>I participated in my first science fair this year and won Best in Category in Plant Bio, allowing me to move on to the CA State Science Fair. I feel extremely honored to have this opportunity, but I'm not completely sure if it's worth going to or not because:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>It's April 15-16, Mon-Tues, meaning I have to skip 2 days of school. I hate missing school and if there happens to be a test in one of my AP classes... even worse. (Yes, I'm a second-semester senior so I shouldn't really care as much, right? ...Nope, I still care just as much. Especially with AP tests quickly approaching.)</p></li>
<li><p>I doubt I'll win anything at CSSF; I was REALLY surprised that I won anything at my county fair. My project uses a really simple procedure, and although I did lots of background research and the actual lab work by myself, the project was assigned to me, and my mentor (who's working on a larger, related project) mostly told me which chemicals to test and did the actual statistical analysis (but she kinda explained how it worked, and it was up to me to interpret the results).</p></li>
<li><p>I have to pay for the hotel and other fees... there goes the money I won at my county fair, plus more.</p></li>
<li><p>Since I'm a HS senior, even if I won something, there's not that extra benefit of being able to put it on my college/scholarship apps.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Considering the above, is the actual experience - participating in the state science fair - worth it? Or is it just unnecessary stress with little benefit?</p>
<p>That’s really a question for you to answer. If you’re very passionate about science, just being at the fair will be a reward in itself. </p>
<p>Also, your resume doesn’t stop after senior year. You’ll still have internships, summer programs, etc. that you can apply to, and if you do place, you can always list that accomplishment on your applications. </p>
<p>I personally had a blast at the VA state science fair and would definitely opt to go again, even as a senior. But I can’t tell you how much you enjoy science fairs. If you’re really stuck, you could write out a pro/con list to organize your thoughts.</p>
<p>I definitely enjoy science and am majoring in science in college, and my experience at my county fair was pretty good; even though I was reallyy nervous while talking to the judges, it was also kinda fun. So if CSSF is similar to my local fair, I guess I WOULD enjoy it. Hopefully people at CSSF aren’t competitive to the point of being unfriendly.</p>
<p>Hm, for some reason, I never really thought about listing HS accomplishments on my post-HS resume. Isn’t it better to list current (college) activities and accomplishments once in college? Or, I guess placing at the state fair would be significant enough to list. Do you think placing in a county fair would be worth putting on future apps as well?</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your help StudiousMaximus!</p>
<p>In your later college years, you may want to try to avoid listing HS accomplishments. However, for your first few years–especially freshman year–it’s definitely appropriate to list major accomplishments from high school on job/internship applications. After all, what if you haven’t achieved that much in one year (which is understandable)?</p>