<p>I'm currently a rising senior and I read a lot about how students should NOT put awards they won before high school on their college application forms.
But back in 2008 I won a Gold Medal (the 1st) in National Robot Competition which is really important for me since I'm considering applying for a engineering major in college.</p>
<p>So I want to know is there any possibility that this award will make me stand out among all the applicants? I don't mean to brag but rather to show my passion and talent for science.</p>
<p>Commonapp explicitly states “since 9th grade” in the honors&awards section, so it can’t go there. </p>
<p>Listing awards from that far back is always discouraged. It’s less likely to reflect the knowledge/ability you’d be taking to college, and it makes it look like you really had to dig to find some awards for that section of your application. First place at nationals is nothing to scoff at though, even if in middle school (assuming this was some respectable competition). You can certainly work it into a short answer/essay somewhere. </p>
<p>You have to understand that with an award from middle school, you’re generally demonstrating middle-school level “talent and passion.” Doesn’t exactly translate into college. Passion and talent at the high school level is much more applicable to college…</p>
<p>While the Common App does not allow it I do think winning a nationally recognized event while not in high school is significant. Whether it is the National Robot Competition, National Marbles Tournament, or your team won the National Little League Competition, you have shown determination and talent at a young age.</p>
<p>If you feel this is a life changing event that help defines you then why not write about it for your essay? This way you can not only mention it you will also show how this has helped you in high school.</p>
<p>There are places you can sneak it in like a resume that you are allowed to add or essays you write. </p>
<p>However, if you add it in awards and honors section, you are ignoring explicit instructions about what goes there which will bring into question one’s reading comphrehension skills.</p>
<p>^^ FWIW: This year’s common application will no longer allow you to upload documents, such as resumes and essays – everything must be typed into a text box, which will have character limits.</p>
<p>The reason colleges ask for awards, honors and teacher recommendations “since 9th grade” is they want current information on students. Putting down an award you won in middle school, but then having nothing as significant in high school, might make it appear as if you peaked in middle school and went downhill from there. However, having MORE prestigious awards throughout high school after winning something in middle school establishes a track record.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your time and suggestion! ;)</p>
<p>To gibby: Well…the form limitation certainly hurts my ego. I won National Chemistry and Math awards (not gold medal apparently) in 9th grade plus finalist in Olympiad Biology and Math in 10th and 11th grade. I wonder if those count as more prestigious awards？</p>
<p>I think you have to put your ego aside and look at the bigger picture. Other students – your competition, at whatever schools you are applying to – will have significant awards as well. As the Common Application specifically asks for information “since 9th grade,” if you write down stuff from middle school and your competition doesn’t, how will that look? Will it make your application, by comparison, seem better? Or, will it make your application come across as more desperate? You want to stand out for the right reasons, not the wrong ones. My advice: Swallow your ego and just list the awards you have received in high school, as they are enough to make your application stand out.</p>
<p>My view is that in general, you should omit these awards, but there are some exceptions. If it’s an area in which you have continued to excel and win awards, I don’t think it hurts to note that you’ve been excelling since you were younger. So, for example, if you are a musician, and you were on “From the Top” when you were ten, mention that as long as you’ve continued to do well in music. So, for the OP, you might mention this if you have continued to work in robotics or similar fields. There may be other awards that it is very unusual for a very young person to get, and it might make sense to mention those–for example, if you were one of the rare people who becomes an Eagle Scout at age 13, you might include that.</p>
<p>I can imagine OP writing something about how he’s enjoyed science competitions, and has participated in a wide variety, beginning with the Robotics one in 8th grade, etc.</p>
<p>Let me be more general: in deciding what to put down, what story are you trying to tell about yourself, and how does this fit in? If you’re obsessed with robotics, and that’s your likely interest as a career, you might want to write an essay that includes the fact that you started building robots when you were five years old. On the other hand, if you are primarily a musician who wants to major in music theory, who cares if you won a robotics competition in 8th grade?</p>
<p>Agree it can look you don’t understand what adcoms need to see to evaluate you and they may question your judgment. Agree with Hunt that some recognition shows a longer context. Most middle school contests, though, don’t compare in depth or the level of the actual competiton, not compared to hs.</p>
<p>(A musician who won this in hs would show a lot about his breadth and success. It’s just that ms is usually nowhere near the levels they can expect for college freshmen.)</p>
<p>Actually my high school don’t have robot club and unfortunately to enter the competition you need a team and a lot of material to build the robot and plus you have to finish a scientific project so… nope, I didn’t won other robotic awards. </p>
<p>I’m not planning on writing this on the award section on the app form just looking for a way to tell the admission office about this. </p>
<p>BTW it’s “she” actually. I’m female. SURPRISE! I’m the only girl on the robot team…</p>
<p>I do enjoy science competitions by the way. I’m planning on writing that I had a lot of fun preparing for the robot competition and also suffered A LOT.(like doing street survey when it’s freezing outside) At a very young age I’ve learned to design and write a thesis about a scientific project, that experience definitely helps me later in high school. Also, since I’m the first female on the history to join the club and got a good medal I want to write something about this too. (I’m a bit feminist I think) I grow up a lot, participating and eventually leading in this competition.
So yeah, this is what I’m going to write about guys.</p>
Excellent! To me, that increases the benefit of mentioning this as part of your overall story. I wouldn’t write an essay just about something that happened in 8th grade, but it could be a good example as part of a somewhat broader essay.</p>
<p>Of course I won’t just go bragging and write something like “See, i got this HUGE award in 8th grade. How brilliant I am!” I will go deeper than that and try to write how much this experience means to me and how it shape my future self and, hopefully, write a killer essay.
Thanks for the suggestion btw Hunt ^ ^</p>
<p>Like the essay idea. Like the little humor and how it seems you will reflect on the value of the experience. Just remember the usual advice about essays.</p>