<p>Hi</p>
<p>I have taken part in a number of national maths competitions and have always ended up with a bronze award. On my common app would I be allowed to simply write "Have won several UK maths challenges" or does bronze not count as winning and would winning only be gold?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Why not just write “bronze medal (3rd place out of [how many]) in [whatever]”?</p>
<p>Bronze medal in multiple national contests is pretty awesome, and I would not discount that impressive achievement.</p>
<p>You could list that you won bronze medal, or 3rd place in the math contests. I think it is dishonest to just say “won” with no additional details, as that does imply “gold medal/first place”. </p>
<p>@VSGPeanut101 @ucbalumnus Hi, yeah that would probably be better. However, I’ve heard schools like HYPSM only look for the best out of the best so would a bronze medal in anything be at all beneficial to my application? Or am I just over-thinking things and is a Bronze medal in a national competition still awesome wherever you apply? Thanks!</p>
<p>If you placed in a national competition, they’re probably going to verify that. It’s not going to look good when they realize you meant 3rd instead of 1st. If you got third in a footrace, would you tell other people you won it? </p>
<p>Be honest and it’ll help you, not count against you. Good luck!</p>
<p>The correct phraseology would be “Bronze Medal winner”. You could also say you are a medalist, but there’s no reason to be vague, just tell them what you won, they can easily look it up. And be proud it it, it’s quite an accomplishment.</p>
<p>I’m not 100% certain, but in math competitions bronze won’t always mean third. For example, at IMO there are SEVERAL gold medalists and several silver medalists. So in cases like this, bronze would be a lot less impressive than gold.
All the same still a better practice to not try to lie.
How many people got a bronze medal?</p>
<p>Does it matter how many people got a bronze medal? It’s not like a participation trophy where everyone gets one. Admins are looking for reasons to admit. They’re not sitting there judging how prestigious this or that competition is. Yeah some competitions are more prestigious than others but how many people out of 5.5 billion get to play in a World Cup bronze medal place game or even a World Cup game? One of the top 10 soccer players of all time, never played in a World Cup game. </p>
<p>OP, go on and brag about your awards.</p>
<p>You have not won so don’t demean your actual achievement by saying you won – that could potentially put the honesty and integrity of your whole application in question. Just say XX National Competition - Bronze Medal . Be honest and be proud of your achievements. </p>
<p>An award at a meaningful national competition (in a reasonable size country) would be a very meaningful award that will set you apart from most applicants. What is better, bronze in a national competition or gold in a local competition where the winner of the local one would be nowhere close to a bronze in the national competition?</p>