<p>Hey everyone:
I'm looking for some opinions on the issue of high school debate as to how much I should emphasize it and how much Stanf. might view it as a hook.
First, I have had a lot of success, so how should I best play it up. This EC is definitely state-level for me as I have literally been the most dominant debater in the Arizona local circuit since Sophomore year, winning 5/6 local tournaments last Junior year (this is NFL, the most dominant debate league, tournaments usually have one-two hundred kids), getting to finals of ASU tournament (biggest AZ tourn) as a Junior and Sophomore out of a pool of 300 competitors, being the top qualifier in AZ and top 50 at NFL Nationals out of hundreds of kids who qualified from all over the country, and the AZ state champ last year as a Junior, first Junior in a while to do that. Because of cost and time I can not do extensive national traveling. However I have reached elimination rounds at the Yale, Stanford, Berkeley, and some other tournaments. Probably most importantly for anyone familiar with debate I reached the Semi-Finals of the Tournament of Champions (selective National tournament picks 50-100 best debaters and speech in country) in Extemp speech, and qualified to the TOC in debate.
Because of that national success I think this EC could also be considered 'national' in a way. A good example of this has been a recent 'ranking' system that a few in the national debate 'circuit' have devised. I am ranked around the 25th in the nation, out of all high school seniors, and around 5th in th West region, based on my tournament performance at national level tournaments. You can check it out here: <a href="http://www.dallasdebate.com/ddnr.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.dallasdebate.com/ddnr.html</a>
Clearly this isn't the ultimate ranking system or anything but I feel its a good 'verification' type thing.
The problem, though, is that most people are unfamiliar with these particular accomplishments. What, if any of the above should I list as the most prominent accomplishments, or sounds most impressive even if you are slightly unfamiliar with debate? The national tournamnets, the ranking, the state champion title?
Second, is anyone familiar with how Stanford would view these type of accomplishments, and how much of a hook this could be for me? While I know Stanford has a forensics team, is recruiting for debate a big deal, or is this not something I should be focusing essay time and emphasis on for my application?
Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>bump.. any opinions on this at all?</p>
<p>well since you've basically said how much debate means to you, why not use it?</p>
<p>"I reached the Semi-Finals of the Tournament of Champions" </p>
<p>hrm....</p>
<p>That can't be true, as Will Leiter was the only Junior(last year) to reach the semi-finals of the TOC and he definitely doesn't debate in Arizona.</p>
<p>Well I'm glad someone here is familiar with debate at least.
If you had read more accurately, you would have discerned that only I stated I reached the Semi-Finals of the Extemp speaking TOC (which I did). I only stated I qualified to the TOC in debate (implied, as you recognized of course, in LD), which I believe is still a significant accomplishment. I know this conversation makes sense to no one but you and I, Logicus, but hopefully this clear things up, and try to read more accurately before you imply I am being dishonest.</p>