<p>My son just got a gold medal for 39th IChO in Russia.
Is it a big booster for university admissions like MIT, Caltech, Stanford, princeton ?
Of course he need good score on SAT, SAT subject, AP test, High GPA,
challenging coures he took, excellent extra activities, volunteer, good essay, etc.</p>
<p>not sure about "top schools" nut if your son wants to attend college as a "recruited athlete", it would definitely give him a big boost in admissions</p>
<p>ICHO? no idea what that is. I wouldn't expect adcoms to either.</p>
<p>oh chemistry olympaid. you have to be careful with that sort of thing, because there are so many international this and that; many are not competitive. Give us some background info on how many competed in this.</p>
<p>It is DEFINITELY a big boost. Even being a USNCO finalist (>_>), assuming your son is a U.S. citizen, is a huge achievement. </p>
<p>Chemistry is consider the "hardest" science; winning a gold medal in the international olympiad as a junior is heller impressive, and ranks up there with Intel/Siemens...just check out the "awards" thread in the HS forum...a gold medal is one of the top honors.</p>
<p>1MX, YOU should do your research before spewing nonsense.</p>
<p>Hahaha, that's huge. It'll definitely help. Making the US Team is hard enough, let alone getting a gold at international.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your son!</p>
<p>Wow, that's pretty amazing. Especially as a junior, so yea, that helps a LOT. Like if the admissions officers realizes what the IChO is, and as long as his grades/SATs don't suck, I'd be surprised if he didn't get in to those colleges.</p>
<p>Why should I waste time doing research. Do you think ADCOMs will take a break from reading that huge stack of essays to research it? I don't think most will. Explanations of many awards are necessary on an attached sheet.</p>
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Why should I waste time doing research. Do you think ADCOMs will take a break from reading that huge stack of essays to research it? I don't think most will. Explanations of many awards are necessary on an attached sheet.
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<p>Don't listen to him. Your son is basically IN to any of those schools with an IChO gold medal, assuming that he doesn't screw up his test scores and grades. He could probably get away with very mediocre extracurricular activities, since a junior gold medalist is fairly rare and extremely exceptional.</p>
<p>I believe the OP is also from Canada, not the United States. What surprises me though, is that the OP even bothered to ask a question like this, since the IChO is obviously an impressive measure. Just making the National Team is good enough. Who is your son btw, I might have met him at camp.</p>
<p>"Do you think ADCOMs will take a break from reading that huge stack of essays to research it?"</p>
<p>Actually, I would say that admission officers from competitive schools would definitely have heard of something like the IChO mainly because it is an extremely prestigious honor. But no doubt they would research an EC or award that they probably haven't heard of.</p>
<p>I'm not doubting that it is a great medal and he is just about guaranteed acceptance. I am saying that he needs to make sure the ADCOMs know that too. Sure MIT, CALTECH, etc will know. but I'm not so sure about princeton, harvard, etc.</p>
<p>^They WILL. I would be incredibly concerned if they DIDN'T know what IChO was!!! Kotopia, that's an amazing achievement, and you must be very proud of your son =)</p>
<p>As a participant in this year's Olympiad (I didn't make the national team, though!!!), I know how difficult it is, and how talented your son must be to have made the national team. It is definitely a huge boost, so... don't listen to 1MX =P</p>
<p>Congratulations to your son! So he's an international then?</p>
<p>lol at first response. (was that sarcasm?)</p>
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^They WILL. I would be incredibly concerned if they DIDN'T know what IChO was!!!
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<p>Yes, I'd be incredibly concerned as well.</p>
<p>"Sure MIT, CALTECH, etc will know. but I'm not so sure about princeton, harvard, etc."</p>
<p>Haha, well why wouldn't Harvard and Princeton know? I'm sure a lot of applicants who apply to MIT and Caltech also end up applying to Harvard and Princeton. </p>
<p>BTW, Big Brother 1984, how do you box a quote?</p>
<p>Lol if the adcoms don't know what IChO is then your son deserves a better school. Really.</p>
<p>How can you not know what an I.O. is? Like teh most prestigious competition in the world? How can you even compare that with Intel/Siemens</p>
<p>Physics08:</p>
<p>(quote="username")**Insert quote here<a href="/quote">/b</a></p>
<p>or</p>
<p>(quote)**Insert quote here<a href="/quote">/b</a></p>
<p>replacing the circular brackets with square ones.</p>
<p>I really don't know why they don't have the button like most forums too. I am too lazy to actually use the quote boxes.</p>
<p>It is a great accomplishment indeed, however NEVER consider yourself in to any of those top schools. A case that comes to mind is that girl on CC a year or so ago that got rejected from MIT with certain amazing accomplishments in math. Not even waitlisted (and she was American Indian as well)</p>
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How can you not know what an I.O. is? Like teh most prestigious competition in the world? How can you even compare that with Intel/Siemens
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<p>Lets see if this works.</p>