<p>I have pretty decent numbers 3.8UW/2330
but i dont think i won any awards or honors yet... are there any awards and honors i should aim for???? Any suggestions??? Btw im a junior </p>
<p>Well here’s a list of some of the top few awards (roughly by weight, but it all depends):
(note that this is geared towards the top top schools - i.e. HYPS)</p>
<p>Insane: IMO/IPhO/IOI/IChO/IBO gold medalist, Intel/Siemens winner = pretty much guaranteed top schools</p>
<p>Amazing: I_O medalist, Intel/Siemens finalist, published in Nature/Science = really high chance of top schools</p>
<p>Awesome: MOP (and other USA_O camps), Intel/Siemens semifinalist, RSI/TASP/SPARC, stuff like Presidential Scholar, 1st in major national competitions (i.e. ARML, National History Day) = significantly increases chance of top schools</p>
<p>Great: USA_O semifinalist, other selective summer programs (i.e. if it’s free or very cheap, it’s selective), Science Olympiad National (1st in event, maybe medals), MUN hammer-thingies (at the most major competitions, note the plural) = increases chance of top schools, you should probably have at least some of these if you want to have a shot at top schools unless you have a hook</p>
<p>Good: well it starts getting kinda fuzzy from here on…</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>Well, if you don’t have anything else: NHS, AP awards, honor roll, homecoming king (this might actually be very useful depending on the rest of your application)</p>
<p>The prestigious awards are risky to aim for because awards have to be won. There is no guarantee that you will win the award even if you try very hard. If you spend a lot of time working towards an award, you may be extremely disappointed when you do not reach your award. Also, aiming for these awards means that you will have very little time for other extra-curricular activities. You are a Junior. Many students who aim for these awards begin their journey in middle school. Furthermore, awards, by definition, are well known. Unlike unique extra-curricular activities that set one applicant apart from all other applicants (including those from previous years), an award such as USABO camp always have twenty recipients each year, so it is not very rare. The USABO test is simply a test, comparable to standardized tests like the SAT and ACT. Taking the test does not really help save the world. It has very little, perhaps zero, impact on starving children in Africa. And, it does not really show much leadership.</p>
<p>I disagree with @kirito69’s post. HYPSM are extremely selective, much more selective than his post suggests. Awards such as USA<em>O camp are average for HYPSM. USA</em>O semifinalists are too common to be of much use for HYPSM. While I<em>O gold medalists pretty much guarantees the majority of the top schools, Harvard has rejected I</em>O gold medalists in the past.</p>
<p>Selective summer programs such as RSI requires prestigious awards and outstanding extra-curricular activities to have a decent chance of being selected. It is possible to argue that RSI is just as selective as some of the top universities in the United States.</p>
<p>Being a member of the winning team of competitions like SciOly and NSB depends on your school. And because it is a team competition, it is not as prestigious as USA_O camp. However, being a team captain of your school’s team would be very good because it shows leadership.</p>