<p>I am thinking of awards such as being a national finalist in such prestigious competitions like National Mathcounts, National Geography Bee, Scripps National Spelling Bee, Reader's Digest Vocabulary Challenge, etc. Do colleges care at all? They are quite competitive and prestigious for the grade level.</p>
<p>Do they help out an application at all?</p>
<p>What grade are you and are these your only awards from your high school career?</p>
<p>They are interesting. One question I would have is what happened to the student since then? If you were best in mathcounts, are you now taking the AIME?</p>
<p>My D was a National History Day state champion in 8th grade, and her project was selected to be exhibited at the Smithsonian. She decided to include it in her Common App since she repeated as state champion and was a national finalist the next year as a HS freshman against much older competition. She felt that it carried more weight than the award won against peers in the same grade, and it did pay off as far as her merit offers went. So I guess what I am saying is include any national level award, especially if it shows the achievement at an “older than peer” level.</p>
<p>I would agree with the previous responder; national awards before high school still carry a lot of weight because they often suggest early dedication to or passion about a particular interest. I won the National Spelling Bee in 7th grade and included it on my application; I’m sure it made me stand out and helped me to be accepted early to Yale. Anyone who places in the top 10 of the national bee should include that on their list.</p>