<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I was just wondering how "ACADEMIC" these honors/distinctions have to be.
For example, I was accepted into a pretty hard program for aspiring doctors. I received a certificate of graduation. Does that count?</p>
<p>And how do colleges view things like Spanish Honor Society? Are things like AP Scholar (its pathetic, i know) and NMS semi-finalist important??</p>
<p>Do we actually have to be "specific" in explaining things like NMS semifinalist?</p>
<p>THX guys</p>
<p>and how badly does it hurt our chances if we don't have too many academic awards and stuff?</p>
<p>It can't hurt you if you excel in fields where there aren't many awards. For instance, I'm heavy focused on history, and short of being published in the Concord Review, there are almost no true national level honors as compared to science, math, or english. Having nothing would probably hurt your chances though.</p>
<p>i didn't have many and i still got in... i mean, i've got a very strong EC but i didn't have an award for everything</p>
<p>I have 13- mostly science and math competitions, but a few worthless nationwide ones like NMS</p>
<p>Should academic extracurricular awards be listed in Academic Awards section or just in the Extracurricular section?</p>
<p>I listed it in the extracurricular section if it was something that I prepared for throughout the year.</p>
<p>amnesia, what class are u in? in terms of college class?</p>
<p>Hey arbiter213
How did you know you were "short of being published in the Concord Review"? I thought you only get letters if your paper is getting published.</p>
<p>Woops- should've been formatted "I'm heavy focused on history and, short of being published in the Concord Review, there are almost no true national level honors..."</p>
<p>Does that clarify what I meant?</p>
<p>huh what about National History Day Competition...there is school, regional, statewide, and nationwide competition...</p>
<p>ya lets revive this thread</p>
<p>i only have things like NMS, NHS, Spanish NHS, AP Scholar stuff like that +few other small ones. is that bad?</p>
<p>the thing is, i have good ECs, but it is generally geared toward HELPING people, hence no competitions</p>
<p>sooo.... as i was saying, there are national honors for history, such as the National History Day Competition, where more than 500,000 students nationwide compete.</p>
<p>and...there aren't a lot of people who does nhd, it seems....</p>
<p>anyone do nhd around here?</p>
<p>I did a History Fair competition in Freshman year (got 1st place regional), is that the same?</p>
<p>what's a history fair competition????</p>
<p>the nhd website is nhd.org</p>
<p>it is a year-long research project where you can submit a paper, make a documentary, do a skit, make a presentation board thing, and compete against your schoolmates. whoever wins goes on to regionals. then goes on to states. then goes on to nationals at University of Maryland....</p>
<p>ppl who place at the top 5 nationally usually go on to the ivies.</p>
<p>never heard of it???</p>
<p>The top 5 goes to ivies? Whaaat?</p>
<p>I think that is it! I did a skit, and placed first in the regionals, but we (it was a group skit) decided not to go on to states or whatever...</p>
<p>I had no idea it was prestigious in any way..</p>
<p>uh.......the reason it is prestigious is because, now i think about it, no other history competition is as pervasive, well-known (at least among the history department/institutions), ...as National History Day..</p>
<p>The winner from Illionois last year was broadcasted on national tv, interviewed by npr, was on cnn,etc. </p>
<p>Some state winner, i dunno which state, (maybe missouri?) but I was talking to him at the nationals - he got a state supreme court decision overturned because of his nhd research project on a civil rights topic.</p>
<p>I was contacted for interview by various newpaper agency, national chinese newspaper (although i am not chinese, go figure), and my documentary was broadcasted on local tv stations when I won at California and then 3rd at nationals...</p>
<p>i guess many people don't know it because a lot of schools don't want to incorporate a year long and intense history project into their curriculum. But the schools that do participate in NHD are intensely competitive.</p>
<p>but yea....it's pretty well known. the judges of this competition at the national level are well-known history professors from universities such as stanford, yale, cornell, and sometimes people like the curator of Smithsonian Institutions in Washington D.C. also judge.</p>
<p>Well I'm not too into history, but it probably would have been a good idea to go to states then :P</p>
<p>It was a fun skit :) -- I'm a pseudo-drama kid, heh. I hope I make it into The Chronicles of Narnia cast this spring.. /random aside lol</p>
<p>So what was your presentation/project on at nationals?</p>
<p>you should have gone on to states. although if you are from states like Tennessee, massachusetts, california, new york, etc. the state competition will be harder than the national competition.</p>
<p>anyways, mine was the analysis of THE REAL reasons behind Truman's decision to annhilate 200000 japanese using the atomic bomb. here's the link to the documentary....
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kawCcWyNv6o%5B/url%5D">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kawCcWyNv6o</a></p>