<p>Often people claim that having extensive research experience will more than offset an otherwise low GPA in terms of grad application.</p>
<p>How about awards? Do they have similar effect?</p>
<p>Say, for instance, if you get an honorable mention in the ACM International Computing Contest, how much would that make one stand out, by faculty viewing the applications?</p>
<p>Hope you guys can talk about this with respect to my fields for grad study, namely Computer Science/Mathematics.</p>
<p>I am asking because I hope to know differently a grad school adcom would view awards in comparison to a undergrad college adcom. I mean, as a high schooler, I wouldn’t need research experience at all to gain admission into a decent college. However, things change for grad school admission.</p>
<p>I mean, it helps, but it depends on the award too. It is hard to judge. It is not going to do much if your application as a whole is weak, and if it is strong, it will help, but it is not something that in my view, will push you over the edge. But awards come in all shapes and sizes. There are college/university awards and then there are national and international awards. There is a huge difference between them. </p>
<p>I can’t help in terms of comparing to undergrad admissions since I am not in US. I think awards can, in a sense offset GPA, to some extent. I mean, it seems the more you show your passion for research, the less your marks matter. BUT, it is relative. Someone can have better awards and amazing grades. And it depends on the grades too, how strong/weak they are. </p>
<p>TBH, I don’t know, I am applying this year to biosciences, so I don’t know. It seems to me, that a lot of rewards are based on high marks anyway, so a lot of things tend to go together (awards + research + good LORs + marks). They do where I come from because to get research, you tend to need to be externally funded at least partly, which is competitive and depends on high grades, and this of course will get you, most likely, better LORs. Thus, it is hard to separate all the factors. People who tend to really love what they are doing also tend to do better in the courses. But anyway, of course they are always a plus. How much they can offset things I think depends on how much offsetting needs to be done.</p>
<p>Consider this- your college grades reflect what you have learned in the courses. Lower math or comp sci grades will mean you are behind others in your knowledge base and will have to play catch up with those who already know material. The schools are more likely to place their bets on those who have the better background. An honorable mention is not a top award, even if it means you were better than most participants.</p>