Junior Book Awards

<p>I just became aware of these Junior Book Awards today: they are awards, in the form of a book, given to high school juniors by Northeastern universities, viz. Harvard, Brown, Yale, Columbia, Wellesley, &c. Since I don't know anything about these awards, can anyone tell me the nature of these awards, who decides the award winners, and whether they are of any value for college admissions? It seems the books do include a notification statement, but that's only for the college issuing the award. Are they, then, of any value to colleges other than the one that issued the particular award? Interestingly enough, last year's winner of the Harvard book award at our school will be going to Harvard.</p>

1 Like

<p>yeah i'm interested in this too. how does one qualify for these awards?</p>

<p>I believe the college gives your school criteria on how to select the winner (e.g. "shown outstanding leadership...") and your school does the selecting. It's a local award but I think it looks pretty good on your app (they're generally given to students at the top of the class).</p>

<p>Yes the college does give your school criteria on how to select the winner. They are usually like "student showing academic potential and leadership...outstanding community involvement...bla bla bla." </p>

<p>I think at our school, the counselors determined who got the awards. A lot of the awards depend on extracurricular and volunteer work as well as academics...so the kids who got the awards weren't necessarily the best students...they were good students who were most active in the school. You should probably ask your guidance office or someone in charge about it.</p>

<p>Well our award ceremony was today so I already know who received the awards. I only became very curious because last year's recipient of the Harvard book is going to Harvard. This makes me think that the admission officers at the respective schools may really pay some attention to their school's award.</p>

<p>I got the Harvard. My English teacher made the nomination. I think she may have nominated someone else too, but I'm not sure about that, or if she did, who makes the decision.</p>

<p>hm...
I just received the Princeton Book Award, but it wasn't through my school. I received a form in the mail saying I had been nominated by school, but I had to fill out a lengthy application which was to be sent to the Princeton Alumni Association. About a month later I received a letter in the mail saying that I was chosen as one of six in the state by the Alumni Association. I don't know if this is just how the Princeton Book Award works or it book awards work the same way.</p>

<p>Maybe that's just how the Princeton alumni association works, because the ones we received via the school did not include Princeton (or UPenn and Dartmouth of the Ivies) so it must work differently from the other 5 ivies.</p>

<p>what if yoru school doestn even know about this award</p>

<p>I got the dartmouth book award. The whole process seemed a bit random. It was as if the top students were agreed upon and then the different school awards were assigned at random between us. Sure I bet it looked good on my app, but it didn't help me get into my Ivy schools, and the only connection it had to dartmouth was that I got pamphlets from them in the mail.</p>

<p>stupid questoin but what was the award? a book? if so, a book on what?
I got a "John J. Corpasci Scholarship Award" by my school ( basically 500 usd towards my next years tuition ) .. is that something I should mention in my college app?</p>

<p>I got the Brown award and it was Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. But I think each school's book is different. If you received a book from a different school, can you post what kind of book it was?</p>

<p>does every high school do this? I've heard of nobody in my entire school district getting this...and tons of people get into Ivies and such each year since its a pretty well-respected area....</p>

<p>I actually got a really cool book from Harvard...</p>

<p>Richard Light's <i>Making the Most of College</i>, which has been on my list to read for a while anyway.</p>

<p>Usually it is the local alumni association who picks the recipient for the school. Some schools do things differently than others. For example, my old school gave the harvard to the highest gpa and the yale to the 2nd highest gpa. but here they go to people who the alum think "best represent the school."</p>

<p>I also got the Princeton Book Award...one of 6 juniors chosen from 120 applicants from the state. My guidance counselor was able to nominate two people from her school, and I had to submit a bunch of info, similar to a college app.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I also got the Princeton Book Award...one of 6 juniors chosen from 120 applicants from the state. My guidance counselor was able to nominate two people from her school, and I had to submit a bunch of info, similar to a college app.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>what was the award exactly?</p>

<p>Not all schools give out book awards. Most colleges select high schools that they either have a close connection with or view as being in the top-tier of the nation's high schools.
At my school, teachers can nominate students for the awards, and the student with the most nominations for each one is selected (I'm guessing if one person gets the most nominations for more than one award, the guidance dept. determines the winners...no one gets more than one book award). The books are usually presented by alumni at our annual awards ceremony. Some examples of books received in the past are: "Cornell Then and Now: Historic and Contemporary Views of Cornell University"; "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language"; "Making the Most of College"; "The Elements of Style"
It depends on the school...some will gove you useful books (ie. dictionaries), others will give you coffee table books, and some will give you books about their school.</p>

<p>As for the Princeton book award, my school has that too. For the past three years, students who received Harvard Book Award in our school end up in Harvard. In my school, a committee of teachers and counselors pick the students.</p>

<p>I was so excited at the Honors and Awards Night.
I received the University of Pennsylvania book award - Building America's First University: An Historical and Architectural Guide to the University of Pennsylvania.</p>