^look back through the thread
Yo what about class presidents~ with class size around 550.
I don’t see anything about Questbridge…I even used the search option.
NIH research is pretty selective. Not as selective as SSP or MITES (just a few examples, although there are honestly plenty more), but it can really brighten an application.
Did most of the original members who were using this thread and the people around the page 40’s graduated? If so I hope some of them can share some experience with us on these lists and how it affected there essay and college app 
I have a 2360 SAT, 35 ACT, and perfect top 3 SAT subject test scores. I have developed my own productivity app that has had over 3 million downloads in the android market. Also, I am actively involved in my community: I volunteer in a local middle school for 4 hours a week and at a local nursing home for 3 hours a week. In addition, I placed in the SIEMENS competition as a semifinalist for my research in high energy physics. I also won a 10,000 dollar davidson fellow, and my research is published in prestigious journals such as the journal of applied physics. Furthermore, I am an AP scholar and have received only 5s for all the AP tests I have taken. Even with all of these credentials, I got waitlisted to Harvard and rejected from Yale. I will be attending MIT in the fall, but I would have really loved to go to Yale! I believe that the area that I was lacking in was my participation in math&science competitions such as USABO, USAPhO, and USAMO. I think that these competitions should be ranked highly: probably a 9 or 10.
What were your grades like?
I’m curious as to how top Certamen competitions would rank on this list.
I see that 1st place on an Academic Test at the National Convention is around a 5, but what would y’all say about a 1st place finish at a prestigious Certamen tournament like NJCL or Harvard? And also, what about receiving an MVP award for the Advanced level at either of these tournaments?
Wow, sucks that you got rejected, Leo2400. It doesn’t seem very fair - I’ve known people with stats far inferior compared to yours who have gotten accepted into Harvard or Yale. I guess it really does prove that entry into Ivy League schools are really a roll of the dice.
bump 10 char
Much better than yours.
Those competitions would help more when applying to MIT instead of Harvard and Yale, so No.
No need to get snappy wong.
Lol nah it’s cool, wong is a professional ■■■■■
Much better than yours.
The list ranked USACO semifinalist as a 6, but there’s no such thing as semifinals for the USACO, it’s Bronze, Silver, and Gold Division. Anyone who participates starts out in Bronze, so that doesnt count as an award. Would you say that Silver(top 100 in us) is 7 and Gold (top 30) in us is 8?
SeeYou, if you are invited to the USACO Finals (also known as USAICO) – the top 16 in the US – you are considered a national semifinalist. All of these students are at the Gold level (and are generally the top half of the Gold competitors), and some have been there for a couple of years. The National Finalists are the four students who are selected to attend the IOI. This is the terminology USACO used when my S was competing in 2005-2008. They may have changed it since this thread started long, long ago.
There is an emphasis on developing younger talent so as to build a strong team for a couple of years, so if you are a senior, don’t expect to be invited to USAICO unless you have been at the top of the USAICO heap for a couple of years. The coaches pay attention to how folks do on the competitions throughout the year and will promote students who are doing well and working on the syllabus problems on the side.
Each Olympiad has its own nomenclature and way of getting to the finals and international competition. Don’t sweat it.
How about Life Sciences Christopher Columbus, BIO-genius etc
what about placing in world karate tournaments?
HSMCCP & DDHM
I think you’re right on with your assessment of FRC. A couple of kids that run the program are rockstars but the other contributors can be anything from active to hangers-on. FTC and VEX are much smaller teams and hence require a more even participation (although same issues to a smaller degree). I would think that an Intl. win in any of these leagues ranks up there in the top of this ranking. After all, how many WORLD CHAMPIONS are there each year?