Would winning 1st in category at the California state Science fair be a 6 instead of a 5, considering that California has a more competitive project pool compared to most other states?
Where would United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) Delegate fall? What about Senate Page?
I removed YESS because it has been discontinued 
10: Congrats
D1 athlete
IMO/IPHO/ICHO/IBO medals
Intel STS Top 10; Siemens Finalist; ISEF Top 3 Grand Prize; Google Science Fair age group winner
History Day National Winner
Single/First Author in High Impact Factor Journal
9: Almost a ticket to a prestigious school
Siemens Westinghouse finalists; Google Science Fair Finalist; MOP; Intel STS Finalist; ISEF Best of Category
FL Nationals winner
RSI (Research Science Institute)
Published in a relatively prestigious journal
8: Amazing accomplishment; Large boost
TASP, USPhO/USChO/USABO/USAC National Finalist
Google Science Fair Semifinalist; Siemens Semi-finalists; Intel ISEF 1st-4th place category; Intel STS semifinalist,
Running your own successful business
AMC Perfect Score, Presidential Scholar, Davidson Fellow
Writing Portfolio Gold Award, Presidential Scholar of the Arts, Scholastic Art
FIRST Dean’s List winner, top 5 at FIRST World Championships,
7:
SSP, Clark Summer Program, NIH Research, and MITES and other selective programs
Science Olympiad national medals, EUCYS prizes
State governors schools with acceptance rate <15% (PGSS, NJGSS, most other science governor’s schools)
USAMO qualification, ARML Tiebreaker Round / Top Team, YES Competition (Young Epidemiology Scholarship), USAMTS Gold Medal
Intel ISEF Finalist, History Day National Level
Scholastic Art & Writing National Silver or Gold Medal. NFL Nationals (speech and debate) “breakers” (elimination rounds), Tournament of Champions (debate) “breakers,” Congressional Award Gold Medalist,
6:
USPhO/USChO/USABO/USACO semifinalist, Science Olympiad Nationals qualification
Less competitive governor’s schools (Acceptance rate between 15% and 25%), any other scholarship summer programs not aforementioned
Congressional Award Silver Medalist, NFL Nationals/Tournament of Champions Qualifier, FBLA Nationals
Science Bowl/Ocean Science Bowl/NAQT winners, Technology Student Association Nationals
FIRST Dean’s List finalist
Top 5 FIRST Super Regionals (FTC)
5: Pretty good; will complement an already-strong record
USAAAO
National Latin Convention 1st Places Academic Contests,
All-Eastern/all-regional music, State History Day top 3 place
Top 5 FIRST State Championship (or Regionals for FRC), JETS TEAMS National Finalist, Skills USA Nationals
State Science Fair Winner/Top Award
4:
Science Fair Regional winner
Science Olympiad state medals (depending on what state you’re from)
Science Bowl national qualification
Perfect Score (Multiple Years) on National Latin Exam
State awards (all-state music, etc)
MUN Gavel
AMC 10/12 school winner (depends on your school)
Art and Writing Regional Gold award
top 5 FIRST Regional (FTC)
3: Some effort involved, but not uncommon
Winning at local/regional science fairs
All-County music,
Eagle Scout, National Merit Finalist
Head of a competitive club that you did not found (ex: Mock Trial, Model UN, Science Olympiad)
2: Your average go-getter
Bank of America Awards
Local awards/trophies
Essay Contests
Regional History Day
1 : Common activities
National Honor Society
Beta Club
School Departmental Awards
School Honor Roll
Key Club, CSF, Interact Club
National Merit Commended
Member of a club with no distinctions earned
0: A dime in a dozen; meaningless
Who’s Who, National Honor Roll, National Society of High School Scholars
Do you think AIME qualification is a 5 or a 6?
@yearstogo I would say below a 5.
IMO Google Science Fair Finalist should be 7 or 8. It’s definitely not as prestigious as STS or RSI. I know many who have made it to GSF finalist, but did not get into RSI.
Also, Congressional Gold is not a 7, either.
What would National Spanish Exam Silver be? (4th in state)
@johnjohnson12388 I’d guess about a 4. I’ve gotten a similar award for German.
Why are science bowl winners ranked so low? The level of questions (and difficulty of competition imo) is much higher than that of science olympiad. It should be at least 7 or 8.
10: Congrats
D1 athlete
IMO/IPHO/ICHO/IBO medals
Intel STS Top 10; Siemens Finalist; ISEF Top 3 Grand Prize; Google Science Fair age group winner
History Day National Winner
Single/First Author in High Impact Factor Journal
9: Almost a ticket to a prestigious school
Siemens Westinghouse finalists; Google Science Fair Finalist; MOP; Intel STS Finalist; ISEF Best of Category
FL Nationals winner
RSI (Research Science Institute)
Published in a relatively prestigious journal
8: Amazing accomplishment; Large boost
TASP, USPhO/USChO/USABO/USAC National Finalist
Google Science Fair Semifinalist; Siemens Semi-finalists; Intel ISEF 1st-4th place category; Intel STS semifinalist,
Running your own successful business
AMC Perfect Score, Presidential Scholar, Davidson Fellow
Writing Portfolio Gold Award, Presidential Scholar of the Arts, Scholastic Art
FIRST Dean’s List winner, top 5 at FIRST World Championships,
7:
SSP, Simons, Clark Summer Program, NIH Research, and MITES and other selective programs
Science Olympiad national medals, EUCYS prizes
State governors schools with acceptance rate <15% (PGSS, NJGSS, most other science governor’s schools)
USAMO qualification, ARML Tiebreaker Round / Top Team, YES Competition (Young Epidemiology Scholarship), USAMTS Gold Medal
Intel ISEF Finalist, History Day National Level
Scholastic Art & Writing National Silver or Gold Medal. NFL Nationals (speech and debate) “breakers” (elimination rounds), Tournament of Champions (debate) “breakers,” Congressional Award Gold Medalist,
6:
USPhO/USChO/USABO/USACO semifinalist, Science Olympiad Nationals qualification
Less competitive governor’s schools (Acceptance rate between 15% and 25%), any other scholarship summer programs not aforementioned
Congressional Award Silver Medalist, NFL Nationals/Tournament of Champions Qualifier, FBLA Nationals
Science Bowl/Ocean Science Bowl/NAQT winners, Technology Student Association Nationals
FIRST Dean’s List finalist
Top 5 FIRST Super Regionals (FTC)
5: Pretty good; will complement an already-strong record
USAAAO
National Latin Convention 1st Places Academic Contests,
All-Eastern/all-regional music, State History Day top 3 place
Top 5 FIRST State Championship (or Regionals for FRC), JETS TEAMS National Finalist, Skills USA Nationals
State Science Fair Winner/Top Award
4:
Science Fair Regional winner
Science Olympiad state medals (depending on what state you’re from)
Science Bowl national qualification
Perfect Score (Multiple Years) on National Latin Exam
State awards (all-state music, etc)
MUN Gavel
AMC 10/12 school winner (depends on your school)
Art and Writing Regional Gold award
top 5 FIRST Regional (FTC)
3: Some effort involved, but not uncommon
Winning at local/regional science fairs
All-County music,
Eagle Scout, National Merit Finalist
Head of a competitive club that you did not found (ex: Mock Trial, Model UN, Science Olympiad)
2: Your average go-getter
Bank of America Awards
Local awards/trophies
Essay Contests
Regional History Day
1 : Common activities
National Honor Society
Beta Club
School Departmental Awards
School Honor Roll
Key Club, CSF, Interact Club
National Merit Commended
Member of a club with no distinctions earned
0: A dime in a dozen; meaningless
Who’s Who, National Honor Roll, National Society of High School Scholars
How about US Patent?
Honestly, I don’t think that list is that helpful…or accurate.
For Google Science Fair finalist, are we talking about the 90 Regional Finalists or the 15 Global?
Alright. I don’t like how “MUN Gavel” is equated with Science Fair Regional Winner, Science Olympiad State Medals, and AMC 10/12 School Winner, etc. Don’t you think there is a clear difference between winning best delegate at a smallish, local conference, and winning the gavel at a large, international, competitive one like MUNSA or Berkeley MUN? Those should probably have more weightage- probably like a 6 or something.
Science Olympiad competitiveness varies HIGHLY by state. States such as Hawaii, Kentucky, Idaho, Nevada, etc. are very very easy to medal in, but states like California, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Illinois, etc. are almost as hard as Nationals.
That is true for essentially any state-level competition. It’s a lot harder to win something in a state with a population of ~40 million (CA) than a state with a population of ~600,000 (WY). CA has 1/8 of the high school students in the US.
Where would being published in The Concord Review or being a finalist/winner in the MIT INSPIRE contest go on the list?
Uhhh I’d like to ask people again: what about winning best delegate/awards at large MUN conferences? Where would that be on the list relative to all of the other awards/prestigious things?
MIT INSPIRE is definitely prestigious- I’d say like a 7? As it gets more and more competitive (as more and more people start to do it) it might become TASP-level prestigious though, so let’s see.
Also what about Debate TOC? (I’m not a debater, but I’m just curious).