List of Top, Prestigious Awards

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1081

Got bored and added some to the list. It’s so arbitrary though, and there’s so much more than accolades.
10: Congrats

D1 athlete
IMO/IPHO/ICHO/IBO/IOI/IOAA/IOL
gold/silver medals
Regeneron STS Top 10; ISEF Top 3 Grand Prize; Google Science Fair age group winner
History Day National Winner
Single/First Author in High Impact Factor Journal
Special performance/Solo at Carnegie Hall
International Competitor in a Sport
Boys Nation President

9: Almost a ticket to a prestigious school

Google Science Fair Finalist; Regeneron STS Finalist; ISEF Best of Category
MOP
NSDA Nationals winner
Tournament of Champions Winner
NCFL Nationals Winner
RSI (Research Science Institute)
Published in a relatively prestigious journal
National Student Poet
Jimmy Awards (musical theatre)

8: Amazing accomplishment; Large boost

USAMO qualification; AMC 12 Perfect Score; USAPhO/USNCO/USABO/USACO National Finalist
Google Science Fair Semifinalist; Intel ISEF 1st-4th place category; Regeneron STS semifinalist; Davidson Fellow; Presidential Scholar; MIT PRIMES; MITES
FIRST Dean’s List winner; top 5 at FIRST World Championships
Google Code Jam Round 2, 3 Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
Facebook Hacker Cup Round 2, 3 Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
International Public Policy Forum Top 32 team
TASP; Writing Portfolio Gold Award; Presidential Scholar of the Arts; Scholastic Art;
All National Band or Orchestra performer
Boys Nation Participant
Clark Scholars

7:

ARML Tiebreaker Round; USAMTS Gold Medal; HMMT top 50
SSP; Simons; CMU SAMS; NIH Research; SUMAC; ROSS; PROMYS; Mathcamp
State governors schools with acceptance rate <15% (PGSS, NJGSS, most other science governor’s schools)
USACO Platinum Division
ISEF Finalist
Top Team, YES Competition (Young Epidemiology Scholarship)
History Day National Level
Scholastic Art & Writing National Gold Medal. NFL Nationals (speech and debate) “breakers” (elimination rounds), Tournament of Champions (debate) “breakers,” Congressional Award Gold Medalist,
International Public Policy Forum Top 64 team
Foyle Young Poet
US Senate Page

6:

(6.5) Google Code Jam Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
(6.5) Facebook Hacker Cup Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
USACO Gold Division
AMC 10 Perfect Score
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)
Scholastic Art & Writing National Silver Medal
Academic Decathlon State (CA) Honors Top 3
University-run poetry contests (Patricia Grodd Prize, Lewis Center at Princeton Prize, etc)

5: Pretty good; will complement an already strong record

USAPhO/USNCO/USABO/NAO semifinals
AIME qualification
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
Academic Decathlon State (AZ/TX/MA/WI), Nationals Top 3 Honors & California Event Golds

4: Fairly difficult

USACO Silver Division
Science Fair Regional winner
Science Bowl national qualification
Perfect Score (Multiple Years) on National Latin/Spanish/French Exam
State awards (all-state music, etc)
Academic Decathlon State (AZ/TX/MA/WI) Event Golds
MUN Gavel
AMC 10/12 school winner (depends on your school)
Art and Writing Regional Gold award
Top 5 FIRST Regional (FTC)
Position in Local Government

3: Some effort involved, but not uncommon

Student Body
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)
Editor in chief of award-winning school newspaper

2: Your average go-getter

Bank of America Awards
Presidential Service Award Volunteering Gold
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

1082

I just came across this a few minutes ago and these lists are really interesting. I think an important thing to note is the fact that the kids who get these awards (the academic ones at least) are often headed to success regardless. An RSI applicant has probably had research experience and incredibly high test scores under their belt for a while. Getting into RSI is like their GPA. But the accomplishments that got them there serve as an already very impressive transcript.

1083

Add a few more:

10: Congrats

D1 athlete
IMO/IPHO/ICHO/IBO/IOI/IOAA/IOL
gold/silver medals
Regeneron STS Top 10; ISEF Top 3 Grand Prize; Google Science Fair age group winner
History Day National Winner
Single/First Author in High Impact Factor Journal
Special performance/Solo at Carnegie Hall
International Competitor in a Sport
Boys Nation President

9: Almost a ticket to a prestigious school

Google Science Fair Finalist; Regeneron STS Finalist; ISEF Best of Category
MOP
NSDA Nationals winner
Tournament of Champions Winner
NCFL Nationals Winner
RSI (Research Science Institute)
Published in a relatively prestigious journal
National Student Poet
Jimmy Awards (musical theatre)

8: Amazing accomplishment; Large boost

USAMO qualification; AMC 12 Perfect Score; USAPhO/USNCO/USABO/USACO National Finalist
Google Science Fair Semifinalist; Intel ISEF 1st-4th place category; Regeneron STS semifinalist; Davidson Fellow; Presidential Scholar; MIT PRIMES; MITES
FIRST Dean’s List winner; top 5 at FIRST World Championships
Google Code Jam Round 2, 3 Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
Facebook Hacker Cup Round 2, 3 Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
International Public Policy Forum Top 32 team
TASP; Writing Portfolio Gold Award; Presidential Scholar of the Arts; Scholastic Art;
All National Band or Orchestra performer
Boys Nation Participant
Clark Scholars

7:

ARML Tiebreaker Round; USAMTS Gold Medal; HMMT top 50
SSP; Simons; CMU SAMS; NIH Research; SUMAC; ROSS; PROMYS; Mathcamp
State governors schools with acceptance rate <15% (PGSS, NJGSS, most other science governor’s schools)
USACO Platinum Division
ISEF Finalist
Top Team, YES Competition (Young Epidemiology Scholarship)
History Day National Level
Scholastic Art & Writing National Gold Medal. NFL Nationals (speech and debate) “breakers” (elimination rounds), Tournament of Champions (debate) “breakers,” Congressional Award Gold Medalist,
International Public Policy Forum Top 64 team
Foyle Young Poet
US Senate Page

6:

(6.5) Google Code Jam Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
(6.5) Facebook Hacker Cup Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
USACO Gold Division
AMC 10 Perfect Score
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)
Scholastic Art & Writing National Silver Medal
Academic Decathlon State (CA) Honors Top 3
University-run poetry contests (Patricia Grodd Prize, Lewis Center at Princeton Prize, etc)
Very selective summer programs (acceptance rate 10-15%: UC Davis YSP, IOWA SSTP, BU RISE, UCSB RMP, HCSSiM, HSMC, MIT Launch, …)

5: Pretty good; will complement an already strong record

USAPhO/USNCO/USABO/NAO semifinals
AIME qualification
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
Academic Decathlon State (AZ/TX/MA/WI), Nationals Top 3 Honors & California Event Golds
Selective summer academic programs (acceptance rate 15-25%: UC COSMOS, UF SSTP, …)

4: Fairly difficult

USACO Silver Division
Science Fair Regional winner
Science Bowl national qualification
Perfect Score (Multiple Years) on National Latin/Spanish/French Exam
State awards (all-state music, etc)
Academic Decathlon State (AZ/TX/MA/WI) Event Golds
MUN Gavel
AMC 10/12 school winner (depends on your school)
Art and Writing Regional Gold award
Top 5 FIRST Regional (FTC)
Position in Local Government
National AP Scholar at Junior Year

3: Some effort involved, but not uncommon

Student Body
Winning at local/regional science fairs
All-County music
Eagle Scout;
Gold Award (with prior Silver and Bronze Awards)
National Merit Finalist
Head of a competitive club that you did not found (ex: Mock Trial, Model UN, Science Olympiad)
Editor in chief of award-winning school newspaper
Head of a club with large membership and substantial activities (Interact Club)

2: Your average go-getter

Bank of America Awards
Presidential Service Award Volunteering Gold
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

1084

How good are science olympiad medals? (states, nationals)

1085

Having now had two Ds that got to top 10 schools. D3 recruited athlete has to be near top. They each had multiple other awards from the 10 down to the 1 range, but both acceptances came through sports definately a 10.

1086

Currently just graduated from a HYPMS; would like to comment a bit on the high tier ranking comparisons.
Having US Olympiad 20/24 finalists x2, RSI, ISEF Top 4 Category, USAMO qualification x 4 myself, the upper rankings are a bit off.
IMO/IPHO/ICHO/IBO/IOI/IOAA/IOL gold/silver medals > RSI (which usually involves a prior ISEF/Olympiad/publication in journal) = USAMO Winner/HM ~> MOP/USAPhO/USNCO/USABO/USACO Top 20/24 ~ Perfect USAMO Index (300/300, 15 AIME and AMC 12) >> Top 50 USABO/High Honors Chem/Physics Gold (This kind of thing) ~ USAMO Qualification

MOP, and RSI both have a lot of people and many of them end up going to HYPMS. Almost all US Olympiad Top 20/24 also end up at HYPMS. Perfect USAMO Index is rare; perfect AMC 12 is slightly more common but because there are 2 opportunities a year for multiple years to achieve, there are more overall in total. These people usually end up winning USA(J)MO anyways. It’s not really the same tier as USA(J)MO winner/HM alone, though. MOP has more individuals than just the winner/HM, because it includes freshmen or sophomore who scored high but not enough for winner/HM. There are ~250 USAMO qualifiers that most people I’ve talked to have qualified multiple times (starting as early as middle school) and don’t really see this as equal to those mentioned above. AMC 12/AIME perfect score almost certainly qualifies for USAMO and is ranked above it. AIME qualification isn’t that big of a deal so bumped from 5 to a 4. Almost all my classmates have qualified for it and many friends have qualified for AIME since 6th grade or before.

US Olympiad T20/24, MOP, RSI should be in 9; although they almost certainly get into one of HYPMS, they rarely get into all of them. USAMO qualification in 7 (comparable to platinum division USACO), USAMO winner is a tiny bit between 9 and 10, perfect index is an 8 (although difficult and rare, performance on USAMO is more highly regarded). Don’t write “national finalist” for t20/24 because that’s potentially misleading. Also, should be obvious but if you’re Asian, subtract a rank from your highest number and that’s a more accurate reflection.

10: Congrats
D1 athlete
IMO/IPHO/ICHO/IBO/IOI/IOAA/IOL
gold/silver medals
Regeneron STS Top 10; ISEF Top 3 Grand Prize; Google Science Fair age group winner
History Day National Winner
Single/First Author in High Impact Factor Journal
Special performance/Solo at Carnegie Hall
International Competitor in a Sport
Boys Nation President

9: Almost a ticket to a prestigious school
USAMO Winner (T12) (9.5)
Google Science Fair Finalist; Regeneron STS Finalist; ISEF Best of Category
MOP, USAPhO/USNCO/USABO/USACO T20/24
NSDA Nationals winner
Tournament of Champions Winner
NCFL Nationals Winner
RSI (Research Science Institute)
Published in a relatively prestigious journal
National Student Poet
Jimmy Awards (musical theatre)

8: Amazing accomplishment; Large boost
Perfect AMC Index (AMC12 Perfect Score + AIME perfect score)
Google Science Fair Semifinalist; Intel ISEF 1st-4th place category; Regeneron STS semifinalist; Davidson Fellow; Presidential Scholar; MIT PRIMES; MITES
FIRST Dean’s List winner; top 5 at FIRST World Championships
Google Code Jam Round 2, 3 Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
Facebook Hacker Cup Round 2, 3 Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
International Public Policy Forum Top 32 team
TASP; Writing Portfolio Gold Award; Presidential Scholar of the Arts; Scholastic Art;
All National Band or Orchestra performer
Boys Nation Participant
Clark Scholars

7:
AMC 12 Perfect Score (7.5-8)
ARML Tiebreaker Round; USAMTS Gold Medal; HMMT top 50
SSP; Simons; CMU SAMS; NIH Research; SUMAC; ROSS; PROMYS; Mathcamp
State governors schools with acceptance rate <15% (PGSS, NJGSS, most other science governor’s schools)
USACO Platinum Division
USAMO qualification
US Olympiad High Honors/Top 50/USAPHO Gold etc
ISEF Finalist
Top Team, YES Competition (Young Epidemiology Scholarship)
History Day National Level
Scholastic Art & Writing National Gold Medal. NFL Nationals (speech and debate) “breakers” (elimination rounds), Tournament of Champions (debate) “breakers,” Congressional Award Gold Medalist,
International Public Policy Forum Top 64 team
Foyle Young Poet
US Senate Page

6:

(6.5) Google Code Jam Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
(6.5) Facebook Hacker Cup Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
USACO Gold Division
AMC 10 Perfect Score
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)
Scholastic Art & Writing National Silver Medal
Academic Decathlon State (CA) Honors Top 3
University-run poetry contests (Patricia Grodd Prize, Lewis Center at Princeton Prize, etc)
Very selective summer programs (acceptance rate 10-15%: UC Davis YSP, IOWA SSTP, BU RISE, UCSB RMP, HCSSiM, HSMC, MIT Launch, …)

5: Pretty good; will complement an already strong record

USAPhO/USNCO/USABO/NAO semifinals
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
Academic Decathlon State (AZ/TX/MA/WI), Nationals Top 3 Honors & California Event Golds
Selective summer academic programs (acceptance rate 15-25%: UC COSMOS, UF SSTP, …)

4: Fairly difficult

AIME qualification
USACO Silver Division
Science Fair Regional winner
Science Bowl national qualification
Perfect Score (Multiple Years) on National Latin/Spanish/French Exam
State awards (all-state music, etc)
Academic Decathlon State (AZ/TX/MA/WI) Event Golds
MUN Gavel
AMC 10/12 school winner (depends on your school)
Art and Writing Regional Gold award
Top 5 FIRST Regional (FTC)
Position in Local Government
National AP Scholar at Junior Year

3: Some effort involved, but not uncommon

Student Body
Winning at local/regional science fairs
All-County music
Eagle Scout;
Gold Award (with prior Silver and Bronze Awards)
National Merit Finalist
Head of a competitive club that you did not found (ex: Mock Trial, Model UN, Science Olympiad)
Editor in chief of award-winning school newspaper
Head of a club with large membership and substantial activities (Interact Club)

2: Your average go-getter

Bank of America Awards
Presidential Service Award Volunteering Gold
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

1087

Also would like to say certain things at 10 and 9 seem a bit too high but I am not really qualified to comment.

1088

Re: Scholastic, this year there were over 340,000 submissions. Numbers of national winners were as follows:

Gold Medal Art or Writing Portfolio ($10k scholarship): 16
Silver Medal with Distinction ($1k scholarship): 30
Special Achievement ($500-$1k scholarships): 52
American Vision (best art in region) or American Voices (best writing in region): 126
Gold Medal: about 1,200
Silver Medal: about 1,800

I believe all of the winners in the first four categories except for the Silver Medal with Distinction will also have won individual national Gold Medals, so there are about 3,000 total national winners, of whom about 40% are national Gold Medalists. I don’t know how many individuals entered, but if everyone submitted three works, it would mean that about one out every hundred individual entrants won a national Gold Medal.

Maybe others know the comparable figures for YoungArts or how these numbers compare to the various STEM competitions (I don’t), but this feels reasonably elite and distinguishing. Statistically, you have a significantly better chance of being admitted to any of HYPS than winning a national Gold Medal, and the odds of winning a national Silver Medal seem to be close to those of being admitted to one of HYPS in the regular decision round. Getting one of the Portfolio Gold Medals is at another level, so I might put that at an 8/9 on this thread’s scale, leaving the national Gold Medal at 7 and the national Silver Medal at 6.

Having said all that, though, I think fewer students each year get a perfect SAT or ACT than win a Scholastic national Gold Medal, and many of those perfect scorers don’t get into the college of their choice. The whole package matters…

1089

IMO many of these rankings are kind of arbitrary. For example, giving a 6 for Technology Students Association Nationals (by saying National, assume its appearance) and the same 6 for National Sciencebowl winner is not logical. TSA has several events - state conferences send top 2 or 3 placements from each state to the Nationals - there are several hundred participants. And having judged some of these events at our state, I know for a fact that entry barrier much lower (for some events there were only a handful entrants). For science bowl on the other hand - each state can send a max of 1 or 2 teams (some states don’t have that luxury as well - New England states has a single competition that sends 2 teams out of 4 or 5 states). Entry barrier is quite high and winners get recognized more prominently - how are these on the same footing/rating. There are a few other examples - though its useful its not an exact science to rate the awards - it all depends on the context and rest of the package.

1090

What about Princeton Price for Race Relations?

1 Like
1091

MODERATOR’S NOTE:

The whole thread is a parlor game that has been going on for 12 years and 73 pages. Take other teens’ (and recent teens’) opinions with the grain of salt it deserves; There is no “right” answer.

1 Like
1092

Would All-National Choir be an 8 (as All-National Band and Orchestra, which are already on there, are also an 8)?

1093

AIME is more like 4-6000 kids

1094

Just under 4,000 in the US last year, just under 3,600 in 2018.

1095

They are considerably impressive. I would put regionals under 2, and state under 4.

1096

10: Congrats (MIT, Stanford, Harvard…)

D1 athlete
IMO/IPHO/ICHO/IBO/IOI/IOAA/IOL
medals
Regeneron STS Top 10; ISEF Top 3 Grand Prize; Google Science Fair age group winner
History Day National Winner
Single/First Author in High Impact Factor Journal
Special performance/Solo at Carnegie Hall
International Competitor in a Sport
Boys Nation President

9: Almost a ticket to a prestigious school (MIT, Stanford, Harvard)

Google Science Fair Finalist; Regeneron STS Finalist; ISEF Best of Category
MOP (9.5)
NSDA Nationals winner
Tournament of Champions Winner
NCFL Nationals Winner
RSI (Research Science Institute)
Published in a relatively prestigious journal
National Student Poet
Jimmy Awards (musical theatre)

8: Amazing accomplishment; Large boost (MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, Princeton)

USAMO qualification; AMC 12 Perfect Score; USAPhO/USNCO/USABO/USACO National Finalist
Google Science Fair Semifinalist; Intel ISEF 1st-4th place category; Regeneron STS semifinalist; Davidson Fellow; Presidential Scholar; MIT PRIMES; MITES
FIRST Dean’s List winner; top 5 at FIRST World Championships
Google Code Jam Round 2, 3 Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
Facebook Hacker Cup Round 2, 3 Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
International Public Policy Forum Top 32 team
TASP; Writing Portfolio Gold Award; Presidential Scholar of the Arts; Scholastic Art;
All National Band or Orchestra performer
Boys Nation Participant
Clark Scholars

7: Really good, also a large boost (Carnegie Mellon, UC Berkeley, Georgia Tech)

ARML Tiebreaker Round; USAMTS Gold Medal; HMMT top 50
SSP; Simons; CMU SAMS; NIH Research; SUMAC; ROSS; PROMYS; Mathcamp
State governors schools with acceptance rate <15% (PGSS, NJGSS, most other science governor’s schools)
USACO Platinum Division
ISEF Finalist
Top Team, YES Competition (Young Epidemiology Scholarship)
History Day National Level
Scholastic Art & Writing National Gold Medal. NFL Nationals (speech and debate) “breakers” (elimination rounds), Tournament of Champions (debate) “breakers,” Congressional Award Gold Medalist,
International Public Policy Forum Top 64 team
Foyle Young Poet
US Senate Page
HMMT Winner (7.5)

6: Really good, will add value for good colleges (UC Berkeley, UCLA, GIT…)

Google Code Jam Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
Facebook Hacker Cup Qualifier (Vast majority of Competitors are College students and professionals)
USACO Gold Division (6.5)
AMC 10 Perfect Score(around a 7)
USABO semifinals (6.5)
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)
Scholastic Art & Writing National Silver Medal
Academic Decathlon State (CA) Honors Top 3
University-run poetry contests (Patricia Grodd Prize, Lewis Center at Princeton Prize, etc)
Very selective summer programs (acceptance rate 10-15%: UC Davis YSP, IOWA SSTP, BU RISE, UCSB RMP, HCSSiM, HSMC, MIT Launch, …)

5: Pretty good; will complement an already strong record (Berkeley, UCSD, UCLA, GIT…)

USAPhO/USNCO/NAO semifinals (5.5)
AIME qualification (5.5)
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
Academic Decathlon State (AZ/TX/MA/WI), Nationals Top 3 Honors & California Event Golds
Selective summer academic programs (acceptance rate 15-25%: UC COSMOS, UF SSTP, …)

4: Fairly difficult (UC Berkeley, UCSD, GIT, UCSD, UCI, UIUC…)

USACO Silver Division (4.5)
Science Fair Regional winner
Science Bowl national qualification (4.5)
Perfect Score (Multiple Years) on National Latin/Spanish/French Exam
State awards (all-state music, etc)
Academic Decathlon State (AZ/TX/MA/WI) Event Golds
MUN Gavel
AMC 10/12 school winner (depends on your school) (can be as high as a 7)
Art and Writing Regional Gold award
Top 5 FIRST Regional (FTC)
Position in Local Government
National AP Scholar at Junior Year
Science Olympiad State Medals
Placing in some national science or math contest with multiple schools involved such as NatAssessment, CHMMC, BMT(4.5)

3: Some effort involved, but not uncommon (UCSD, UCSD, UCD, UIUC)

Student Body
Winning at local/regional science fairs
All-County music
Eagle Scout;
Gold Award (with prior Silver and Bronze Awards)
National Merit Finalist
Head of a competitive club that you did not found (ex: Mock Trial, Model UN, Science Olympiad, Math League)
Editor in chief of award-winning school newspaper
Head of a club with large membership and substantial activities (Interact Club)

2: Your average go-getter (UCSD, UCSB, UCD…)

Bank of America Awards
Presidential Service Award Volunteering Gold
Local awards/trophies
Essay Contests
Regional History Day
Science Olympiad Regional Medals

1: Common activities (could help for good schools, not amazing though)

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

1097

See my list below…

1098

AIME has a lot of people, but is still pretty good award…

1099

How come HMMT Top 50 is ranked below USAMO qualification? HMMT (the February one) is pretty much as hard as USAMO tests with all the top math people attending, while USAMO takes 250 people. I feel it should rank somewhere between MOP and USAMO qualification.

1100

The #1 ISEF Grand Prize ($75K) winner was rejected REA Stanford.
The USA rep for EU Contest, Regeneron STS Semifinalist, student researcher at MIT and Harvard, RSI attendee and ISEF Best of Category was rejected.
70% of RSI participants were rejected.

This list means nothing. Prospective applicants, please do not structure your high school life around aiming for one of these.