<p>Just curious... how many of those admitted to Stanford won the National Council of Teachers of English Writing Award? I know that the other winner from my school and I were both waitlisted (instead of flat-out rejected) and at least two of the three winners from a local HS were admitted to Stanford. Just coincidence?</p>
<p>Don't think so. The winner from my school was flat-out rejected (and I got in).</p>
<p>i was chosen for the contest but i didn't win...and i got in. i certainly don't think having it hurts, but i doubt its that big of factor.</p>
<p>The 2 winners from my school got rejected too.</p>
<p>I had the chance to speak with a former Harvard admissions officer who told me that they held NCTE in reasonable regard, since its judging panel (consisting of high school and college English educators) has reliable taste. </p>
<p>Personally, I find NCTE to be a verification. The applicants are not competing for a limited number of berths; any student who meets the standard will be recognized with the NCTE Writing Achievement Award. So the award proves that one's writing is above average in relation to the general high school population. What the award will not do is function as a selective national distinction, considering that over 600 students are recognized each year.</p>
<p>If writing is your main hook and niche, competitions like the Scholastic Writing Awards and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Talent Search will serve you better. They are more competitive, and winning in these fields proves that your writing is not only above average - it is pretty damn good.</p>
<p>Use NCTE to increase your confidence in your writing, and then apply to more writing awards.</p>
<p>As far as answering your question about Stanford goes, I was an NCTE winner and was admitted to Stanford. The other NCTE winner from my school did not apply to Stanford, but will be attending Princeton in the fall.</p>
<p>Stanford seems to value applicants with excellent school records (even at the cost of being merely "average" in extracurriculars), provided that they also invest time, energy, and wit in crafting their essays.</p>
<p>I'm a bit confused....I read about the NCTE award in a book somewhere but it didn't have much info on it. We have to be nominated by our teachers to participate? I'd like to give this a try if it's open to everyone and not too late. Oh, and what about the other two "more prestigious" writing competitions mentioned? Any info on those? </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Google is your friend. Use it.</p>
<p>NCTE Writing Achievement Awards:
<a href="http://www.ncte.org/about/awards/student/aa/107460.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.ncte.org/about/awards/student/aa/107460.htm</a></p>
<p>National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts:
<a href="http://www.nfaa.org%5B/url%5D">http://www.nfaa.org</a></p>
<p>Scholastic Writing Awards
<a href="http://www.scholastic.com/artandwritingawards%5B/url%5D">http://www.scholastic.com/artandwritingawards</a></p>
<p>Depending on the school size a certain number of kids are chosen to send in a writing sample and do a timed writing. I didn't get an award, but my friend did. I didn't really care, I mostly focused on winning writing contests with cash prizes :). While it's a good award to have, national level and all that, I don't think it boosts your chances much. Stanford has your essays by which to guage your writing and there's no accounting for taste.</p>
<p>Re:
"Personally, I find NCTE to be a verification. The applicants are not competing for a limited number of berths; any student who meets the standard will be recognized with the NCTE Writing Achievement Award."</p>
<p>The above quote is not correct in that NCTE does HAVE a strict limit on # winners: each state is alloted 2 winner spots for each US House of Rep. seat.
So the alotment is based on state population, in essence.</p>
<p>This makes winning NCTE a much more significant achievement, esp. in high-scoring states (MA, MD, NJ, etc.) where there are a very high number of
top students but relatively small population compared to states such as CA or TX.
Also very tough for states such as Alaska (max 2 winners possible) or HI (4 winners),
there must be quite a few high quality writers even though the state population is "small".</p>
<p>That still gives the NCTE 850 possible winner slots. Also, as the House of Reps deals seats proportionally to population, the competition isn't disproportionally fiercer in states with low populations. Judging by the fact that states like Alaska and the Dakotas routinely don't produce any winners in the competition, NCTE seems to judge participants against an absolute standard instead of rewarding the few "best" entries in the state.</p>
<p>Following stats are provided in the letter to 2005 NCTE winners:
2359 HS jrs. were nominated, 628 are winners.
So 628 is far less the max possible 850 that's cited above, and would seem to bolster the "absolute standard" viewpoint.</p>
<p>However, quite a few schools do not participate in NCTE.
Some schools have more strong writers than can be nominated.
So it can still be a bit of "hit or miss".
Congrats to all winners, but hope the ones who didn't win won't feel too bad!</p>