Need help finding/getting awards. Thanks

Applying to College
1

Hey!

I was wondering if there were any awards that are not much of a hassle to get but strong ones to write on college applications. Honestly, I did some research and found some very basic stuff that isn’t very important such as Yale Book.

So does anyone have any awards they would like to share and how to get them? Thanks!

Here are my stats, I’ll make it as quick possible for you guys to read.

I’m a current sophomore in my extremely competitive high school.

State: Illinois

Unweighted GPA: 3.8(9)
Weighted GPA: 4.1(9)

PSAT: 1200 Aiming For 1550 On SAT

EC’s
Swimming Team JV (9)
Debate (10)
Sophomore Class Board (10)
Vex Robotics (9, 10)
NHS (10, 11, 12)
FMP (Freshman Mentor Program) (11)

Community Service: Aiming for Leadership and 350+ All Hours documented
Senior Home Care 32+ Hours (10) Aiming for 200 Hours, very consistent time set, and the volunteer manager loves me
Sophomore Class Board 5+ Hours (10) will receive about 50 hours by the end of this year, planning a lot of big events in our school
Library Work 10+ Hours (10) just over the breaks and summer, probably 40 hours by the time I apply
Innerview Community Services 10+ Hours (10) Probably 100+ and very consistent
Leading a Group In Senior Home Care Activities 0+ Hours (10) I lead a bunch of my friends at senior home care activities, probably 75+, just started

Fundraisers:
Give - a - thon (30+ Hours) (10)

Medical Related Activities:
Senior Home Care (30+ Hours)(10) Aiming for 200 as listed above
Physical Therapist Shadowing (2+ Hours)(10) Aiming for 50 hours
Northwestern Medicine Discovery Program (10, 11) Very hard to get into, will be attending for next two years
Some sort of a Medicine Program (11)

Research Studies:
Bio Studies at UChicago (11)
Dr. Rubins Medical Camp (11)

Research Internships: None Yet?
Aiming for a Research Internship at Stanford (11 or 12)

Awards: THESE ARE WEAK SO I NEED HELP LOL
NHS (10)
Vex Robotics Design and Judges Award (9)
Participated in National Tournament in Robotics and was Team Designer (9)
Merit and Honor Award In Community Service (10)

Thanks!

2

Bump

3

You don’t find awards. You either earn them or are nominated. Do well in your ECs, compete on academic teams, excel in your classes.

My DD had no awards outside of school before junior and senior year so don’t stress. You have time!

4

@momofsenior1 Thanks so much for your reply! I guess I’ll stick around for a while and hopefully I earned one or get nominated!

5

Quite a contradiction: “not much of a hassle to get but strong ones to write on college applications“

6

@vonlost uh sorry about that. I meant something that isn’t too hard to get but strong enough to write on college applications.

7

Anything worth putting on your college app is not going to be easy to come by. Start by putting yourself out there rather than waiting for something to fall in your lap! Try, for example, popular writing contests. Some are fairly prestigious & free if you do enough searching online, and you can definitely tap into your debate knowledge or community service experiences in writing them.

What about debate tournaments? Something research related that you can do on your own? (Submitting an idea for a study to a contest, etc.) The options are truly endless, but they will not land at your feet if you don’t go chasing them.

8

You are doing great! Forget trying to get meaningless awards. You have great extracurricular activities, and having long-term club involvement and volunteer work is more important. You still have 2 years, and I’m sure you will receive more awards with your activities - those are the ones that will count for something.

9

As stated. You already have enough. Do whatever you want as long as your consistent for 3-4 years. It’s better to do fewer activities and do them longer and more consistently then to front load your application with a lot of things. At some point it looks unrealistic and reaching . Don’t do anything just to look good on an application. Do it because you really want to. My son went to one of those very competitive Chicago schools and get it… Good Luck.