<p>I really doubt about this. Many students believe that if there are no awards then there is no Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford and MIT? No matter how good grades they have, how many extracurricular activities they have, how fantastic their application essay is?
Is it right? And what is this in the case of International Students?</p>
<p>I would like to clarify my doubt. Kindly, reply me.</p>
<p>I can’t profess to know all the ins and outs. I can only say we know kids at Stanford and Harvard that didn’t have “awards.” They reached high levels of achievement academically. They were at professional levels in their activities. They just didn’t go for or have high school competitions available to them. Some of these competitions have bizarre restrictions that omit kids who are already working alongside adults in the real world. My kid is in this boat.</p>
<p>I can only say I hope it’s not the case that no awards means no highly competitive schools as often, I find that the kids who are truly gifted in a field have no interest in this sort of competition and competition is only as high as the highest person who signs up.</p>
<p>I guess I will find out answer to this question in less than 7 months. nothing more nothing less.</p>
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<p>So the student needs academic achievements, if he/she doesn’t have any awards?</p>
<p>I am not even a great academic achiever!</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply.</p>
<p>Oh gosh, don’t look to me for the answers. I just meant that the kids we know in these schools without awards did the expected… took the hardest classes and did well in them.</p>
<p>
Then you’re aiming at the wrong set of colleges.</p>
<p>T26E4</p>
<p>how about good quality everything perfect but lack of international awards? I got nationals. I am absolutely unsure about this.</p>
<p>@T26E4, I mean i am not a great academic achiever while in my 10th class, but in 11th i stood at 4th position and finally at 12th I am salutatorian!</p>
<p>Also, is it right that “No Leadership, No HYPSM”?</p>
<p>No this isn’t true. Many students have no idea what they are talking about. Other say silly things like they are not an achiever but they are salutatorian. There is no one thing that is essential. No one can give you a formula to get in or to count you out.</p>
<p>Also, if a student’s scores have gradually increased, how would admission officers consider it? They consider it as an improvement in students grades or they consider it as instability?</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies.</p>
<p>Admission officers would obviously consider it as an improvement. Improving scores, however, wouldn’t look as good as scores that have always been good. If you don’t have the extracurriculars, I would highly recommend that you reconsider your set of colleges. The competition is intense, and you don’t want to apply with high hopes, because the reality is, you will most likely get rejected. HYPSM are looking for people who have the academics (high SAT, high GPA) AND have a passion in their EC’s, which they are very good at. Obviously, this is not true for every single case, but it’s a general pattern. Are you an international student? If so, I would seriously recommend applying to safety schools. The competition is even worse for international students, especially those in India/China. A majority of the international students accepted will have national/international awards.</p>
<p>I have only one extracurricular which I have been pursuing since 4 years with passion. However, i don’t have national and international awards. I am from India by the way.</p>
<p>The only hard rule of thumb I can think of is</p>
<p>“No Application, No HYPSM”. If you don’t apply, you won’t get in. </p>
<p>All of the rest is pure speculation.</p>
<p>For most people it’s probably just “No HYPSM, No Matter What.”</p>