<p>at least you have AMC's
we have a MATH CLUB with MATH TUTORING
that's SO intellectually challenging/competitive!</p>
<p>wis3ly, for UPENN (wharton) no one without an 800 on the Math Level II was accepted. If you have a 790 than retake it, because that shows a serious weakness in your mathematical ability, i.e. so much that you wouldn't be able to handle the course load. Anyways, good luck!</p>
<p>hello all,</p>
<h2>hey blueducky, what about talking to award winners to find your start?</h2>
<p>crystal</a> awards have become a popular choice for recognition</p>
<p>Mr. Rifleman,</p>
<p>Where did you "learn" that every single person accepted into Wharton got an 800 on the Math IIC? That sounds a little far-fetched.</p>
<p>Therifleman, I think you are trolling
LWilliams, why are you spamming?</p>
<p>Unless you think we are talking about physical trophies? We are talking about state, country, and worldwide recognition. Some examples of awards:
- ISEF or Siemen's National Finalist
- FIRST Robotics National Finalist
- Team America Rocketry Challenge National Finalist
- Scholastic Art and Writing Gold/Silver Medals
- National Science Bowl Finalists
- Chem/Bio/Phys International Olympiad or even better - Traveling Team
etc</p>
<p>Therifleman was clearly being sarcastic guys, no worries.</p>
<p>ooops, i thought he was being serious and almost started to panic! LOL I really need to get off CC...</p>
<p>lol that was pretty heavy handed sarcasm...LOL "trolling"</p>
<p>Lwilliams, why did u give a link for a site that makes trophies?
all of those awards u guys have mentioned are incredibly difficult to win. i do not believe i have a shot at any of those.</p>
<p>^^^
Well Rocketry is relatively easy (if you have a good mentor).
Robotics could be easy if you know what you are doing.
Intel/Siemens = impossible
Scholastic = not too bad; a lot of people get chosen
National Science bowl = not bad, I was on a first year team and we were one point from making it to nationals (the team we lost to was the winner 10 years running)
Science Olympiads = impossible</p>
<p>Doing one of the above will help a lot. Even trying some will look very good...</p>
<p>Being a FRC finalist is difficult. Just by watching the winning robots run, it doesn't seem hard to win, but when you actually get behind the tools, it's quite a challenge. Our team has been able to win an award two years running at the national level, but being a national finalist is almost definitely out of reach.</p>
<p>ooo...I"m planning to join the sci oly this fall (my HS's first time in creating the sci oly). but r u sure it's really difficult?
and is scholastic @ sumbitting essays or something?</p>
<p>wow icinnamon, your school must be excellent.</p>
<p>do any of these competitions take place during the summer?</p>
<p>My school is very good. They provide a lot of opportunities.</p>
<p>When I said FIRST national finalist, I mean making it to the finals. Which is slightly easier.</p>
<p>I have actually done Rocketry (national finalist), Robotics (1 place away from national finals... grrr... but i have 2 more years :D), Scholastic Art (but that was 8th grade), Sci Bowl (I explained).</p>
<p>bio/chem/math/phys Oly = nearly impossible, takes place during the year
Rocketry = during the year, you can start in the summer
Robotics = during the year
Sci Bowl = during the year
Scholastic = whenever; summer or year
Sci Olys = during the year, camp/traveling competition is during the summer</p>
<p>Siemens/Intel is officially during the year, Siemen's judging is in October, ISEF judging is in April. But both competitions you start the summer before.</p>
<p>I find it quite that funny that ISEF and Intel/Siemens are so highly thought of on these boards. My school has a very good science research program and we have had kids who don't even take our school's highest level of science classes win major ISEF awards. Shows how meaningless anything is in high school. Really, this is all just a game that the admissions people like to play. In fact, my school recently had a team win a big award at ISEF with a project they got out of a book. No joke. I wish I was, I really feel bad for all you brilliant people who work all year and don't win awards when the two people on this team couldn't break a 2250 on the SAT if their b@lls depended on it and just worked on it during classtime. </p>
<p>My school does so well because our teacher is hands down one of the nation's best. He's really the star of the show and the "international award winning" kids are just pawns on his chessboard. His secret is drilling the presentations to the point where the kids know exactly what they are going to say and how the are going to say it months before they actually present anywhere. I therefore do not think these science awards are so impressive or evidence of such genius. I think the next Da Vinci is more likely to be found in his room smoking a blunt and drawing diagrams than playing phony research games at ISEF in Georgia.</p>
<p>What you just said doesn't only apply to science competitions, it applies to the entire college application process.</p>
<p>Where we get in do not correlate directly with our intelligence. It'd be a lot simpler if it did. Everything is about preparation and presentation.</p>