<p>2 bids. AFAIK, there's nothing else in humanities that is competitive besides debate + speech. I mean, you can write stories and such but uh, it's not a competitive activity. </p>
<p>I think you guys are trivializing the amount of work and preparation that goes into research and even competitions in math and science. Sure a lot of people can do competitions and research but to be successful is incredibly hard. Similar opportunities can be found in the humanities anyways; nothing stops you from publishing in journals or learning linguistics or whatever on your own.</p>
<p>If "humanities" includes social science, you can also enter essay contests. There's also MUN, Mock Trial.. and there is competition within student organizations (e.g. JSA) for regional leadership positions.</p>
<p>"I think you guys are trivializing the amount of work and preparation that goes into research and even competitions in math and science. Sure a lot of people can do competitions and research but to be successful is incredibly hard. Similar opportunities can be found in the humanities anyways; nothing stops you from publishing in journals or learning linguistics or whatever on your own."</p>
<p>To do any research at all is very difficult in the humanities and the social sciences. Any other publishing is also very difficult, more difficult than in the sciences because it is all independent (e.g. short stories). </p>
<p>I am not arguing the challenge of substantial research/competition results in math and science, but the fact is that ANY research at all in the humanities is often more impressive - from an admissions standpoint - than even relatively significant science research.</p>
<p>Referring to a previous comment about it being "more difficult to stand out in the humanities"--</p>
<p>I think it's easier to personalize efforts in the humanities, so each project or campaign is unique to the applicant. The applicant's personality shines through more easily in a humanities project. So yeah, I agree with logicus that it's more difficult to stand out in math/science, since most competitions are formal. Humanities projects, on the other hand, don't always require competition-- plus, since they are more personalized to the individual applicant, humanities-oriented applicants can stand out in their own unique ways.</p>