<p>I see your point, and I wasn't planning on doing something I wasn't the least interested in just to try to impress admission officers. But being aware of the big "prizes" that will help you "advance" doesn't seem limited to college applicants nor necessarily a bad thing. It seems that even greats like Einstein and Darwin, to name just two, were very mindful of the competition and how they could get recognition. John Nash (A Beautiful Mind) decided on pursuing game theory, figuring he'd have the best chance of standing out among his competition. They were all clearly passionate about their field, but they also seemed very intent on winning and getting ahead that way.
Perhaps a healthy synergy exists between winning and passion, and they fuel each other? A kid might enter a science fair, marginally interested in science but hoping to win and get admission/scholarships to college, but in the process that kid might become passionate about it. It happened in "October Sky". Just a thought.</p>
<p>Here are the awards that will virtually "guarantee" your acceptance to Harvard:
- Division 1 athlete (#1 hook)
- IMO Gold medal
- Any science or CS international Olympiad medals
- Winning Siemens
- Winning Intel
- Publish a book that people have actually heard of</p>
<p>Thanks. By the way, does winning Intel also cover winning Intel ISEF? Signed: Long Shot</p>
<p>Science Talent Search</p>
<p>"IMO Gold medal"</p>
<p>Actually two US IMO Gold Medalists got rejected from Harvard.</p>
<p>I only have science projects but no ISEF...Our regional contest was unfair</p>
<p>Were these two applicants perhaps seniors who got their gold medals in the summer AFTER the admission decisions had already been made?</p>
<p>They've both been on the team multiple times. Here's a thread I posted asking why.</p>
<p>A $3M donation wouldnt get you into Harvard?</p>
<p>It´s mind-boggling to think that Harvard wouldn't want to admit the gold medal winners. It makes me wonder if you do win such a top award, whether there's a way to bring it to a professor's attention so the professor might "recruit" you.</p>
<p>Anyone who has won an IMO gold medal as a junior is already on all the right radar screens. But there doesn't seem to be anything, really, that results in a shoo-in to Harvard, so it's best not to worry about this.</p>
<p>This may not be applicable to the specific cases that stupidkid cites, but a friend who knows an IMO gold medal winner who was not accepted at any of his top 3 choices (I don't know if Harvard was one) apparently made the mistake of looking on the app as a waste of time and more or less blew it off - for instance, submitted 1 para for his essay. Perhaps it came across as arrogant. Apparently he was just the oblivious sort, and didn't mean to come across that way.</p>
<p>I often feel that the conventional wisdom that parents have quoted at them ad nauseum (ie: it's the child's app, they should own it completely) is misguided. Obviously, it's the child's app, and needs to be their accomplishments and their voice, but a parent can provide a sanity check on the content. In this case, it could have made a world of difference.</p>