Hi guys,
Currently, I am part of the speech and debate team at my high school, and I had one quick question. What impact does speech and debate have on your college application? Thanks!
A positive one if it seems as though you’re doing it for its own sake rather than to pad college apps
Thanks very much! The reason I ask is because the kind of judges there are due to lack of qualified judges and the constant backstabbing and cheating by schools and contestants; it makes this whole experience quite annoying and frustrating. I went into this because I really wanted to, but now I’m really doubting myself.
@royjohnson , the greatest advantage to participating in speech and debate doesn’t come from winning, although it feels great to win. The skills you learn; research, writing, speaking, performing, those are the real benefits. No doubt if you show passion, commitment, and growth in your S&D career colleges will take notice.
Steven Covey wrote “seek first to understand, then to be understood”, he must have been a debater. Even though judging, especially parent judging (like mine) can be inconsistent even arbitrary, so can a college professor or a boss! Judges generally reflect how you are perceived. Sometimes reality and perception don’t match up…if that is your situation consider the judges comments and open yourself to aligning the judges perceptions to reality. It’s a good life skill.
I competed in Speech and Debate as a kid, and coached for 18 years. I was Vice President of our local league.
What do you mean by cheating? If you’re honestly concerned that other speakers are using illegal pieces (not sure how else you might cheat) then speak to your coach. But do your homework and be sure you know what you’re talking about. Otherwise, you, your coach and your school look bad.
Speech and Debate is probably one of the best activities you can be a part of, both in terms of college applications and life preparation. No matter what field you’re thinking of getting into, you’ll have to be able to communicate effectively. You would be amazed at the number of adults who are petrified of giving a presentation!
As to the qualifications of the judges, you would also be amazed at how hard it is to get adults willing to give up that kind of time, not to mention the intimidation factor facing judges. But a good speaker or debater will make the decision an easy one. Judges DO get the critiques to fill out; they know what they should be looking for. And they desperately want to do a good job. So it’s up to the contestants to make that easy.
In debate in particular, you should make it very easy for the judges to see you’ve gone down your opponent’s flow and hit every one of his points. (And, no, I do NOT mean speaking so quickly that that newbie judge has no idea what you’re saying.) Win because you have the better arguments, but really win because you can refute each of your opponent’s arguments. Any judge with more than one tournament’s experience will know that you came in with the same points as everyone else on your team, but your refutation is your own. Work on being a good listener, on your skills with a flow chart, and on your rebuttal skills. No talking with marbles in your mouth, but good, solid debate.
Over the years, the vast number of kids I coached who claimed that the world was against them were simply unwilling to put in the work to perfect their craft. (Don’t even ask about the kid whose dad called me at midnight at States to lodge a complaint!!!) Perhaps your case is different, and there really is something going wrong in your league. But in my experience, those occasions are incredibly rare. Frequently, those kids were the ones looking to pad a college application, looking for maximum return for minimal effort, and crying foul when it didn’t get the desired results.
Generally, the best competitor has consistently won.
Thank you so much for your advice. It’s not happening in my school, but in another school in the league. We have great camaraderie in our team, but the other team resorts to delivering work that is done by others.
As a response to your judges, I agree that there are such judges in the league, but on multiple occasions I have had judges doze through the entire round and then make the rankings
Ok, true story.
I was judging LD debate at nationals a million (OK, 20??) years ago. I had a miserable cold and NEEDED some meds. So I took an ant-histamine I bought at the hotel shop to get me through.
And I swear, in the middle of the debate, it hit me. I really, really struggled to keep my head up— I could NOT stay awake. I listened as hard as I could, but it was painfully obvious that I was falling asleep.
At the end of the round, I apologized to the two debaters and explained. I didn’t want them to think that this was something I had any control over. (And, no, I’ve never taken that particular medicine again.)
Thankfully, I was one of three judges in the round, and the other two agreed on the outcome.
I’m also currently a member of my school’s speech and debate, and I would definitely say that by being part of this organization, colleges will know that you were apart of something that takes up a lot of time and energy. This is a positive impact if you asked me since it’s considered time commitment
My D was just accepted ED1 to her first choice, Pomona College. Speech & Debate was her top EC, something she genuinely loves. She enjoys it and it has taught her a tremendous amount, including how to look at both sides of an argument and how to back up an argument with facts/evidence/logic, etc. It really teaches you critical thinking skills. I was a parent volunteer judge and I’m sure that in any given round, the “wrong” team or competitor may win. I know my D often thought so, lol. But in the long run, the better teams prevail.
Of course we don’t really know what the Pomona adcom thought, but we definitely felt that her speech & debate awards and accomplishments helped her application. There are a lot of kids who say they do speech and debate when all they really do is go to a few meetings and maybe one tournament. I have no idea whether adcoms verify the claims people make on their application, but it would be pretty easy to tell if a debater is really active by looking up his or her tournament records. And if you get state level awards or awards from national tournaments, that should certainly help.
@corinthian , you have a very good point.
I think through a combination of essay reading, interview reports, and a quick look at the NSDA (formerly NFL) website I am confident that adcoms would know. I am sure my D spoke more about debate than anything else in her Yale and G’town interviews.
@Singersdad I really wonder if they check the NSDA website. Looking at the points standings would tell you in a hurry if this is someone who seriously does speech and debate or someone who just dabbles in it. We made sure that D’s Common App reflected that she had the NSDA Academic All American Award as well as the Premier Distinction standing in the honor society, plus listing her top awards at tournaments… Good luck btw to your D in her college apps. My D also applied to Georgetown but withdrew her app once she got into Pomona.