<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>Looking through the various posts on CC, it seems that the various Olympiads (IMO/IChO/IPhO/IBO/IOI) and their equivalent national team selection tests (USAMO etc) are one of the major ways to showcase your scientific talents. I dont know about the adcoms but participation (better if there are medals) in those competitions may well make any applicant's profile (at least the ECs) beastly. The question is, is there any achievement that may match or even outrank the glory of those competitions in terms of demonstrating that a student is qualified scientifically. This is strictly about science subjects so I apologize to anyone that wants to say URM/recruited athletes. </p>
<p>Hypothetical scenario: two students A and B applied to the same college. Exactly same stats (GPA/class rank/quality of teacher's rec etc etc). A has a medal in one of the I_Os. B has something else that makes the school equally likely to admit him, comparing to A. What is that achievement?</p>
<p>I shall start the list: 1. Top 3 (or top 5) in Intel/Westinghouse?</p>
<p>thx for your reply in advance</p>
<p>(disclaimer: i'm a senior and i have submitted my apps so i'm not here to source for ECs suggestions. too late anyway.)</p>