<p>Okay, so here I am looking for colleges and whatnot, and I'm curious about college debate.</p>
<p>Currently, I'm a top ranked debater in the state. At last year's state finals, I was awarded 2nd Place varsity speaker award. I have also taken 1st place varsity speaker at multiple statewide competitions during the regular season. Most recently, I was awarded 1st Place Varsity Team at the state level. I am also the Debate Team President.</p>
<p>2 Questions really:</p>
<p>1) Which schools are the best "Debate Schools?"</p>
<p>2) How will my Debate credentials affect admission to these schools? Will they at all?</p>
<p>From a fellow debater looking at where his top rated teammates have gone in the past:
Debate is just another EC.
Nobody I have seen, despite being well known on the national level, has gotten into a college well above what their GPA and Test Scores would suggest. If you look at the Parly rankings for colleges, it is generally the top ivies that take the most debate awards home, along with other schools in their league, such as MIT. Debate will look like a good EC since, by being ranked highly, you show commitment. Hell, I am trusting a couple of my championships to overshadow my sub-par freshman GPA.</p>
<p>I am not sure what type of debate you compete in. If policy, Emory has some debate scholarships. Last year they won nationals - first time a team of two women has done so. Dartmouth also has an excellent debate team. Bates has an excellent parli debate team. Some schools seem to value it more than others, knowing how much work goes in to competing both to prepare and to attend competitions.</p>