<p>hehehehehe, as for me, i got the Harvard book award a few days ago for being leadershippy, having lots of ecs, having good grades, and freaking high SAT scores.</p>
<p>How about you guys? what book aways did you get, and what did you get it for?</p>
<p>Our book awards are Friday.. My counselor said I got one, but I don't know which.</p>
<p>what are they awarded for</p>
<p>i second snake13's question - how exactly do we "apply" and stuff??</p>
<p>Is there a difference between the book awards? I mean Dartmouth Book Award, Harvard Book Award... same criteria...(?)
Obviously, Harvard is more prestigious, but anything else?</p>
<p>I don't think it's necessarily more prestigious by which college's book you receive. There are different requirements for each one. I know that the Wellesley book award can only be given to a girl, but that doesn't make it less prestigious.</p>
<p>I really don't think there's much prestige attached to any book award in the first place, since the criteria are pretty vague, and either your guidance counselors or teachers get to choose who receives the awards. Because the standards are so flexible, it doesn't really mean anything.</p>
<p>I got the Harvard book award last year, but I had few leadership positions, and I'll bet that the main reason was academics. Different book awards are designated for different types of students. I think the honor is in getting one, not in which one you get. Because obviously, if you get one, you stand out in some way at your school.</p>
<p>How important are they in the college application? My school only chooses about 30 students and they are usually the most outstanding students. Is it a significant award?</p>
<p>My guess would be that it's more important than a certificate of achievement in AP Calculus and other school-wide academic achievement awards. But not that much more important. I mean, I put mine on my application, but I honestly don't think it made much of a difference.</p>
<p>Sorry to deflate all the award recipients -- I'm sure you are worthy of recognition and you've obviously accomplished notable things in you HS career. However, know that these book awards are only PR items from certain schools that want a "foothold" at targeted high schools. The criteria varies because there is none set by Harvard, Yale, etc. The awards are ONLY an item given by the LOCAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION of that respective school (OK, maybe there are some given by the college). But the point is that it's done at the whims or the year's budget allowance of alumni in your city. I used to be the president of mine and am still a Director. We awarded 4-5 each year at the same schools which were regular feeders of viable applicants. These were awarded because an energetic alumni requested the funds from our assoc which we approved. These last few years, getting apps hasn't been a prob. Coincidentally, we've awarded one book award each of the last three years. And that's due to the single dedicated alumni contact at a single HS.</p>
<p>How is it done? The alumni will call up the principal or head counselor and say: "I'm going to be by the school next week. I'll drop off the book award." That's it. The high school will use it and award it generally as they please. MAYBE there's some essay or rudimentary competition. But usually the schools "powers that be" will figure use it to balance out the awards given that year. Didja notice that most recipients are Juniors? Why? because they haven't applied to college yet!</p>
<p>Go to the inner city or rural HS and see how many college book awards they are doling out at the honors banquet this year. zero.</p>
<p>Sorry folks. It's marketing, relationship building stuff only. Be happy because you obviously are deserving some recognition. But the adcoms themselves see it as next to meaningless in the bigger scheme of things.</p>
<p>(Parkrunner: you posted a question about the value of Book Awards several months ago and basically got the same answer. Now bragging about your award which you know isn't meaningful? What's that?)</p>
<p>Wait, so colleges wouldn't care if you got a book award? ><
What about other awards though? Like the ones that actually give out scholarships and other types of grants to a student for being outstanding in a specific area?</p>
<p>From what I've found, these book awards don't mean a whole lot in admissions, as tons of applicants have them. Sorta like an AP scholar award, though I've seen someone liken them to the Who's Who awards.</p>
<p>Alright - there are about 10 BILLION threads about this on CC.com:</p>
<p>--</p>
<p>Remember, colleges are the ones who are assessing you and creating their college class. If we're talking about academics, then colleges will be the ones who will be saying who should gain admission--who should get the book award--and who should not. If we're talking about recent success at a state-wide piano competition, then colleges will definitely be likely to take notice. It's great that schools honor those who are successful in high school, but in terms of the college admissions process, from what I've seen in the college admissions process, it doesn't seem too valuable to have won one. </p>
<p>However, if we're talking about essay contests, or awards for scientific research from competitions like Intel, then we're talking about something completely different.</p>
<p>The search function on CC.com or searching google with the string:</p>
<p>book awards site:<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/</a></p>
<p>Google can search inside sites; it's very useful.</p>
<p>I've never even heard of book awards. Thought it was for publishing a book or something. :P</p>
<p>Okay, so since book awards don't matter much in admissions, what about winning scholarships by way of merit? Does THAT count for anything?</p>
<p>Cite an exampe. As in your county giving you money for the work you've done in school... meh... it's worth putting down, but probably at the bottom of your list.</p>