Like the title says, I’m kind of confused on the CommonApp on what exactly constitutes an “honor”. I know like awards you win are honors, but what about honors societies? Are they activities or honors? And, do you need national honors to be considered for a top school?
Sorry, don’t exactly know how to edit the comments, however, I have one other question. If I’m applying ED, will the college see my grades of this semester? The grades are still in progress obviously, however, will colleges see those in-progress grades for EA? If so, I may be screwed because my counselor sent my transcript already to colleges for the October 15th deadline, and I had a zero for a test grade in Physics because I was absent, so my Physics grade in-progress is a 45 until I take that test, which I hadn’t at the time my transcript was sent.
I’m a high school senior as well, and I asked my guidance counselor about what constitutes an honor vs. an activity. The way she explained it was if you’re inducted into National Honor Society, and that’s it, then it’s an honor. However, if you are inducted into NHS and perform community service then it is an activity. My NHS is an actual club that requires volunteer work, and people can be elected as officers. An example of an honor could be an academic award, or it could be a leadership seminar that you were accepted to attend based on your GPA, character, etc. Heck, a Varsity letter or a ranking at an athletic competition are other examples.
As for your second question about transcripts, the school I’m applying to ED will only get my transcript from the end of junior year as well as a list of current classes I am taking. If you are accepted ED, your counselor would send your mid-year report (which for me would be grades from first semester). I would check with your counselor to see what your transcript looks like, but generally, schools do not send grades in progress when applying ED as it is the beginning of the school year. Hope this helps!