<p>To be honest, id say a majority of the people at those elite schools have won some big competition, whether in atheletics (league MVP), theater (lead role in whatever), science/ math (Siemens and Intel), or leadership (Boys and Girls Club).</p>
<p>I mean if you are just grades and test scores, its gonna be a very up hill battle into HYP. The essay helps to differentiate you, but i think major awards do it much better.</p>
<p>I mean, how do people find out about them?</p>
<p>^ I found out through googling terms used on CC. A lot of kids that don’t go to big schools never hear about these awards/competitions.</p>
<p>That seems kind of unfair. I don’t know. I go to a really small school. How are we supposed to compete when we don’t even know about these “fancy awards”?</p>
<p>Well i suppose if you are really passionate about something, you are sure to know all the prestigious awards in the field. For example, if you are enamored by poetry, you will probably submit some pieces of writing to be published in children poetry books or something. </p>
<p>Passion----> interest----> Competition</p>
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Unfortunately, even some very good and large high schools don’t inform students about competitions, awards, and opportunities. But with the Internet, you can find out for yourself. There’s lots of great information here on CC about many of them, as well as elsewhere.</p>
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<p>Be proactive. Google. Submerge yourself in a field and get in contact with high school teachers and local profs in those fields. I guarantee you’ll stumble across amazing opportunities if you’re focused on being good at a particular thing rather than focused on award-whoring colleges.</p>