<p>so i'm a sophomore and just glanced at the common app for the first time to get a feel for what i need to have on it. i've got to say, i'm a little worried about the academic honors/awards section. what sorts of accomplishments are you supposed to put there? it's not like i do academic competitions or anything, so i'm feeling a little lost.</p>
<p>would the following work in this section?
qualified and attended jhu center for talented youth
nominated for and attended national youth leadership forum on medicine</p>
<p>i'm aiming for the ivy leagues, and i'm concerned leaving this section largely blank won't look too good. however, i have some other pretty interesting ec's and background, including more than 10 articles published in national sailing magazines, an article in the print version of teen ink magazine, started two businesses with sales in the thousands, and when i was a preteen sailed around the world with my family. </p>
<p>ultimately, my two questions are:
what types of accomplishments go in the academic awards section?
will top colleges be turned off if this section isn't filled very much?</p>
<p>It’s still a little early to worry about how exactly you plan to fill out the common app, so don’t stress about it too much at this point. Honestly, it’s totally fine to have blank spaces on an application. Colleges including the ivies will prefer to see in depth and focused ECs and achievements rather than a random spread of activities/awards to just fill up space. </p>
<p>However, if you really need to you can add to the Honors section with somewhat more common distinctions like National Honor Society or other types of honor societies. Maybe something like Dean’s List or Honor Roll? You can also put if you’re an AP Scholar, w/honor, w/distinction, etc. If you end up being a National Merit Semifinalist, I’d definitely include that as well. </p>
<p>I think I included NMSF, National AP Scholar, NHS, SHS, and one other sort of generic honor in that list. However, I really made up for it with unique and dedicated ECs that didn’t have anything to do with my Honors/Accomplishments list.</p>
<p>I think those two that you listed could work, but it would be a little premature to start worrying about what should go in each section. Don’t stress about blank spaces and ways to fill out the app just yet. Continue with the ECs and interests you have now and remember to consider depth before breadth if you consider branching out.</p>
<p>Colleges look for leadership and depth. They are not looking for students to pad their resume senior year. Start now and start early. Start your own club or organization. Colleges look for thinkers.</p>