<p>Since MIT and other schools only allow you to list seven awards, I don't know what to list for the last two. I have</p>
<p>2 time ARML team high scorer (Gold team)
USAMTS silver (should've gotten gold, didn't spend too much time on problems)
ICTM 1st place (some state math contest, but I already have another 1st place for a more prestigious state contest)
National AP Scholar (isn't this already reflected in the AP scores that you list?)
National Merit (a lot of people get this...)</p>
<p>Which two do you think I should list? Thanks.</p>
<p>if you got like a lot of math and science stuff for the rest, then definitely put National merit even if it is common. it will be show more variety</p>
<p>and i would pick USAMTS for the other one
or if you are those super smart people you can put like x4 USAMO qualifier or something</p>
<p>I would put the 2 time ARML team high scorer. A lot of people get National Merit, and it's a result of SAT scores (and grades I think) both which the MIT folks have access to.</p>
<p>haha. we have very similar awards (everything except i have no idea what ictm is and only went to arml one year). among those, id go with either usamts or nat ap scholar. i checked on collegeboard, only ~700 got ap national scholar at the end of junior year. usamts is less well-known, so i dont know how admission officers view it.</p>
<p>I would put National Merit Finalist--they expect to see that. Not everyone takes a multitude of AP classes, so I feel it is more important than National AP scholar. Besides, they will see your AP scores anyway. </p>
<p>I don't remember--do they even report your PSAT to colleges?</p>
<p>This is tough. ARML and USAMTS are probably better to list. If these are your bottom two awards, you are in good shape.</p>
<p>I would try to include them as an addendum. Like say, "to see other math awards, see attached page" or something.</p>
<p>I was in a very similar situation, except instead of math competitions, I dominated many science competitions. My bottom awards for consideration were things like 1st place state science fair, etc. I put down AP National Scholar for one of my awards, but honestly if you are in this position you would hope that your science/math teacher recommendation will take care of the situation (ie. "this kid has won just about every science/math competition he's competed in, etc"). </p>
<p>Yeah, I would go with variation. If ARML is at the bottom of your barrel, you've already got enough math stuff to back you up. Go for AP National Scholar.</p>
<p>Edit: Previously, I didn't see that you has AP National Scholar! On the other hand, I don't think National Merit is something very special compared to some of the other awards.</p>
<p>Reasons: Both add to the depth of interest shown in your profile. Both would attract the attention of the faculty. In practical terms, becoming a National Merit Semi-Finalist takes about 3 hours--these take much longer (you could argue life-long prep for NMSF, but . . . ). Becoming a National AP Scholar takes longer, but it should be evident from your AP list and also from the GC's recommendation. I have the strong impression that "National AP Scholar" won't carry much weight at MIT, whereas ARML and USAMTS both should.</p>
<p>But, I agree, if these are your two least impressive awards, it really shouldn't matter at all.</p>
<p>Wow, hats off to you, stupidkid.
Wish my school cared that much.
I barely squeaked by to make the AIME and I was a hero.
(Then again, that was last year... :D)</p>
<p>Anyway, AP Scholar I would leave out for the reason you said, and National Merit I'm not sure what I would recommend since I don't know how far you went (unless of course you mean to say 'all the way'). So, technically I would reduce that list to... 3 2/3?</p>
<p>Yea, right now I'm only a National Merit Semi since the results for the finalists are released in April of 08. But 15,000/16,000 people get finalist so I think the chances are good. Thanks for the inputs, I think I'll leave out National AP Scholar and ICTM and go with two of the other three. But given that two of my first five awards are more prestigious math competition placements, should I add in National Merit Semi for more diversity (like what rainystarz said)? </p>
<p>So assuming I do pick National Merit Semi, is ARML team high scorer (it's actually not that prestigious since they take out the person who ranked nationally and rank the rest, so I technically tied for 2nd on my team) or USAMTS silver (it's a take home test, so I don't know what MIT will think about this) better?</p>
<p>Also in regards to what differential said about recs, I didn't have a great relationship with my calculus teacher of 2 years (BC and multi) since I slept a lot in her class and didn't pay attention much (in retrospect, not a great idea, but it was pathetically easy), so I got a rec from my physics C teacher. He didn't really say much about math competitions...</p>
<p>By the way, is it a good idea to list the year that we won the award in?</p>
<p>This is a good question to ask MIT ADCom officers. The original reason for limiting the space for the awards was so that people that didn't have them didn't get stressed out. It wasn't that they didn't care about them. </p>
<p>I don't think they would object if you added an attached sheet with the rest of your awards. None of them are mickey-mouse.</p>
<p>Remember you have the open ended spot which says:
"No admission application can meet the needs of every individual. If you think that additional information or material will give us a more
thorough impression of you, please respond on separate sheets."</p>
<p>Yea, but if I just use the space to list my extra and somewhat insignificant awards, won't it look really bad? I always thought that part should be an essay or at least a paragraph.</p>
<p>Also, I found out that my counselor included National Merit Semi in her rec, so it won't be necessary to list it again.</p>
<p>By the way, my friend plans to list music and athletic awards as one of the awards. Does "scholastic" include those or should it only include academic awards?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yea, but if I just use the space to list my extra and somewhat insignificant awards, won't it look really bad? I always thought that part should be an essay or at least a paragraph.
[/quote]
No, that section can be whatever you want. Truly. You can choose not to write anything, or you can write a list, or a paragraph, or an essay, or whatever you want.</p>
<p>In fact, you could go way out on a limb and use the space for TWO things: you could list some awards or activities that you couldn't fit somewhere else on the app, AND you could include an essay or paragraph or photo or drawing or something else that would bring your application to life. It's space to use as necessary to explain what you need to explain.</p>
<p>(I'm kidding about the "way out on a limb" stuff, by the way.)</p>
<p>definitely ARML
and for the 2nd either the USAMTS or the ICTM</p>
<p>personally, i dont get what the big deal is with national merit. a lot of ppl get it, plus its based of PSAT scores which strongly coincide (most likely) with your SAT scores, which they see anyways. Putting this down in my mind would be like writing in the awards section "I got higher than a 2150 on my SAT" (or whatever the cutoff was in your state for nationl merit). if someone did that, the adcom would probably laugh at them. Although admittedly, I am the only person I know who views national merit this critcally.</p>
<p>Something simliar with National AP Scholar. That is, they already see your AP scores, so I don't see any sense in drawing more attention to these when you can show them how well you've done with something else.</p>
<p>With those awards you do stand a very good chance of being accepted regardless of what you put down though.</p>
<p>if you got a 5 or higher on ARML it might be more helpful to actually list your score rather than team high scorer, which depending on the team can be anywhere from a 3 to a 7.
this, of course, assumes that admissions counselors actually know how ARML scores work, and I'm thinking that most admissions counselors, particularly at MIT, are competent enough to know these types of things.</p>
<p>@gleaspty: It's not that anyone thinks getting National Merit Finalist is a big deal. It's that they expect you make the cut-off. It is easy to do it, but in most normal high schools there is only a handfull of people who make it. </p>
<p>Just put it down somewhere and forget about it.</p>