I’m a junior and never applied to Scholastic Awards as I just didn’t see it as pertinent. It wouldn’t be helpful to apply next time because I think the results come out after applications are due. However I realized that I feel like I definitely could’ve won something as friends who are much worse writers and artists than me have won gold and even national medals.
How impressive are scholastic awards in college admissions, especially for elite colleges? Is it really a big deal to win higher awards And what are some other contests like or more impressive than scholastic that I could enter now?
I have no idea…
But i think for any of these awards, students are interested in a particular academic area and are doing extra work in that area. They are submitting that work and then are getting compared to their peers.
YoungArts results would come out in time for college application (November), but it is much more competitive than Scholastic. And what @bopper said is so true; the real weight of these awards are in the context of your entire application. If you haven’t done anything related to writing all four years, then I doubt even a YoungArts award would be that impressive to top colleges.