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(#Spring25) Do I include honors/awards in my college application? If so, what should I do if I feel like I'm lacking that?

I'm a current Junior and I'm creating my college list and this came to mind. I switched my focus from engineering to business which is why I'm not seeking any sort of medals in clubs like Science Olympiad. I'm worried I may lack awards to talk about especially since I no longer compete in sports like I did before freshman year of high school.

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Suzanna’s Answer

Assuming you're applying to US colleges, you'll be using the Common App for most all of your college applications. Within the Common App, you're able to list up to 5 honors/awards. This includes obvious awards like winning a science fair or a soccer tournament, but it also includes less obvious honors and awards--maybe you were voted most spirited player on your track team, or invited to speak at a local event, or you published a cool article in the school newspaper. Think about what writing these things down says about you. Sure, they might not be as highly regarded as an international business competition, but as long as they provide an interesting, unique, or relevant nugget of information about you, they will contribute to the holistic picture of who you are as a student. My advice would be to take some time to think back on the last 3 years of high school and you might just surprise yourself with what you can come up with!

At the end of the day, honors/awards won't make or break your application results. I've seen students achieve great results with 1 award or 5. Of course, if you have something, it doesn't hurt to put it down. Nobody should be doing competitions and chasing awards for the sake of awards; admissions officers don't like that either. And in your application writing, use your common app essay and your supplements to really highlight who you are--how you think, how you've grown, what you care about, etc.

Good luck!
Thank you comment icon Thank you so much for taking the time to write this! I truly appreciate the advice and I'll keep it in mind when thinking about what I've accomplished. Thank you once again Suzanna! Marissa
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Dorcas’s Answer

Hey there! This is a great question. If you do not have the awards/honors to mention on the application, focus on any memorable projects or assignments that you have done in school so far and the impact that it has made on you. Whether it influenced the way you think about something or you learned something new through your research, those are just as important to share with college admissions as any accolades.
Thank you comment icon That's a great point! Thanks for the advice Dorcas! Marissa
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Karin’s Answer

Hi Marissa,

Honors and awards definitely belong on your CV. As a high-school graduate, your CV is still short. Anything that can set you apart from others and give a committee an impression of who you are is important. Showing that you are a well-rounded candidate with a variety of interests is important too.

And unless you replaced those potential science olympiad medals with something business-related I would still participate. After all, business doesn't stand on its own. Business in what field? An interest in engineering or science could point you to a business career in tech.

If you want to talk about honors and awards in your essay is up to you. Does it fit into an important narrative about you? You could talk about your early interest in engineering and your change of heart to persue business instead.

I hope this helps for now! All the best!!

KP
Thank you comment icon Thank you for your advice Karin! I'm Vice President in Science Olympiad but I find it unbeneficial to dedicate time to studying somewhat irrelevant topics like entomology or forensics, though I understand what mean. I would like to quit Science Olympiad to dedicate time fully to FBLA in my senior year; though, I'm worried any awards from that will come later in the year when I've already been accepted to colleges. I'm sort of on the fence now but I plan to try to incorporate this shift from engineering to business in my essays. Thank you once again for the advice, I will certainly use it! Marissa
Thank you comment icon Hi Marissa, you are very welcome! If you want to dedicate your time to FBLA now, that makes sense. As vice president of Science Olympiad you already have a leadership role under your belt (that also belongs on your CV). Changing interests is fine. You are not locked into 1 career because of something you did in school. If you want to use your development for an essay, that's cool, medals or no medals. Karin P.
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