WongTongTong

Much better than yours.

cortana431

Those competitions would help more when applying to MIT instead of Harvard and Yale, so No.

lechugarapida

No need to get snappy wong.

hpyscm

Lol nah it's cool, wong is a professional troll

TaizhiNanhaiLiu

Much better than yours.

SeeYou

The list ranked USACO semifinalist as a 6, but there's no such thing as semifinals for the USACO, it's Bronze, Silver, and Gold Division. Anyone who participates starts out in Bronze, so that doesnt count as an award. Would you say that Silver(top 100 in us) is 7 and Gold (top 30) in us is 8?

CountingDown

SeeYou, if you are invited to the USACO Finals (also known as USAICO) -- the top 16 in the US -- you are considered a national semifinalist. All of these students are at the Gold level (and are generally the top half of the Gold competitors), and some have been there for a couple of years. The National Finalists are the four students who are selected to attend the IOI. This is the terminology USACO used when my S was competing in 2005-2008. They may have changed it since this thread started long, long ago.

There is an emphasis on developing younger talent so as to build a strong team for a couple of years, so if you are a senior, don't expect to be invited to USAICO unless you have been at the top of the USAICO heap for a couple of years. The coaches pay attention to how folks do on the competitions throughout the year and will promote students who are doing well and working on the syllabus problems on the side.

Each Olympiad has its own nomenclature and way of getting to the finals and international competition. Don't sweat it.

JustForKicks

How about Life Sciences Christopher Columbus, BIO-genius etc

isshinryu

what about placing in world karate tournaments?

kinnikinik

HSMCCP & DDHM
I think you're right on with your assessment of FRC. A couple of kids that run the program are rockstars but the other contributors can be anything from active to hangers-on. FTC and VEX are much smaller teams and hence require a more even participation (although same issues to a smaller degree). I would think that an Intl. win in any of these leagues ranks up there in the top of this ranking. After all, how many WORLD CHAMPIONS are there each year?

Rain202

Scholastic Awards
Intel
Siemens

kayakmom

bumping this thread because i like it!

christiano241525

Three new ones to rank and consider:

-getting 1st in state athletic competition (e.g. Cross Country team earned top spot in state 6a (big school) division) OR becoming All-State Athlete in sport--I'm thinking tier 5/4
-President's Volunteer Service Award gold (200 hours), silver (175 hours), and bronze (150 hours)--I'm thinking tier 2
-"We The People" nationals winner (Constitutional debate program)--I'm thinking tier 6

christiano241525

Also, Eagle Scout definately deserves to be on tier 5. It's a very long, leadership-proving, process that very few (<4% of scouts) earn. It requires commitment (6 years for me), persistance (meetings, campouts, merit badges, project), leadership abilities (leadership positions, Eagle Project) and produces solid citizens. Additionally, when it comes to Service Academies, Eagle Scout is the #1 "point-getter" to get in. If it matters that much to Forbes's ranked #1 college, West Point, then it belongs at least in tier 5.

ecouter11

Doubt. These are really prestigious awards that a very small group of kids get. Yale and Harvard want to be known for producing awesome scientists and doctors too! It's not like they're LACs that specialize in writing or something. Obviously MIT/Caltech place greater weight on scientific abilities than Harvard as a "benchmark", but the Ivies like kids that are especially good at certain areas (not that well rounded kids are out) and those awards are a great way to show excellence in science.