I am also a Mom of a State champion National History Bee AND Bowl contestant who was also a nationally ranked and winning player both individually and with his team. The comments you received from your college consultant started to make my blood boil. My child also did hours and hours of in depth research and study because he was driven to know all the subtle nuances of very obscure historical facts, people and occurrences. He did this because he was interested in all things history—it was a passion (like playing an instrument, ballet, soccer, musical theater or, yes, boy scouts) While fast recall is required, you can’t recall what you don’t know in the first place. My child is now going into his second year of college. He targeted schools where he could focus on International Affairs. I believe his NHB&B accolades (along with good grades and excellent test scores) helped him get into the Honors Programs, with scholarships at many schools that had the program he wanted (not Ivies—that was not a goal of his). In fact, his Common App essay relayed what happened in an actual NHB&B round and how his brain worked to win (and lose) some rounds by himself and with his team. He demonstrated a unique passion for learning which is exactly what most colleges want to see. He demonstrated teamwork and how to succeed as part of one. For what its worth, all of my son’s teammates that were older than him, his age and a year younger than him have ended up at Ivies/Stanford or at top programs at state schools (e.g. for Engineering or CS) or at top 20 schools. While I don’t always think those colleges should be a “goal” for every student (for a variety of reasons), they obviously thought that NHB&B accomplishments (amongst other things) were pretty valuable. My son has two internships this summer (after his first year of college) and has a third lined up for this fall—he was hired in part because of his vast knowledge and understanding of history and the role it plays in various political climates in the Middle East today. So ignore the college counselor, have your child sing their NHB&B accomplishments loudly and good luck with the college application process.