@hbeeqb son went to a public, but not Board of Ed run HS in NYC that has consistently been at or near the top in NHBB, NAQT and PACE over the last 8 or so years. I’m sure you’d recognize the name. The majority of A and B team members over that time have ended up at IVY+MIT+UChicago+Stanford. That being said, the consensus of parents who’s kids were involved would be that the college value of quizbowl achievements was far less than the time the kids invested in it. They loved doing it, and so we supported them, but it certainly did not have a big impact on colleges. They got in to top schools more “despite” quizbowl (and the time it takes) than because of it. But hey, these kids work really hard, and if they find these competitions fun, then great.
I’d say the most useful college related part of QB was that a significant number of competitions were hosted on IVY and other top college campuses which cuts down on the number of dedicated college visits you’ll be doing.
There are plenty of national level “prestige” competitions and opportunities for STEM kids - for History and Pol Sci not so much. There is absolutely nothing wrong with HB or QB, but they are not the equivalent of something like the Science Olympiads.
One international competition that does bridge the gap and has reasonably significant participation by the QB/HB kids is NACLO.
I’d also be a bit leery of trying to “…shortlist some organizations to volunteer his time; those that are truly making an impact globally whether it’s in human rights or poverty etc” Colleges are getting very tired of the whole college-application-as-Miss-America-pageant-save-the-world thing. If you had to read thousands of essays about the non-profit founded by a 17 year old just in time for college apps that built 11 wells in rural India, I’d think you’d be pretty tired of it too.
For a Pol-sci, NHBB kid, particularly as an Asian who is not a cookie cutter STEM kid, I’d lean more towards getting involved in the presidential campaigns at this point. A kid who went and organized or participated in canvassing or phone banking or undocumented immigrant legal aid clinics would show a real level of commitment and interest that most students, particularly those with curated, college councilor directed EC resumes do not.
If your son happens to be at the NYC school I referenced above, PM me and I can give you some HS school specific recommendations.