College counselor at school suggests NOT to use it for that reason, but I am not sure I agree. Might it be a way for a college to get a 3rd party validation that you are a strong applicant?
A nomination doesn’t mean a win. While it’s great to be considered, I would tell my student no.
Not to mention, you are telling other schools, there’s a heck of a chance or at least I have this love for UNC - so I’m not good for your yield.
I think what got them nominated for the scholarship is what matters and if the app is properly prepared, all those great things would be seen by admissions at the other schools.
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That seems to be the main worry.
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You didn’t win…you were nominated. And if you won, wouldn’t you accept that award?
I would NOT list being nominated for anything on an application.
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BTW - it is my son, not me.
As an FYI - not sure that nominations are not honors (or more importantly, do not hold weight), as I think about the many prestigious nominations that exist in the world. Respect your opinions though - and that’s why I am asking.
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I thought this up front - Nobel, as an example.
I tend to think awards matter little but what was done to earn the award matters far more.
In many cases, school dependent of course, it might be glossed over and a non-impact either way.
In this case, someone was nominated by a school or organization. Ehhhh. I don’t see the significance in admission to others. So a school or organization had a favorite….but yes it’s still great for the student.
Just me, perhaps.
First off, big congrats to your child. Being nominated is a big deal and I do agree with you that it’s an honor!
That said, I agree with the other users and your college counselor that putting this on the app could be a signal to other schools that your child isn’t going to matriculate if they win the M-C. Even the most prestigious schools care very much about their yield numbers.
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Seems very strange that someone would put this on their application.
To be nominated, I assume your student is a high acheiver. It’ll be self evident.
Putting it on your application tells other colleges, “hey, this other school is recognizing me as a top student, you should care about this when you review my application”. Seems like a weird message.
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Congrats to your son! I would not put it on the application.
It will be obvious from the application that he is a high achieving student without having to mention the nomination. Humble is a good quality.
It suggests to the other schools that he may not attend.
The nomination, in and of itself, does not show what your son has accomplished during his HS years.
There is absolutely no reason to include it.
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College admission officers do not need “third party validation” from another college that a student is a strong applicant.
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Slightly different but my kids listed junior year of HS college-linked prizes (Harvard book award etc) and their classmate listed the Rensselaer Medal, because these awards weren’t actually part of applying to those schools, so they were just honors and recognition.
But they didn’t list nominations for scholarships in senior year of HS (Jefferson etc) that made up one of their actual applications. If they’d actually won then they might have listed it on their resume even if they went elsewhere (the one who did win a named cohort scholarship and took it certainly does). They do list competitive nominations for prestigious grad scholarships on their resume (Truman, Marshall) especially where they were a finalist.
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I would say that being a finalist (or in some cases a semi-finalist) for a big award is a legitimate honor, but not a nomination – which is great and indicative of high achievement, but when it comes down to it, anyone can be nominated for an honor, even if they’re not really going to be in the running. Not that this is the case with your son – just speaking generally here. So I’m sure that all of your son’s great qualities and achievements that led to his nomination will shine through in his application, and you should leave it at that.
I agree with others that many colleges will assume that if he’s offered the Morehead-Cain, he’ll take it (whether this is true or not), so any school with an interest in yield protection would be just a little hesitant to make an offer to your son.
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Whether or not to include depends on a number of factors in my view. Who nominated your child? If the school, how many other kids did they nominate? Is your kid still in the running? Would this award replace a different award on the list? If so, what award is it replacing? Is this going on an ED, EA or RD application?
Awards that indicate other selective programs or processes have recognized your child absolutely can help. It is the Halo Effect. It is the Prestige Bias. AOs are human like the rest of us.
A nomination that says the following could be helpful:
Morehead-Cain Scholarship Nominee – Nominated by Principal for UNC-Chapel Hill’s merit award recognizing exceptional leadership, scholarship, character, and service. Only student selected schoolwide.
This would obviously not be:
Morehead-Cain Scholarship Nominee – Self-Nominated for UNC-Chapel Hill’s premier full-ride merit award.
Adding this nomination can possibly be viewed as arrogance and pretentiousness…depending on the reader and overall application (there are many exceptional students out there). I prefer that the student show who they are with activities that demonstrate kindness, leadership, etc and letters that reflect this. I prefer humble.
I also see it as being insensitive to the other schools on the list, which ties in to what I wrote above.
Given the fact that the Common App has an honors/awards section, I do not believe it is viewed negatively to fill out that section.
Somewhat accurate and thanks. Likely going with the crowd and will not include. Not sure people are right, but not sure they are wrong either. Not worth the risk.
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It would not be viewed negatively to put honors and awards in that section, of course. The question is whether to put this particular nomination. I think it makes sense to leave it out because it could signal in inclination to go to a specific school, which wouldn’t play well with the other schools to which the student is applying (and because a nomination is not really an honor or an award).
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@MITChris what do you think?
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I know what you are trying to say, but nothing could be further from the truth.
My comment was a response to the post that said it could be viewed as arrogant or pretentious.
Agree that there is a risk about making other schools wonder about yield. That was why I asked about ED, EA or RD. Seems if it is for ED, it wouldn’t create a concern that tne student would go to UNC.
Anyway, OP sounds like they have the info they were looking for.