@mathyone,
She just got 5 regional gold keys from Scholastic and I updated it to her boarding school admissions. But I won’t be putting them on her college admission unless she wins a national medal.
Per space on application, can you simply put exhibited in xxx national juried shows, and then send a resume with all exhibitions and awards listed in detail? I heard that, for non-art schools, those outside validations are important since they lack expertise to fully appreciate art portfolios alone.
Some schools specifically ask for awards from HS, others are more loose and just say ‘list 10 ECs or honors’ and you have to decide which are most important. My daughter was limited to hs for hers, but she had a handful from 8th grade that sounded better.
I think what everyone is saying is don’t count on anything she gets before high school to be viewed more highly, even if a national show, than another student’s work that is more recent. Any school can do what it wants, and I’m sure art schools do what they want to do. The Art Department of a university will have some pull with admissions, but admissions is going to make the call on how much weight awards are given over another student’s athletic EC, or science prize or legacy.
They say art schools make their own call based on portfolio. So awards and exhibits don’t matter much. Thanks for sharing. I will remember the advise.
For colleges and universities (not art schools) applicants can do an arts supplement with portfolio, resume, flyers from shows, letters of recommendation from art teachers and other art contacts, and so on. This can help with admissions quite a bit actually.
Whether or not the middle school activities will help with college, the real point is that it is somewhat destructive to be thinking about this kind of thing so early. Possibly negative for the artistic growth of your daughter, but more importantly perhaps, for the the natural development that happens at this age. And the focus on these concrete achievements may also burn out her love of art.
You sound like a great parent and I know you are just thinking ahead. I have two kids in the arts who are now in their mid-20’s and I have seen a lot of this kind of preparation for college applications in their high school worlds (ot middle school though!). It works better in all ways to wait a bit and then follow your child’s lead in her “passions” with lots of support, when she is ready.
She may explore all kinds of interests at boarding school, and may continue or come back to art. She sounds like a great kid and I sympathize with your desire to help her, but you still are in a period of her growing up where you can let things happen for a bit 
There’s a lot of growing between 13 and college age. I had always liked art and took Saturday art classes at the Corcoran School of Art when I was in middle school. I went to a boarding school in high school that had a strong art department and took art every year culminating in the AP. I also went to an art camp one summer for four weeks. I also had good grades and was not confident that I really wanted to be a full time artist so I went to a regular college, but in the end I realized that I couldn’t let go of art entirely. I found a major (Visual and Environmental Studies) that let me combine all sorts of interests and I became an architect. It’s a lot like sculpture on a bigger scale with more problems to solve.
I agree with compmom that at this stage focusing on competitions is probably not a good idea. I really think at each stage you look at what is best for the child that year - and don’t worry too much about what happens down the road. My youngest went to music camp the summer after 9th grade - he had a very good time, but I think the main thing he learned was that he was competent, but not a musician at heart. And I agree that it’s highly unlikely that middle school accomplishments will be part of a college application.
@mathmom, Very interesting!. My daughter has been taking Saturday art class, 9 to 3:30 for five semesters at a college from the same professor. Each class had different name, but essentially they are all ceramics classes. It’s her favorite class.
Everything else also sounds exactly like my daughter! She is strongly into Environmental Studies too. She surely doesn’t want to teach art, but otherwise her future is unknown. I will just let it unfold.
BTY, she is not focusing on competitions at all. Occasionally submitting already made artsworks to a few juried shows hardly involves any time or emotional cost. Some fees maybe, but it’s not that much.
I think that the focus in the post on competitions may have been misleading. ScultorDad, you seem like a wise parent with an equally wise child. It can be hard finding stimulation for our kids’ interests along the way and you have done a great job. Your daughter’s choice to go to boarding school to explore varied interests, and your support of that decision, says a lot. And she will have great art teachers and peers at school too. Wishing you both luck!