<p>I’m not going to lie, California is the single most competitive state when it comes to history day. Making it to nationals will be way tough, but you can count yourself extremely proud if you’re among the state finalists. That’s a big deal in CA! Plus, the state competition has a ton of special awards with money attached to them, which is nice. How difficult it is to get to state will depend on what county you live on. I know the way California does it, only two entries in each category advance from regionals to state. But anyway, the most competitive counties are Fresno and Kern County (bakersfield etc). These counties tend to have winners at nationals every year, and both have a couple of schools that are very committed to NHD. I don’t know too much about the other counties, though. Good luck!</p>