Competitions And Contests That Boost Your Admission Prospects

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Skip to content Competitions and Contests that Boost Your Admission Prospects

High school students should know that when it comes to putting together a resume of extracurriculars, not all activities are created in equal. Selective colleges particularly value participation in well-regarded competitions and contests which have a strong national presence. Certain names will catch the eyes of admissions officers, particularly if you/your high school team fared well in state- and national-level competitive events. Each of the following 70 academic competitions and contests selected by the College Transitions team has the potential to provide a genuine boost to your admission prospects at highly-selective institutions.

Click the links below for more information about each program. You will also find the academic category under which the contest falls, the eligibility requirements, and a brief overview of how the competition operates and/or what it entails.

Competition or Contest Name	Category	Eligibility	Contest Description
Academic Decathlon	Interdisciplinary	3.75 or greater GPA to compete in "Honors" division	National competition involves ten events covering Science, Literture, Art, Music, Social Science, Economics, and Math around a given theme.
American Invitational Mathematics Examination	Mathematics	Score in the top 5% on the AMC Math exam	15-question test that takes 3 hours to compete.
American Mathematics Competitions (AMC)	Mathematics	Grade 10 of below for AMC 10; grade 12 or below for AMC 12	Grade 12 test covers advanced trig, algebra, and geometry but not caluclus- exams are 25 questions and 75 minutes in duration.
American Regions Mathematics League	Mathematics	Under 19, teams must be drawn from a "well-defined region".	Five individual rounds followed by a ten-question team round.
BEST Robotics Competition	Robotics	Open to all high school students	18,000 students participate in contest to design a fucntioning machine using everyday objects.
Chemistry Olympiad	STEM	High school students under 20, no more than two students per school	16,000 studens participate in local exam; 1,000 students move on to 4 hour and 45 minute national exam.
Clean Tech Competition	STEM	Teams of 1-3 team members, aged 15-18	Teams identify an issue that impacts the environment and formulate a novel solution.
Congressional App Challenge	Computer Science	All high school students, individual or team (up to 4)	Students use any programming language to design a new app. Sponsiored by Congress and top tech companies.
Conrad Spirit of Innovation Challenge	STEM	Ages 13-18	600 teams compete to come up with solutions to social, scientific, and societal issues.
CyberPatriot	Computer Science	HIgh school students	Run by the Air Force Association, teams compete to tackle cyberthreats to a fictional company.
Davidson Fellows	Interdisciplinary	18 and under	Submit a "significant work" in a STEM or Humanities category.
DECA	Business/Finance	High school teams must be comprised of one sponsor and ten members	Variety of competitive events including decision-making, project management, and marketing.
Destination Imagination	Interdisciplinary	Grades 9-12	Touraments of 8,000 competitors participate in a wide range of challenges, from engineering to fine arts.
Diamond Challenge for High School Entrepreneurs	Business/Finance	Teams of 2-4, ages 14-18	Students pitch innovations in the business and social realms to a team of judges. Hosted by University of Delaware.
First Robotics Competition	Robotics	Grades 9-12, ages 14-18	660,000 students around the world participate, contests entail building robots and draw 4-8k teams.
Future Business Leaders of America	Business/Finance	Grades 9-12	5,200+ high school chapters- must qualify through business knowledge and skills at the state level.
Harvard MIT Mathematics Tournament	Mathematics	High school students, teams of 4-6 or 6-8.	1,000 compettors from around the globe- individual, team, and "guts" rounds.
Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA)	Medical	Grades 9-12, maximim 3 competitors per division	Variety of events including: Health Professions, Leadership Emergency, Preparedness, and Health Science.
High School Fed Challenge	Business/Finance	Grades 9-12, teams of 3-5 students	Teams gives 12-minute presentation on the economy and engage in a 13-minute Q&A with judges.
iGEM	STEM	Primarily undergrads but high school students can join teams	Can present synthetic biology projects at Giant Jamboree to compete for prizes.
International BioGENEius Challenge	STEM	Grades 9-12, enrolled in biology or science-related course	Students generate solutions in the areas of healtcare, sustainability, and the environment. Operates local and at-large contests.
Knowledge at Wharton Investment Competition	Business/Finance	Grades 9-12, teams of 4-7 students	Students manage a virtual portfolio- the winner is the team that can best articulate their strategies (not based on pure growth).
MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge	Mathematics	11th and 12th graders	Challenge Weekend presents a problem that students work on over 14 consecutive hours.
Microsoft Imagine Cup	STEM	16+ for global competition, teams of 3 max	Massive contest with 2 million+ student competitors over the past 17 years. Teen developers create projects that address the world's most challenging problems.
MIT Inspire (Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences)	Humanities/Social Science	Under the age of 19, enrolled in high school	Present original research on topic of your choice. Top 100 in the world are invited to the final round.
MIT THINK Scholars Program	STEM/Innovation	Full-time high school students	STEM project proposals that can be completed in one semester on a $1,000 budget. Finalists selected get facuty mentorship as they complete their project.
Model UN	Humanities/Social Science	Grades 9-12 (for high school Model UN)	Conference participants research and formulate positions to represent an assigned country. Top performers are given awards.
Modeling the Future	Mathematics	11th and 12th grade, take advanced math, teams can be 1-5 students	Students complete and submit four scenario problems; the top 10-20 teams are selected to present at the MTF Symposium.
National Economics Challenge	Humanities/Social Science	All high school students, teams of 3-4	Tests knowledge of micro and macroeconomic principles. State winners advanced to National Semi-Finals and then National Finals.
National French Contest	Foreign Language	Grades 7-12, eligible regardless of French coursework	A 60 minutes test leads to prizes at the Chapter and National levels.
National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium	Interdisciplinary	Grades 9-12	Students present original research in the sciences or humanities to a panel of judges at the regions, state, national, and international levels.
National Mock Trial	Debate	All high school students	Mock Trial teams argue cases either for the defense or prosecution. District, Regional, and State tournaments lead to one team from each state being invited to Nationals.
National Scholastic Press Association (Pacemaker and Individual Awards)	Journalism	All high school students	The Pacemaker is scholastic journalism's premier award. There are nine competitions with 43 total categories.
National Science Bowl	STEM	Grades 9-12, teams of 4 or 5 students	Standards-based challenges to 8,000 teams; hosts 450 annual competitions.
National Science Olympiad	STEM	Grades 9-12, teams of up to 15 students	Close to 8,000 teams compete in a variety of STEM categories in Regional, State, and National tournaments as well as unofficial "Invitational" events at high schools and colleges.
National Speech and Debate	Humanities/Social Science	Must be members of the NSDA Honor Society (with 25 points)	Qualified districts from around the U.S. are invited to participate in the National Tournament.
North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad	Humanities/Social Science	Open to all high school students	Students solve linguistic puzzles and excercise logic skills in an Invitational and Open round.
Odyssey of the Mind	Interdisciplinary	Various age groups, maximum of 7 team members	A creative problem-solving competition where teams present their solutions. The World Finals are open registration.
Physics Bowl	STEM	Open to all high school students	Test is 40 multiple choice questions on everything from conceptual physics to AP Physics B/C.
Quiz Bowl	STEM	Open to high school-age students	Local touraments of more than three high schools send the top 15% of finishers to the High School National Championship Tournament.
Regeneron Science Talent Search	STEM	High school seniors only	1,800 students engage in original research. The top 300 scholars are recognized and the top 40 are invited to participate in the finals in Washington, D.C.
Stemanities Research Competition	STEM	Under 19	Students submit a research study of up to 20 pages in length with no more than two authors.
Stockholm Junior Water Prize	STEM	Grades 9-12 as long as they are age 15 by August 1 of the competition year	Thousands of participants submit their original research on environmental issues related to he global water supply.
The Stock Market Game	Business/Finance	Open to all middle and high school students, teams of 3-5	A simulation of the global markets where teams of students invest. Capital Hill Challenge selects ten winners to meet with members of Congress and fiscal policy-makers.
Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision	STEM	Grades 10-12, groups of 2-4	Contest to project the uses for a given technology 20 years in the future through research and brainstorming.
USA Biolympiad	STEM	Grades 9-12	10,000 competitors go through two rounds of exams with 20 Finalists being invited to the National Finals.
USA Mathematical Talent Search	Mathematics	All middle and high school students	Students have an entire month to work through their solutions and write justifications which are then graded by mathematicians.
Vex Robotics Competition	Robotics	Grades 6-12	Teams build robots that play against other teams in a game-based engineering challenge. More than 11,500 teams play in 900 tournaments at the local, regional, national, and world levels.
We The People (Constitutional Scholars)	Humanities/Social Science	All high school students	Teams apply an understanding of constitutional principles by holding mock congressional hearings and are scored according to a standardized rubric. 1,200 students participate in the National Finals.
National Spanish Examinations	Foreign Language	Grades 6-12	Students take a standardized Spanish test, earning gold, silver, bronze, and honorable mention distinctions at the national level.
Goethe-Institut International German Olympics	Foreign Language	Ages 14-17	Top 5% of scorers on a German language exam compete in the USA Final Round.
National Latin Exam	Foreign Language	High school students enrolled in a Latin course	Students take a 40-question, 45-minute exam and are awarded a range of certificates.
Chinese Bridge Proficiency Competition	Foreign Language	Open to all high school students who were not born in China.	Participants must demonstrate an understanding of Chinese language (including delivering a speech), knowledge of China, and Chinese cultural skills (art, music, caligraphy, etc.).
Technology Student Association High School Competition	Computer Science/STEM	Grades 9-12, between 1-3 teams per state/chapter qualify	Participants enter one of 38 contests in CS, STEM, or other assorted categories.
USA Computing Olympiad	Computer Science	Open to all secondary school students	Series of competitions in one of five programming languages. Four students emerge to represent the USA at the International Olympiad in Informatics.
National Robotics Challenge	Computer Science	Grades 9-12 (for high school level)	Students demonstrate understanding of robotics and technologies through application as they solve a real-world problem as part of a team.
National Junior Classical League	Humanities/Foreign Language	Must be members in good standing with te JCL (Latin/Greek)	Contests in areas including Ancient Geography, Grammar, Hellenic History, Mythologies, Roman History, and more.
American Foreign Service National H.S. Essay Contest	Writing	Grades 9-12	Submit essay focused on a challnege to U.S. peace and prosperity.
Profile in Courage Essay Contest	Writing	Grades 9-12	Submit 700-1,000-word essay identifying an act of political courage by an elected U.S. official.
The Emerson Prize	Writing	All high school students	Awarded annually to 10+ students per year who were published in The Concord Review and show promise in the area of historical writing.
Letters About Literature	Writing	Grades 9-12 (for Level III)	Contestants compose a letter to an author (living or dead) who inspired them about how their book affected them personally.
Columbia Scholastic Press Association Awards	Journalism	Middle and High School publications	Judges award Gold and Silver status to high school publications - literary magazines, newspapers, and yearbooks.
NCTE Student Writing Awards	Writing	High school juniors nominated by their schools	Participants are judged on two submissions: themed writing and best writing.
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards	Writing/the Arts	Grades 7-12	Awarded to students whose work shows originality, technical skill, and personal voice or vision.
Congressional Art Competition	The Arts	All high school students	Produce an original 2-D work of art on a given annual American theme.
YoungArts National Arts Competetion	The Arts	Grades 10-12 or age 15-18.	Submission guidelines vary by category which include: classical music, vsiual arts, photography,. theater, film, and dance.
National Association for Music Education Competitions	The Arts	Grades 9-12 (for High School competition)	Offers contests for traditional composers, electronic music composers, songwriters, and ensembles.
National High School Musical Theatre Awards	The Arts	All high school students	The Jimmy Award is given to the top high school performances by actors and actresses. Finalists at regional competitions are considered for the national award.
National History Bowl	Humanities	11th or 12th grade (for Varsity), teams of up to 6 students	Team quiz competition where teams compete to qualify for the National Championships.