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. |
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