You should designate which type of award you received, though (i.e., Commended Student, Semifinalist, Finalist, or Scholar). You will also be asked to designate the level of recognition: School, State/Regional, National, or International. Learn what types of honors you can include, what order to place them in, whether abbreviations are allowed, and how to use your 100 characters for description. Lastly, for Extracurriculars, enter all the leadership positions that you had throughout high school. Commended Student and Semifinalist should be listed at the state level, while Finalist and Scholar should be listed at the National level. However, if you don’t have enough room, keep in mind that you don’t necessarily need to include them twice. I won a major national academic award, and I found out about it/it was presented to me during my eighth grade promotion. Navigate your entire college application journey with Common App. But something like, “Golden Bookmark Award for completing the most summer reading at local public library" may be … For instance, if you receive a varsity letter for basketball, you should list it under your basketball entry in the Activities section. The instructions for this section are simple: you can list up to five honors in 100 characters or less. you’ve received some kind of recognition worth mentioning. That way you will be able to describe in further detail how you contributed to the group. What ACT target score should you be aiming for? This video offers some quick tips for filling out the honors and awards section of the Common App. If there is a monetary award tied to the honor, mention the exact figure as well, such as “Smith Library Scholarship for Excellence in Writing — $5,000.” You should also list non-monetary prizes associated with the honor. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. Any area for awards, from what I've seen, is in the "Activities" section (i.e. First, it will ask you how many honors you wish to list. One common place that students try to squeeze in something extra is in the Common App’s “Additional Information” section depicted below. The Common App, however, announced a change in their application earlier this week. You’ll need to indicate the name of the honor, the years you received it, and the level of … Join thousands of students and parents getting exclusive high school, test prep, and college admissions information. You’ll need to indicate the name of the honor, the years you received it, and the level of the honor: school, state/regional, national or international. Remember, for each section, you’re only allowed to list a total for five items so choose wisely. If you received an award during the summer, designate the rising grade. She lives in Brooklyn, New York and works as a freelance writer specializing in education. Because you are limited to five, you may need to choose the ones that are most important to you, or those that best represent your academic achievements. Your Awards Section Can Be A Great Conversation Starter. . For example, if you were named MVP of the soccer team, put that achievement under the description in the activities section. If you’re a National Merit Semi-Finalist, on the other hand, you’ll want to include that in academic honors, since it doesn’t easily tie to a specific activity. A national-level award means that students in your country could qualify for that award. Are you applying to schools and want to know your admissions chances? This section is similar to the “Activities” section of the first-year Common App, but here, you are given far more flexibility and space.