Awards Section for Top Schools Forum

[TennesseeBob]

I'm in the process of completing my apps to a few T14 schools and have been getting some conflicting advice on listing awards

I've heard that the general rule for awards sections of applications (and resumes) is that only things from college and after can be listed. But if an award is very rare/prestigious do you think it should be mentioned if it related to something an applicant did in college (and something indirectly related to a particular area of interest in law school).

I know not to mention the vast majority of things from my high school years, but I have a couple of awards from HS that were on the national/international level and that are given out to fewer than 20 people in any given year. I can't elaborate any more here, but the work that went into these awards is still important to me in some important but indirect ways.

I've seen people mention not quite as unusual things like the boarding schools they attended/ awards like Eagle Scout, so would listing rare pre-college accomplishments be ok or is this still inappropriate?

[Hopefully2012]

I think the main concern is that you don't want AdComm to think you peaked in high school and have been just riding on the coat-tails of 17 year old you. If you have expanded your accomplishments in that field or change fields and have won awards with similar distinctions while in college/after college, I think it would be okay to list those high school awards if you have room on your resume/on the awards and honor section of the e-app (still... it seems a bit immature to list those but to each his own).

However, if your college accomplishments pale in comparison to your accomplishments in high school you run the risk of AdComm thinking that you lost your edge... it's a very tough call. I personally wouldn't list it. You want people to think you're on the rise not someone who has plateaued.

[Bildungsroman]

Don't put high school shit on a law school resume.

[Hopefully2012]

Don't put high school shit on a law school resume.

Yea, after considering the pros/cons... I would agree with this.

[winning]

How about scholarships won during high school that went towards college tuition? Some were awarded prior to my senior year of high school.

[kaiser]

No "but what if"'s. Don't put shit from high school on your law school resume. The retired admissions counselor I know made this immensely clear, and it is backed up by every career services person I talked to.

[rinkrat19]

How about scholarships won during high school that went towards college tuition? Some were awarded prior to my senior year of high school.

A college scholarship is a college scholarship, no matter when it was awarded. (Unless it was like some cash prize you won when you were 16 and saved to use towards college.)

[CanadianWolf]

Depends on the type of award. Basically high school awards are not relevant to law school applications, unless it was an award for most outstanding fundraiser to build the law school building which is named after your grandfather.

[bankruptedcasino]

Depends on the type of award. Basically high school awards are not relevant to law school applications, unless it was an award for most outstanding fundraiser to build the law school building which is named after your grandfather.

So I shouldn't have put "first chair at an all-state honor band" on my law school resume? Guess that's why I didn't get into Yale.

[CanadianWolf]

Only if the band was formed to honor your great grandfather Leland Stanford or Yale's founder Elihu Yale.