External Opportunities for Student Distinction
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.” — Will Durant on Aristotle
The intent of curating this opportunities list, which is not exhaustive, acknowledges both the immense talent and promise of WRA students and the increasingly competitive world in which we all live. All of these programs present WRA students with challenges and opportunities to engage with ideas and people beyond WRA's curriculum and personalities. We encourage students to consider thoughtfully their personal and academic goals and to research whether or not one or some of these programs might present them with exciting ways to explore, meet and potentially surpass those goals. Additionally, realizing the summers are opportunities for students to explore particular interests, we have included information about some summer programs that are highly-selective for admission and are often fully-funded for those admitted.
In developing this list, we have considered what external opportunities have value in their pursuit beyond winning. Put differently: in which programs does meaningful learning occur regardless of final achievement? We are confident that the opportunities that follow complement the transformative education that Reserve provides and illustrate that pursuit of excellence, like learning, knows no limits.
- Recognition without initial, direct application
- Leadership and Service
- Interdisciplinary / Multidisciplinary
- Art
- Creative Writing
- ESSAY
- History
- Language
- Mathematics
- Music
- Science and Computer Science
- Selective and Distinctive Summer Programs
Recognition without initial, direct application
National Merit Scholarship Program (U.S. citizens in grades 11-12). Students are chosen based on junior year PSAT score—test is administered in October. There is a multi-phase competition based on test performance to be named a Semifinalist. Finalist and scholar determination is based on further information.
United States Presidential Scholars Program (U.S. citizens in grade 12). Candidates are first identified by the Department of Education and White House by being the top scorers on standardized tests. Candidates are invited to write a series of essays and provide additional information to achieve semifinalist status. 161 of the nation’s top high school graduates receive this honor.
Leadership and Service
Buckeye Boys State* (11th grade boys who are residents of Ohio and U.S. citizens). Contact state coordinator for information Sponsored by the American Legion, this weeklong summer program is to prepare junior boys with interest in government and leadership.
Buckeye Girls State* (11th grade girls who are residents of Ohio and U.S. citizens). Candidates are chosen in a selection and interview process conducted by the local American Legion Auxiliary Unit in communities. This is a week-long program designed to educate Ohio’s young women in the duties, privileges, rights and responsibilities of good citizenship.
Coca-Cola Scholars Program Scholarship (Current high school seniors attending school in the U.S. who are U.S. Citizens, U.S. Nationals, U.S. Permanent Residents, Refugees, Asylees, Cuban-Haitian Entrants or Humanitarian Parolees). It is an achievement-based scholarship awarded to graduating high school seniors. Studetns are recognized for their capacity to lead and serve, as well as their commitment to making a significant impact on their schools and communities. 150 Coca-Cola Scholars are selected each year to receive this $20,000 scholarship.
Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership* (Ohio-based 10th graders). Schools select one sophomore to attend the Ohio summer program. HOBY is designed for high school sophomores to recognize their leadership talents and apply them in becoming effective, ethical leaders in their home, schools, workplace and community.
Prudential Spirit of Community Awards (Legal residents of any U.S. state or Washington, D.C. in grades 5-12). This award is the largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteerism. Awards are given at the local, state and national level.
United States Senate Youth Program (U.S./Ohio citizens in grades 11 and 12). Ohio selects participants who have attended Buckeye Boys State, Buckeye Girls State or the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) programs in Ohio. Sponsored by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, two students attend the annual program in Washington, D.C., each March and receive $10,000. (https://ussenateyouth.org/).
* participation in these three programs determines the candidate pool for the United States Senate Youth Porgram (in Ohio).
Interdisciplinary / Multidisciplinary
Davidson Fellows (U.S. citizens 18 and under). Fellows receive awards of $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 in recognition of completion of a significant piece of work in the following categories: Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Literature, Music, Philosophy and Outside the Box.
Rachel Carson Intergenerational Sense of Wonder / Sense of the Wild Contest (Be from an “intergenerational team” of two or more members). Your team will respond to one of two themes based on Rachel Carson’s environmental writing. There are six different broad categories for producing work.
Art
Congressional Art Competition (Grades 7-12). Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual arts competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. Students submit entries to their representative's office and panels of district artists select the winning entries. Contact Representative’s Office to obtain specific guidelines.
Scholastic Art Awards (Grades 7-12). Open to any student enrolled in American schools. Students can apply in 29 categories of art and writing for their chance to earn scholarships and have their works exhibited and published.
YoungArts (15-18 year olds). Students apply for national recognition in the following categories: cinematic arts, classical music, dance, design arts, jazz photography, theater, visual arts, voice and writing. This competition also determines the U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts.
Creative Writing
Note: One literary magazines that often publishes works by high school students and sponsor contests specifically for high school writers is The Adroit Journal.
Bennington Young Writers Awards (Grades 10-12) Competitions in poetry (group of three poems), fiction (a short story or one-act play), or nonfiction (a personal or academic essay) can be submitted.
Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest (Women in grades 10 and 11) Sponsored by Hollins University, students submit no more than two poems for consideration. Winners receive free tuition and housing for the university’s summer creative writing program, $200, publication in Cargoes and 10 copies of Cargoes .
Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers (Grades 10-11). Submit one poem to this contest run by the Kenyon Review to receive a full scholarship to the Kenyon Review Young Writers workshop and potential publication.
Scholastic Writing Awards (Grades 7-12). Open to any student enrolled in American schools to submit writing in a variety of categories for regional and national adjudication.
YoungArts (15-18 year olds). Students apply for national recognition in the following categories: cinematic arts, classical music, dance, design arts, jazz photography, theater, visual arts, voice and writing. This competition also determines the U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts.
ESSAY
American Foreign Service Association National High School Essay Contest (Grades 9-12). This contest is another name for the United States Institutes of Peace High School Essay Contest (below), and students write an essay of between 1000-1250 words in response to a prompt.
Cum Laude Paper (Juniors and Seniors) Requires a nomination by a campus selection committee, this essay competition awards $500 at the regional level and $5,000 at the national level to a paper of superior scholarship written at a school that harbors a chapter of the Cum Laude Society.
George S. & Stella M. Knight Essay Contest (U.S. citizens or “legal aliens” in grades 9-12) To participate, students must submit an original 800 to 1,200 word essay based on an event, person, philosophy or ideal associated with the American Revolution, Declaration of Independence or the framing of the United States Constitution. Each essay will be judged based upon its historical accuracy, clarity, organization, grammar and spelling and documentation. The contest is conducted in three phases: the local chapter, state-level society and national phases.
Profile in Courage Essay Contest (U.S. high school students in grades 9-12). Submit an essay of between 700-1000 words on a particular topic (adhering to the very specific guidelines). First place prize of $20,000 and cash awards for the top 25 essays.
Society of Professional Journalists / Journalism Education Association Essay Contest (Any student in grades 9-12). Students must submit original work in the form of a 300-500 word essay.
United States Institutes of Peace High School Essay Contest (Grades 9-12). Students write an essay of between 1000-1250 words in response to a prompt. The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA)'s National High School Essay Contest encourages students to think about how and why the United States engages globally to build peace, and about the role that the Foreign Service play in advancing U.S. national security and economic prosperity.
We the Students Essay Contest (U.S. citizens or legal residents between 14 and 19 years old) Students submit a 500-800 word essay to this contest run by the Bill of Right Institute in pursuit of a $7,500 prize.
History
The Concord Review (Must complete the submitted paper before finishing secondary school) Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis; those being published are notified in advance of their essay appearing in the journal. This quarterly-published academic journal publishes history essays of (typically) between 4,000-6,000 words by secondary students.
Ohio History Day (Grades 6-12) Regional, state and national competition linked with National History Day. Students submit papers, media documentaries, exhibits, websites and performances for adjudication. WRA is part of Region 3.
Language
National Latin Exam (Grades 6-12). An annual contest where students take a 40-question test according to their level that also ties to scholarships.
National Security Language Initiative for Youth (U.S. citizens 15-18 years old with a GPA of 2.5-4.0 on a 4.0 scale, or the equivalent) Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, this program provides merit-based scholarships to learn less commonly taught languages in summer and academic-year immersion programs: Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Russian and Turkish.
Mathematics
Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) has a list of United States high school mathematics competitions.
American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) / American Invitational Mathematics Exam (AIME) (Grades 9-12) The AMC tests are administered in February of each year. The AMC 10 and AMC 12 are both 25-question, 75-minute, multiple-choice examinations in high school mathematics designed to promote the development and enhancement of problem-solving skills. Exceptional performance yields an invitation to take the AIME.
Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament (Grades 9-12) HMMT is one of the largest and most prestigious high school competitions in the world. Around 1,000 students compete in each of the tournaments, one in November and one in February. Individual and team competitions for high school students.
Moody’s Mega Math Challenge (Grades 11 and 12) Problem weekend is usually in February; once the problem is downloaded the teams have a 14-hour window to complete their work. An internet-based challenge that poses a real-world problem and has teams of students focus on the problem with mathematic modeling.
Ohio Math League (Grades 4-12) This contest is ongoing over the course of the year. Students are given 6 problems to solve at 6 different points in the year. Individual and team scores allow for competition against other participating individuals and schools in the league.
Music
ASCAP Foundation Charlotte Bergen Scholarship (U.S. citizen or permanent resident under 18 years old) For composers of classical music at the earliest stages of their careers and judged by the Morton Gould panel.
ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards (U.S. citizens or permanent residents who have not reached their 30th birthday). For encouragement of composers of classical music at the earliest stages of their careers.
School Band and Orchestra Magazine Essay Scholarship (Grades 9-12) An essay contest that invites students to write a short essay on their participation in music programs that offers 5 $1000 scholarships.
YoungArts (15-18 year olds) Students apply for national recognition in the following categories: cinematic arts, classical music, dance, design arts, jazz photography, theater, visual arts, voice and writing. This competition also determines the U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts.
Science and Computer Science
District Science Day (9-12) Sponsored by the Ohio Academy of Sciences, students compete at colleges and universities and showcase their research. WRA is in District 5.
Google Code-in (Ages 13-17) Contest information released in October A web-based competition for students interested in coding, design, and development.
Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Must qualify at the Northeastern Ohio Science and Engineering Fair (See Below) to participate). The Intel ISEF is possibly the world’s largest international pre-college science competition, providing an annual forum for over 1,800 high school students from countries all over the world who compete for approximately $4 million in awards. Competition begins at the high school level and culminates at the International Science and Engineering Fair, held each year in different cities around the country.
MIT THINK Scholars Program (Grades 9-12) THINK (Technology for Humanity guided by Innovation, Networking and Knowledge) is a competition to fund and support ideas from high school students.
Northeastern Ohio Science and Engineering Fair (Grades 7-12) Affiliated with the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, NEOSEF hosts over 600 students from 80 schools to set up science fair displays and discuss their projects with over 250 judges.
Ohio Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (9-12) March 14-16, 2018; details of regional competition: contact Dr. Emilio Duran, BGSU, eduran@bgsu.edu The Junior Science and Humanities Symposia (JSHS) Program invites high school students to submit a paper on an original research investigation in the sciences, technology, engineering, or mathematics. JSHS scholarships are awarded to finalists in the regional symposia paper, or poster, competition to recognize excellence in STEM. Affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense, regional competitions feed into national competitions with awards of up to $12,000 each.
Selective and Distinctive Summer Programs
Note: Please also see Buckeye Boys State, Buckeye Girls State and the Hugh O’Brian Youth listings under “Leadership and Service” and the National Security Language Initiative under “Language”
Bank of America Student Leaders Program (Grades 11-12 who are legally authorized to work in the U.S.) Application opens in the fall 225 high school juniors and seniors are awarded paid summer internships with local nonprofits and participate in a national leadership summit in Washington, D.C.
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Radar Introduction for Student Engineers (LLRISE) (High School Juniors who are U.S. Citizens and have completed physics and pre-calculus). This free two-week residential program teaches students how to build small radar systems. Approximately 18 students are accepted.
Telluride Association Summer Program (For current juniors / rising seniors—U.S. citizenship is NOT required). Students participate in topical seminars led by teams of scholars each day for six weeks. Students develop their critical thinking and writing skills with the direction of top academic scholars. These completely free seminars take place on the campuses of Cornell University and the University of Michigan.
Telluride Association Sophomore Summer (For current sophomores / rising juniors—U.S. citizenship is NOT required). This highly-selective and completely free program offers six-week college-level seminars on topics related to critical Black and ethnic studies. Seminars are held at Cornell University and the University of Michigan.
University of Notre Dame Leadership Seminars (High School Juniors). High-achieving students with strong academic profiles come together to explore topics affecting the global community. All expenses are paid—including transportation to and from Notre Dame. 100 students are accepted and receive college credit. The program generally lasts 10 days in July.
U.S. Naval Academy STEM Programs (Separate programs for rising 9th , 10th , and 11th graders). This selective, weeklong program at the Naval Academy is designed to encourage rising 9th -11th graders to pursue rigorous study in STEM fields. Tuition is $550 and some scholarships are available.