Competitions for High School Students: How to Choose the Right Ones

Competitions are one of the most efficient extracurriculars a high schooler can invest in. They give you a concrete goal, a deadline, and — if you place — a verifiable achievement that's easy for an admissions officer to understand. But there are hundreds of them, and chasing the wrong ones wastes a semester. Here's how to choose well.

Why competitions punch above their weight

A club membership is hard to evaluate. A competition result isn't. Placing in a recognized contest is concrete, external, and hard to fake — three things that make it stand out on an application.

They're also a forcing function. A deadline and a rubric push you to actually finish a project, sharpen a skill, or master material you'd otherwise leave half-learned. Even when you don't win, the work you produce is often reusable — as a portfolio piece, a research project, or the seed of something bigger.

The main types

Most competitions fall into a few families. Pick based on the skills you want to build:

• STEM olympiads and contests — math, physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science competitions that test depth in a subject.
• Science fairs and research competitions — where an original research project is the entry. These reward months of sustained work.
• Hackathons and build competitions — short, intense events where you ship a project in a weekend. Beginner-friendly and great for CS and design.
• Business and entrepreneurship — pitch competitions, case competitions, and organizations like DECA and FBLA, for business-minded students.
• Writing, debate, and speech — essay contests, Model UN, mock trial, and debate, strong fits for humanities and law interests.
• Arts competitions — portfolio-based contests and showcases across visual, performing, and digital arts.

How to choose ones worth your time

With so many options, use a few filters:

1. Fit your spike. The best competition deepens an interest you're already building. It should reinforce your through-line, not scatter your attention.
2. Match your level. Many contests are explicitly beginner-friendly; others assume years of preparation. Read past problems or winning entries to gauge where you stand — and don't be afraid to start small.
3. Check the real commitment. A weekend hackathon and a months-long research competition are very different investments. Be honest about the time you have.
4. Prefer recognized over obscure — but don't only chase prestige. A well-known competition carries more weight, but a smaller one you actually place in beats a famous one you enter and forget.
5. Mind the cost and logistics. Some are free; some charge registration or team fees, or require travel. Confirm the details before you commit.

How to actually do well

• Start earlier than feels necessary. The students who place usually prepared over months, not the week before.
• Study past entries. Old problem sets, winning projects, and rubrics tell you exactly what "good" looks like.
• Find teammates or a mentor. Many competitions reward collaboration, and a teacher or older student who's done it before shortens the learning curve.
• Reuse your work. A strong competition project can become a research submission, a portfolio piece, or a talking point in an application essay.

How they help your application

A competition result signals skill and initiative, but the deeper value is the work and growth behind it. Colleges care that you committed to something hard, saw it through, and have something concrete to show. Even participation — especially sustained, improving participation over multiple years — tells a stronger story than a one-time entry.

Related guides

• Extracurricular Activities for College Applications
• How to Get Research Experience in High School
• How to Find Scholarships as a High School Student

Start this week

Pick your area of interest, browse competitions open to high schoolers, and shortlist two or three that fit your level and schedule. Note their deadlines, then find one past entry to study. That's how a vague "I should do a competition" becomes a real plan.