Awards Section in Candidate Activites Record.

Hi, as I am filling out my CAR (Candidate Activites Record), in my USMA application, I see the Awards Section. Could someone give me some examples of what these would be?

Eagle Scout
Academic Award
Girl Scout Bronze, Silver, Gold Award
Community Service Award
Lifesaving Award, either community or Scouts
State Champion in almost anything not just sports, e.g. debate, etymology exam, latin exam to name a few.
Any national award in same, would also include science fair, robotics competitions etc. There are too many to mention, but you get the idea.

FalconsRock said:

Eagle Scout
Academic Award
Girl Scout Bronze, Silver, Gold Award
Community Service Award
Lifesaving Award, either community or Scouts
State Champion in almost anything not just sports, e.g. debate, etymology exam, latin exam to name a few.
Any national award in same, would also include science fair, robotics competitions etc. There are too many to mention, but you get the idea.

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How can i fit all my awards in less than 255 characters?

You can't and they don't want you to. What is really important to you? What do you think WP most wants to see? You can always follow it up with a resume and have a conversation with your RC.

DS had the same issue with the limited characters. USAFA app had a lot more room. I guess he will need to talk to his RC about submitting a resume since there is no place for it on the app.

RedDragon said:

DS had the same issue with the limited characters. USAFA app had a lot more room. I guess he will need to talk to his RC about submitting a resume since there is no place for it on the app.

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How could you run out of characters? Did he win 20 awards or something?

I would venture to say that there are plenty of kids that have won 20+ awards.
We are dealing with the best of the best here.

Brawny77 said:

I would venture to say that there are plenty of kids that have won 20+ awards.
We are dealing with the best of the best here.

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You are probably right that plenty of kids have won 20+ awards, but I doubt there are many kids, if any, that have won 20+ awards that USMA actually cares about. I'm in JROTC and I've gotten many ribbons, many of which USMA probably doesn't care about. I doubt USMA cares that I won the longevity ribbon(a ribbon awarded for successfully completing a course of JROTC) or that I won the attendance ribbon(a ribbon awarded for having 4 or fewer absences in a semester). An ALO told me USMA wants quality over quantity. I interpret that as, being a national merit finalist is more significant than getting honor roll 6 times and earning 300 stickers for doing your homework. In other words, one strong award is more valuable than 1000 weak ones. I don't think listing that I won the longevity ribbon will add anything to my file, so I'm not going to say I won the longevity ribbon. Is that the best way to do it? I'm not sure, I'm just a candidate, I don't know that much about how the admissions process works. Maybe not saying I won the longevity ribbon will make the difference between me a BFE and me getting a TWE. But based on what an ALO told me, I think leaving out insignificant/weak awards is the thing to do.

I agree completely Frenzy. The decision about what is a "major award" and what is not is a personal decision. My DS has a lot of awards that are at the regional, state and national level. The strategy we took was to try and prioritize them (example- National Merit was first) and then fill the allotted space. The awards were still pretty good ones when he ran out of characters. Will they like that?....who knows. Best of luck to you too. I can see your passion about this from all your posts on here.

Frenzy! Worlds Collide! We agree!

If you won the "State Fencing Champion of the Decade" award, yes, put that down. Even state spelling bee! Don't put down that you got a ribbon for serving up hotdogs at the church fair.