40 Accomplishments for Students (and How to List Them)

Every application eventually asks the same awkward question. The Common App has room for five honors, a resume wants an Honors and Awards line, and a scholarship form asks for your achievements.

You stare at the empty box and think: I haven't won anything. So let's fix that premise first. An accomplishment doesn't need a trophy. Holding a job for two years counts.

So does finishing a hard project, or looking after your younger siblings every afternoon. The Common App itself lists family responsibilities right next to clubs and sports.

That's why this list runs from the obvious honors to the ones students forget they have. Each one comes with what it takes to earn it. The end of the page shows how to write them down so they read like achievements instead of chores.

What Counts as an Academic Achievement

An academic achievement is anything you earned through your schoolwork that someone else can check: an honor, a result, a credential or a role you were chosen for. The key word is check. "Hard worker" isn't an achievement. "Dean's List, four semesters" is.

Applications also sort achievements into two piles, and it helps to know which is which before you start:

• Honors are things someone gave you: an award, a title, a ranking. The Common App's Honors section takes up to five, each with its title, the grade you earned it in and its level of recognition, such as regional or national.

• Activities are things you did: clubs, sports, jobs, volunteering, family responsibilities. The Common App takes up to ten.

Plenty of accomplishments land in both piles. Your robotics team is an activity. The regional trophy it won is an honor. Keep that in mind as you read, because it's easy to undersell yourself by counting only the trophies.

40 Accomplishments for Students, by Type

The list starts with classic academic honors and works outward. Named awards link to the organization that runs them, so you can check the current rules yourself.

Academic Honors

1. Honor roll. The most common academic honor there is, which is exactly why it needs context. "Honor roll, every semester of high school" says something a single mention can't.

2. Valedictorian, salutatorian or a high class rank. If your school ranks, a top spot is a strong honor. If it doesn't, you're not missing out. Our guide to class rank explains how to find yours and how much colleges care.

3. National Honor Society. Students in grades 10 to 12 become candidates once they meet their chapter's GPA, and the national minimum is a 3.0. The chapter then weighs scholarship, service, leadership and character. You can't simply apply, so getting in means your school vouched for you.

4. A subject award or subject honor society. The top chemistry student award, a math honor society, a language department prize. Small, specific and easy for a reader to believe.

5. Dean's List. The college version of honor roll, and every school sets its own bar. At Ohio State, it takes a 3.5 GPA with at least 12 graded credit hours in a single term. Say how many terms you made it.

6. Latin honors. Cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude, awarded at graduation. The cutoffs vary a lot between schools, and our page on Latin honors has them school by school.

7. Phi Beta Kappa. The best-known college honor society, and you can't ask to join. Only about 10% of U.S. colleges have a chapter, and those chapters pick about 10% of their arts and sciences graduates, by invitation.

Tests and Advanced Coursework

1. National Merit Commended Student. Your PSAT/NMSQT score, taken no later than junior year, enters you automatically. National Merit recognizes 50,000 high scorers each year, and about 34,000 of them are named Commended Students, according to the PSAT/NMSQT Student Guide.

2. National Merit Semifinalist or Finalist. The other 16,000 become Semifinalists, less than 1% of the nation's graduating seniors, and only they can advance toward a Merit Scholarship. The qualifying score is set state by state, so the same score can make it in one state and miss in the next. About 15,000 go on to Finalist.

3. College Board National Recognition Program. Take the PSAT/NMSQT, the PSAT 10 or AP Exams as a sophomore or junior and you may be eligible for one of three awards: School Recognition, First-Generation Recognition, or Rural and Small Town Recognition. Eligible students have to claim the award, so watch for the invitation.

4. AP Scholar awards. Given automatically on your AP results, with no application and no money attached. There are three levels:

   • AP Scholar: scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams.

   • AP Scholar with Honor: an average of at least 3.25 across all your exams, with 3 or higher on four or more.

   • AP Scholar with Distinction: an average of at least 3.5, with 3 or higher on five or more.

5. AP Capstone Diploma. Scores of 3 or higher in AP Seminar, AP Research and four more AP Exams of your choice. Pass Seminar and Research without the four extra exams and you still earn the AP Seminar and Research Certificate.

6. The full IB Diploma. Taking IB classes is coursework. Finishing the whole diploma is a credential, so list it as one.

7. Seal of Biliteracy. An award from your school, district or state for reaching proficiency in two or more languages by graduation. If you grew up speaking another language at home, ask whether your school offers it.

8. College credit earned in high school. Dual enrollment courses with real college grades show you can already handle the next level. Put the number of credits on your resume.

Competitions

1. Science fair placings. A ribbon at your school or county fair is a start. Fairs affiliated with Regeneron ISEF can send winners on, and the latest international fair drew more than 1,700 finalists from 365 affiliated fairs in over 60 countries, regions and territories. Need a project first? Try our list of engineering projects for high school students.

2. Regeneron Science Talent Search. A research competition where about 2,600 students apply each year, 300 are named scholars and 40 become finalists, with a top award of $250,000. Being named a scholar is already worth listing.

3. Math competition results. A strong AMC 10 or 12 score, a state math league title or a regional olympiad medal. Name the contest and the level, since readers outside math won't know them all.

4. USA Computing Olympiad division. The USACO runs four divisions: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Its top four students go on to represent the United States at the International Olympiad in Informatics, but simply reaching Gold is a clean, checkable line on any computer science application.

5. Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Entries start at the regional level with Gold Keys, Silver Keys and Honorable Mentions, and every Gold Key work is automatically considered for a national medal. A regional Gold Key is a strong honor on its own.

6. Debate and speech results. A semifinal at a state tournament or a speaker award at an invitational. Give the tournament's name and how far you went.

7. Model United Nations awards. A Best Delegate or Outstanding Delegate award at a named conference shows research and public speaking in one line.

8. Robotics competition awards. A tournament win, an engineering award or a judges' award for your team. On the Common App, the team is an activity and the award is an honor, so it can show up twice.

Leadership

1. An elected student government office. Class president, treasurer or student council rep. Elected means your classmates chose you, and that's worth saying.

2. A club you started. Founding something is rarer than joining it. Say how many members it has now and what it does. Our list of leadership activities has more ideas.

3. Team captain. Captains are usually picked by coaches or teammates, so it's an honor and a role at the same time.

4. Editor or section leader. Running the school paper, the yearbook or a section of the band means managing people and deadlines. Put the size of the team in.

5. Boys State or Girls State. American Legion Boys State is a week where high school juniors run a mock state government. Local posts choose the delegates, often on a school's recommendation, and two from each state go on to Boys Nation in Washington, D.C. Girls State is its counterpart.

Service

One thing first: the President's Volunteer Service Award, which a lot of lists still recommend, is on a temporary pause and isn't taking new orders. These are open:

1. Eagle Scout or the Girl Scout Gold Award. Each is the top award in its program. The Gold Award is open to Girl Scouts in grades 9 to 12 and centers on a project that tackles the root cause of a problem in your community.

2. The Congressional Award. You can register at 13 and a half, start logging activities at 14 and have until your 24th birthday. It runs at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels across four areas: volunteer service, personal development, physical fitness and an expedition.

3. A service project you led. A food drive, a fundraiser, a tutoring program. Lead with the result: pounds of food, dollars raised, students served. Our list of summer volunteer programs is a good place to find one.

4. Peer tutoring or mentoring. Helping other students learn is service and a skill at once. Say how many students, and for how long.

Arts

1. All-State or honor ensemble selection. Making an All-State band, orchestra or choir usually means passing a competitive audition. Name the ensemble and your instrument or voice part.

2. Published or exhibited work. A poem in a literary magazine, a piece in a juried art show, a short film in a festival. Say where it appeared.

3. A lead role, or a show you ran. Theater counts, and so does running the lighting crew. What matters is what you were responsible for.

Athletics

1. Varsity letter or all-conference selection. A varsity letter shows you made the top team. An all-conference or all-state pick shows you stood out on it.

2. Scholar-athlete recognition. Many leagues and state associations honor athletes who also keep strong grades. That's two achievements in one line.

Work, Research and Responsibilities

1. A job you held, or a promotion. A year at the same job shows you're reliable. Being trusted to train new hires or close the shop shows more. Both count, even if nobody handed you a plaque.

2. An internship or research position. A summer in a lab, an office or a nonprofit. Still looking? Our list of online summer internships covers programs you can do from home.

3. Family responsibilities. Caring for younger siblings, translating for a parent, working to help with bills. The Common App counts them as an activity alongside jobs and clubs, so treat them like the commitment they are.

Where Each Accomplishment Goes

Not everything belongs in every box. Use this as a quick sort:

In college, Dean's List, Latin honors and Phi Beta Kappa go in the Education section of your resume, right under your degree. Our college student resume guide walks through that section line by line.

How to Write an Accomplishment So It Counts

The same achievement can read as impressive or as filler. The difference is a few details: what it was, who gave it, how selective it was and when. These made-up examples show the change, so swap in your own details:

Notice what changed. Every after version names the thing, adds a level or a number, and still fits on one line.

On the Common App, the Honors section asks for each honor's title, the grade you earned it in and its level of recognition, such as regional or national.

Keep the titles short and specific. Activities get tighter limits: 50 characters for your position, 100 for the organization and 150 for the description, per the Common App's own guide. Our Common App walkthrough covers the rest of the application.

On a scholarship form or a cover letter, don't list everything. Pick one or two accomplishments that fit what the reader cares about and tell the story behind them. Our guides to the scholarship essay and to cover letters show how.

What If You Don't Have Any Awards?

Then you probably have accomplishments you haven't named yet. Awards depend partly on what your school offers, and not every school runs competitions or honor societies. What a reader can always see is what you did with the time you had, like:

• A job you kept. Months or years at the same job, especially alongside school.

• Something you built or taught yourself. A website, an app, a fixed-up car, a portfolio of photos. Proof beats claims.

• A grade you turned around. Going from a C to an A in a class you struggled with is a real result. It belongs in an essay or an interview answer more than on a list, but it counts.

• Responsibilities at home. The Common App gives them their own place among activities.

• Something you finished. A long-distance race, a 100-day coding streak, a full year of volunteering every Saturday.

Still coming up short? Start one now. One real project with a result beats five memberships you can't explain.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some examples of academic achievements?

The classic ones are honor roll, National Honor Society, AP Scholar awards, National Merit recognition, Dean's List, Latin honors and subject awards. Competition results, the full IB Diploma and a Seal of Biliteracy count too.

Is a high GPA an accomplishment?

Yes, but on its own it's a number, not an honor, and most applications ask for it separately anyway. Show it through what it earned you: honor roll, Dean's List or Latin honors.

Can I list middle school awards on the Common App?

Generally no. The Common App's Honors section asks for academic honors you received during high school, so stick to grades 9 through 12.

How many accomplishments should I put on a resume?

Only the ones that are relevant and fit on one page. A short Honors and Awards section is usually enough, with everything else shown as results inside your experience bullets.

What's the difference between an achievement and an accomplishment?

In practice, nothing. Applications use the words interchangeably. The split that matters is the Common App's: honors are what someone recognized you for, and activities are what you did.

Is the President's Volunteer Service Award still available?

Not right now. AmeriCorps put it on a temporary pause and hasn't given a date for it to come back. The Congressional Award and the Girl Scout Gold Award are active alternatives.

The Short Version

An accomplishment is anything you earned or finished that someone else can check. Honors are what you were recognized for, activities are what you did, and many achievements are both.

List the honors that are real and specific, from honor roll to National Merit, and don't skip jobs, family responsibilities and projects just because nobody gave you a certificate.

Then write each one with its name, its level and a number. That's the difference between a line a reader skims and one they remember.