Who are those winners?

W's team got into SSC final last night. His mom was exhilarated. I can certainly relate to her. SSC final is a big deal for any high school students who have set their eyes on Ivy. Out of curiosity, I looked up the past winners of SSC to see what caliber they possess.

First of all, they’re all-around students. Most of them are NMS, National AP Scholars. Secondly, they’re a group of young kids with extraordinary accomplishments. Most of them participated in math and science competitions and won at local, state and national level. Their extracurricular activities ranging from Model UN, Boy Scouts, science bowl, math club, speech and debate club, robotics team to National Forensics League, etc. Many hold leadership positions at various clubs and student bodies. Some of them have very impressive music credentials. They all volunteer at different levels; some had won Presidential Service Gold Award. They also participate in sports. Some are published Authors in peer-review magazines and student magazines. One guy even shadowed a neurologist. Amazingly among 20 2010 finalists, 15 are Asians.

From the profiles of these winners, one can tell the heavy parent involvement and investments. It’s not surprise they have arrived at SSC final.

Some footnotes:
Competitions: Mathematical, Physics, and Computing Olympiads, BioGENEius Competition Princeton University Mathematics Competition and Pennsylvania Math League, Intel ISEF in Cellular/Molecular Biology, MathCounts, Aardvark Science Expo, Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)
Volunteer: Presidential Service Gold Award
Writing: Scholastic Writing Gold Key, National Spanish and Latin Exams, National Council of Teachers of English Superior Writing contest, Aerie International
Music: Eastman International Piano Competition
Summer program: Lego Mindstorms at a US Naval Academy summer