[emekablue]

Everything mathking said was on point. Even kids who win international awards, like Dean's List or even Siemens or Intel don't get into Yale or MIT. Sure, there may be factors of the applicant that qualified the person for Dean's List that admissions groups thought were admirable, but that can't and should not automatically qualify one for a position at an elite university. The admit officers have the job of sorting through tens of thousands of apps for like 1000ish spots, and after you get past qualifications (certain academic achievement levels, which includes test performance) you look at how well that applicant will fit in the school, take advantage of the school's unique resources, interact with others, etc.

I think what the FIRST video meant to convey (because admission to these universities is so dependent on more than just titles) is that DL winners, when later speaking with admissions officers, have the eye-catching qualities of a Siemens winner or an Intel winner and that these kids are more heavily considered for these scarce positions.

I personally never won Dean's List, but I was nominated by my team, and that's something I indicated on my apps. I also had a lot more than (though, admittedly a lot of) FIRST-related activity on my app with other activities that I was involved in, I guess. And for me, admission success to top colleges was evident. But, I don't think one can directly correlate anything specific on my app to admission. Dean's List winners included. However, imho, Dean's Listers will be successful wherever they go, so why even worry?