What international competitions should high school students participate in?
The right competition depends on your interests and application direction — not on which one sounds most prestigious.
Competitions fall into several categories: academic (math, science, debate), creative (writing, art, film), technical (coding, robotics, AI), and interdisciplinary. The key is choosing competitions that align with your intended major and complement your existing activities. A student applying for computer science benefits more from an AI competition than from a writing contest, and vice versa.
Some high-value options worth considering: For writing and humanities students, CWA (Cosmopolitan Writing Award) offers Essay, Fiction, and Poetry categories with international judging. For students interested in art, design, or digital media, DAA (Dynamic Arts Award) covers Digital Art, Drawing, Photography, and Video. Both are accessible online competitions that provide meaningful portfolio additions.
IvyClaw can help you evaluate which competitions fit your profile, how to position competition experience in your application, and how to write about competition involvement in your activities list and essays.
高中生应该参加什么国际竞赛？
选竞赛要看兴趣方向和申请定位——不是哪个听起来最高大上就参加哪个。
竞赛大致分几类：学术类（数学、科学、辩论）、创意类（写作、艺术、影像）、技术类（编程、机器人、AI）和跨学科类。关键是选跟你申请方向匹配的、能跟现有活动形成链条的。申请计算机的学生参加 AI 竞赛的价值远大于写作比赛，反过来也一样。
几个值得关注的国际竞赛：写作/人文方向的学生可以看 CWA（Cosmopolitan Writing Award），分 Essay、Fiction、Poetry 三个类别，全球评审。艺术/设计/影像方向的学生可以看 DAA（Dynamic Arts Award），覆盖 Digital Art、Drawing、Photography、Video。两个都是在线提交，门槛适中，能给作品集和申请材料加分。
IvyClaw 可以帮你评估哪些竞赛适合你的背景、竞赛经历怎么定位在申请里、以及怎么在活动列表和文书中写竞赛经历。