No. 6
QuestBridge National College Match Finalist
One of 7,287 finalists, out of 25,500.
1 in 3.5
The Surface
These 5 honors never published a pool size, so there’s nothing to weigh them down. They float.
- No. 1
Benjamin A. Gilman Scholar
Scholar.
- No. 2
National African American Recognition Program
National recognition.
- No. 3
International Geography Olympiad
Team USA qualifier, 7th nationally, with a perfect qualifying score.
- No. 4
National History Day
Valley Champion, twice.
- No. 5
Summa Cum Laude
The highest Latin honor.
The Sunlight Zone
From here down, depth is odds. An honor that picked 1 person in 64 sits at 1 in 64. Up here, you swim in schools.
No. 7
QuestBridge College Prep Scholar
One of 3,911 scholars, out of 16,000.
1 in 4.1
No. 8
High School Diplomats Finalist
One of about 80 finalists, out of 700+.
about 1 in 8.8
No. 9
USC Young Leaders Summit Scholar
One of about 200 scholars, out of 1,800+.
about 1 in 9
The Twilight ZoneBelow 1 in 10, fewer than one in ten get picked.
No. 10
Notre Dame Leadership Seminars
One of about 90, out of 1,500+.
about 1 in 17
No. 11
JFK Profile in Courage Essay Contest
Top 5%, one of about 150, out of 2,800+.
about 1 in 19
No. 12
International Climate Science Olympiad Semifinalist
Top 5% of 55,000+.
about 1 in 20
9 of his 16 measured honors live in this zone.
No. 13
Telluride Association Summer Seminar
One of 72, out of 2,400+. A tuition-free seminar in Critical Black Studies, summer 2024, where he was elected house chair.
1 in 33
No. 14
Taco Bell Live Más Scholar
A $10,000 scholarship. One of about 400, out of 14,000.
about 1 in 35
No. 15
QuestBridge Quest for Excellence Award, Humanities
One of about 100, chosen from the 3,911 College Prep Scholars.They were already 1 in 4.1.
about 1 in 39
No. 16
Coolidge Scholarship Senator
One of 100 Senators, out of 4,100+.
1 in 41
No. 17
Elks Most Valuable Student Semifinalist
One of 500 semifinalists, out of 21,000+.
1 in 42
Rush hour. 5 honors between 1 in 33 and 1 in 42.
The light starts to go around here.
No. 18
Gates Scholar
One of 750 Gates Scholars, out of 48,000+.
1 in 64
It’s a long way to the next one.
The Midnight ZoneBelow 1 in 100, fewer than one in a hundred.
The sun gives up around here.
Only 3 of his honors are rarer than 1 in 100.
No. 19
Princeton Prize in Race Relations, San Francisco
One of 3, out of 600+.
1 in 200
Three were picked in San Francisco. He was one of them.
Every unit of depth is one more person in the pool for each person picked.
Nothing between here and 1 in 700.
Still here? Good.
Halfway to 1 in 1,000.
Almost there. For this one, anyway.
No. 20
Coca-Cola Scholar
One of 150 Coca-Cola Scholars, out of 105,000+.
1 in 700
For every Coca-Cola Scholar, about 699 others weren’t picked.
One left. It’s 928 units further down.
It gets very quiet from here.
The Abyssal ZoneBelow 1 in 1,000, fewer than one in a thousand.
You’ve scrolled about seventy screens to get here.
Nothing lives here.
Still nothing.
1 in 1,000 is a long way up now.
Something down here is glowing.
Getting closer.
The Deepest PointOn this page, anyway
NSDA Student of the Year
One of 86, out of 140,000+.The pool is every member of the National Speech & Debate Association.
No. 21
1 in 1,628
The Deep End
You touched the bottom. Here’s everything you passed.
1 in 1,0001 in 1001 in 10
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
1
2
3
4
5
Honores. Everything on the way down.
Every specimen, by number. Pick one to swim back to it.
The SurfaceNo published odds
The Sunlight Zone1 in 1 to 1 in 10
The Twilight Zone1 in 10 to 1 in 100
The Midnight Zone1 in 100 to 1 in 1,000
The Abyssal Zone1 in 1,000 and rarer
438,400+
That’s the fifteen pools on this page, added up. He was picked out of every one.
Quest for Excellence chose from the College Prep Scholars, so that pool isn’t counted twice. Anyone in two pools is counted in both.