BY JOHNATHAN D. KINDALL

ne of the best ways to make your high school resume stand out is to participate in and/or win a student competition. Contests, competitions and awards programs look great to college admissions officials, and they can also bring all sorts of other benefits like scholarships, trophies, recognition and cash prizes! For this reason, it's important to consider entering a few student competitions as you go through high school and prepare for your college application.

There are all sorts of competitions for high school students out there to explore. In fact, there's contests in art, writing, design, business, STEM and more. We've collected just a few of our favorites here, but, with all of those options, there's sure to be a student competition out there that matches your skills and interests.

Be sure and pay attention to the criteria and eligibility requirements of each student competition listed below. Many of them have deadlines that either vary by region or are quickly approaching. Some may have even already passed. However, since most of the competitions listed here are annual events, we’ve included them here for you to make note of in the upcoming years! Bookmark this page on our website for up to date information on student competitions near you.

▸ Congressional Art Competition ▸ Cool Science Art Competition on

▸ Hong Kong Visual Arts Education Festival:

▸ LEO Art Challenge ▸ National Poetry Month Poster Contest

▸ Reflections Arts Program: National PTA ▸ Ocean Awareness Contest ▸ Scholastic Art and Writing Awards ▸ YoungArts National Arts Competition

▸ The Blue Ocean Entrepreneurship Competition ▸ Diamond Challenge for High School

▸ High School Fed Challenge ▸ Wharton Global High School Investment

▸ 3M Young Scientist Challenge ▸ Clean Tech Competition ▸ Conrad Spirit of Innovation Challenge ▸ International BioGENEius Challenge ▸ International Space Settlement Design Competition ▸ Microsoft Imagine Cup ▸ Junior Science and Humanities Symposia

▸ Math League Competitions ▸ MIT Think Scholars Program ▸ Regeneron Science Talent Search ▸ Space Settlement Contest ▸ spUN Student Debates at ISDC

▸ Baen Fantasy Adventure Award ▸ Columbia Scholastic Press Association

▸ The Emerson Prize ▸ Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest ▸ National Scholastic Press Association Awards