Competition.
Solo or team contests with clear submission deadlines and finals events. The application is the project itself; pick one whose subject already excites you.
47 verified programs.
AAPT PhysicsBowl
An annual competition for high school students that celebrates physics and recognizes outstanding physics students and teachers.
Adam Smith Society HS Essay
Essay contest exploring market economics and policy.
Adobe Design Achievement Awards (Semi-Pro)
International student creative awards across graphic design, film, animation, and social impact.
AFSA National High School Essay Contest
An essay contest designed to engage students in thinking about peace and conflict resolution.
AIME
Invitational round for top AMC scorers. 15-question, 3-hour exam that gates the USAMO. No fee for invited students.
Al-Khwarizmi International Award (Youth)
International recognition for young researchers in science and tech innovation.
All-Japan Manga Competition (Youth)
Youth-open division of the Japan Cartoonists Association's annual manga award.
AMC 10/12
The entry-level American Mathematics Competition. Top scorers qualify for AIME and the path to the USAMO. Open to all US high schoolers; school registration required.
American Computer Science League (ACSL)
A multi-division computer science competition covering both theory and programming.
American Mathematics Competitions (AMC 8/10/12)
Series of national math competitions leading to USAMO/USAJMO and IMO selection.
Apple Swift Student Challenge
Swift coding competition hosted by Apple to showcase creativity and app development skills.
Asian Physics Olympiad
Asia-Pacific regional physics olympiad; selection through each country's national physics olympiad.
Aspen Challenge
City-based design challenge for high school teams to solve community problems.
BBC Young Musician
UK-wide music competition for musicians up to age 18; broadcast internationally.
Beamline for Schools
CERN physics competition where student teams worldwide propose and run an experiment at a real particle accelerator.
Bebras Computing Challenge (US)
An international computational thinking and informatics competition. Students can take the test remotely or through a local school coordinator.
Bennington Young Writers Awards
A prestigious creative writing competition for students to win cash prizes and publication.
Bill of Rights Institute MyImpact Challenge
Civic engagement competition awarding scholarships for student-led community impact projects.
Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneurship Competition
Free global pitch competition with cash prizes. Teams pitch a novel business idea via video; finalists present live.
Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Contest
Annual creative contest for teens combining art, writing, film, and music with environmental advocacy.
BrainBee Neuroscience Competition
International neuroscience competition for high schoolers with local, national, and global rounds.
Breakthrough Junior Challenge
Create a short video explaining a big idea in science or math. Global competition for ages 13–18 with a $250K college scholarship.
Brilliant.org High School Problem Solving Track
While the physical show has locations, the virtual 'Think Tank' and 'Daily Challenge' offer online logic and math problems for students nationwide.
British Informatics Olympiad (Open to Int'l)
Solve complex math and computer science problems created by the UK Mathematical Trust.
British Physics Olympiad
A tiered set of national physics competitions (Junior, Senior, Round 1/2) open to UK secondary students, with international variants schools worldwide can register for.
C-SPAN StudentCam
Annual student documentary competition on public policy.
Cambridge Chemistry Challenge
Global chemistry problem-solving competition for Y12 / 11th-grade students; open worldwide.
Canadian Computing Competition (CCC)
Free competitive programming contest run by Waterloo's CEMC; open worldwide and used as a qualifier for the Canadian Computing Olympiad.
CanSat Competition (ESA)
Build a satellite the size of a soda can. National rounds in ESA member states; European final each spring.
CEMC Math Contests
Suite of free math contests (Pascal, Cayley, Fermat, Euclid, CSMC) written by Waterloo; open internationally through registered schools.
CFA Institute Research Challenge
Global equity research and analysis competition with high school divisions in some regions.
Chapman University Holocaust Art & Writing Contest
A writing contest for high schoolers exploring the impact of the Holocaust through various creative prompts.
Civic Spirit Civics Day
National civics competition for middle and high school students from diverse religious schools.
Codeforces Educational Rounds
Free competitive programming platform with weekly contests for students worldwide.
Columbia Scholastic Press Association Awards
Top awards recognizing student newspapers, magazines, and yearbooks.
Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Global short-fiction prize open to writers from Commonwealth countries.
Congressional App Challenge
District-level coding competition open to every US high schooler.
Congressional Art Competition
Nationwide art contest with winning art displayed in the US Capitol.
Conrad Challenge
International innovation and entrepreneurship competition addressing global grand challenges.
Cyber.org Range Competitions
Free cybersecurity courses, range exercises, and competitions for K-12.
CyberPatriot
A cybersecurity competition for high school teams to learn and apply cybersecurity skills in a virtual environment. Teams compete to find and fix vulnerabilities in simulated operating systems.
CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense
National youth cybersecurity competition with middle and high school divisions.
Data Science Competition
A global competition for high school students centered around data science challenges.
DECA Competitive Events (ICDC)
One of the world's largest business competitions for students to demonstrate their professionalism in multiple event categories.
DECA International Career Development Conference
Largest international business competition for high school students in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management.
Diamond Challenge
Global high school entrepreneurship pitch competition with $100k+ in prizes.
Doodle for Google
Annual K-12 art contest with college scholarships.