Is the Congressional Award Worth It? Is It Good for College?

Yes, for most students it is worth it. But not for the reason most people think.

What the award actually is

Congress created the Congressional Award in 1979. It is the highest honor that a member of Congress can give to a young civilian. You earn it by setting goals in four areas, community service, personal development, physical fitness, and an expedition, and then meeting them over months or years.

It is not a contest. Nobody is ranked. If you do the work, you get the award. That is also why some people dismiss it: "anyone can get it." That is true in the same way that anyone can run a marathon. Almost no one does.

Why it is worth it

It makes you do things for a long time. The Silver Medal takes at least 12 months of activity in each area. The Gold Medal takes at least 24. Most teenage activities last a semester. Sticking with something for two years is rare, and it changes you more than any single impressive week does.

It is about your country and your community. The center of the award is service to other people. You are not doing it for a club or a company. You are doing it because the U.S. Congress decided that young people who serve their communities deserve to be recognized. I think that is one of the best things our country does, and earning it is a quietly patriotic thing to do.

You can start small. The Bronze Certificate needs 30 hours of service, 15 hours of personal development, 15 hours of fitness, and a 1-day exploration. A motivated student can do that in a few months, then keep going.

You probably already do half of it. If you play a sport, practice an instrument, or volunteer, you are already doing the work. The award gives that work a structure and a finish line. The only catch is that nothing counts before the day you register, so register early.

Is it good for college?

It helps, but it will not get you in by itself, and you should be suspicious of anyone who says otherwise.

Here is what an admissions reader actually sees. A Silver or Gold Medal tells them, with a validation from adults, that you kept up service, a personal goal, and fitness for one or two years. That is evidence of the thing colleges say they want most: sustained commitment. It is much stronger than a list of ten clubs you joined for a month.

What matters more than the medal is what you did to get it. "Gold Medal" is one line on an application. "Tutored the same 5th grader in math every week for two years and watched her go from failing to a B" is an essay. The award is the frame. The service is the picture.

So if you are asking "is the Congressional Award good for college," the honest answer is: it is good for college if the hours behind it are real. Pick service you actually care about and will stick with.

Who should skip it

• You are close to 24. The Gold Medal takes at least 24 months of activity. Check the math before you start.
• All of your service is for class credit or a graduation requirement. Those hours do not count. You need service you do on your own.
• You hate logging things. You need to keep a record of every hour. Some students find a tool or an activity that does this for them. If you will not keep a log, you will not finish.

How to make it easier

The two hardest parts are finding an Advisor and keeping track of hours for a long time. We wrote a guide on how to find an Advisor. For the hours, use our free Congressional Award hour tracker to see what you have left for each level.

For the service area, tutoring with Learn To Be is a good fit. It is free for the families we serve, it is online so you can do it from home, and every session is logged for you automatically. If you are going for the Silver or Gold Medal, we also act as your Advisor for the service part. Several of our tutors have used their Learn To Be hours toward the award.

If you have been on the fence, here is my take. Register this week. The worst case is that you do a lot of good for other people and do not finish. The best case is that you shake hands with your member of Congress while they give you a medal.