Olympiad medals or science fair finalist status for top US colleges?

[cooleinstein]

I am a high school student in India . I finished grade 10 this year . I have completed phyiscs upto the level of RESNICK HALLIDAY , i learned all high school mathematics and Single variable calculus . I want to go to US for college . So i want to get into schools like MIT/CalTech/harvard etc . But as these schools are very selective one needs to be highly accomplished to get into these schools .

I want to do something more than school stuff so i want to participate in olympiads or science fairs .

So i want to know which candidate will have a better chance of getting in , one with a olympiad gold or someone who is a GOOGLE/INTEL science fair finalist .

So give me some guidance​

 

[lasymphonie]

I feel as though it's less competitive to be an Intel/Siemens finalist than it is to win an olympiad gold medal. Though the question is, are you sure that you can do either? And why can't you pursue both options?

By the way, I got less than a gold medal at IPhO, and I still got into every college to which I applied. College admissions are holistic.

 

[narayan.rocks]

Yeah thanks man...anyone has any other opinion on this...please help