15 National Competitions for Middle School Students
- Stephen Turban
- 19 hours ago
- 10 min read
If you are in middle school, looking to challenge yourself and apply your skills in an advanced space, competitions are a great option to explore! Participating in competitions allows you to discover interest areas outside your school curriculum, meet with like-minded peers, and build on skills for higher education. You can work in teams, come up with innovative solutions for real problems, build prototypes, and learn from professionals. You’ll develop essential communication skills, along with technical skills based on your area of focus, that will help you not just in high school, but also in a successful career ahead.
With that, here’s a list of 15 National Competitions for Middle School Students, based on their difficulty level, networking opportunities, and award offerings!
15 National Competitions for Middle School Students
Location: Students can register in the district where they reside or attend school
Cost: No cost
Dates: Winners announced in December
Application Deadline: October 30
Eligibility: Middle school students who are U.S. residents; teams of up to 4, with at least half the team eligible in the district of submission
The Congressional App Challenge is a coding contest for middle school students interested in computer science. To compete, you have to create an original and functional app using programming languages, from Python and JavaScript to C++ and “block code”. You can design your project according to your interests and technical strengths. You’ll be judged for your design, creativity, functionality, and coding. If you win, your app is displayed in the US Capitol Building and featured on the House of Representatives’ website, House.gov. You’ll also be invited to the #HouseofCode Capitol Hill Reception in Washington, D.C.
Location: Regional rounds are held in different locations each year; Science Bowl Finals are held in Washington, D.C.
Cost: No cost
Dates: National Finals: April 30 – May 4
Application Deadline: To be announced
Eligibility: Middle school students
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Science Bowl is a team-based, national science and mathematics competition for middle school students. You’ll join a team of four students, with one alternate student and a teacher who’ll be your advisor. The competition is structured in a fast-paced, question-and-answer format, and you’ll be tested on biology, chemistry, Earth science, physics, energy, and math. As a Regional Science Bowl championship team, you’ll receive a fully funded trip to compete at the national event in Washington, D.C. Here, you’ll attend science seminars, go sightseeing, and finally, participate in the national competition.
Location: Finals at the Hyatt Regency, Orlando, FL
Cost/Stipend: No cost for Online Regional Qualifying Exam (ORQE)
Dates: Finals: May 21 – 25
Application Deadline: 12 days in advance of each tournament
Eligibility: Elementary and middle school students
The National Science Bee by the International Academic Competitions (IAC) is a quiz-based science competition for middle school students. Participants will answer questions in earth science, chemistry, astronomy, and physics, all customized to their grade level. The competition starts with a free Online Regional Qualifying Exam at the beginning of the academic year. Successful participants then advance to buzzer-based Regional Tournaments. The National Championships, also buzzer-based, follow these. If you finish in the top third at the Regional Tournaments or the top two-thirds at the National Championships, you qualify for the International Science Championships and the International Environmental Science Olympiad.
Location: Finals held in Washington, D.C.
Cost: No cost
Dates: Finals: October 24 – 29
Application Deadline: June 11
Eligibility: Students in grades 6–8 nominated through a Society-affiliated science or engineering fair
The Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge is a highly reputable national science competition for middle school students in the U.S. For participation, you have to first compete at a Thermo Fisher JIC-affiliate science and engineering fair, and if you’re in the top 10%, you can apply to the JIC. From the selected pool of 300 students, the final 30 are chosen. As a finalist, you’ll win an all-expense-paid trip to the national finals week in Washington, DC. You’ll compete in teams, showcase your projects, and participate in on-site visits. Past projects submitted by students have included Evaluating the Reliability of Large Language Models for Stress Detection and Increasing Microalgal Biomass and Lipids for Biofuel Production.
Location: Virtual
Cost: No cost
Dates: January 8 – May 1 | Final round: October
Application Deadline: May 1
Eligibility: Students in grades 5–8
The 3M Young Scientist Challenge is a project-based science competition for middle school students. You can enter by submitting a video that describes a solution to an everyday problem. Past entry topics include innovations in Robotics, Home Improvement, and Safety. You’ll be judged based on your creativity, scientific knowledge, communication skills, and overall presentation. If selected in the top 10, you’ll receive a summer assignment to develop a prototype to be completed under the mentorship of a 3M scientist. Further, you’ll present at the 3M Innovation Center in Minnesota in the fall, for a chance to win $25,000 and the title of ‘America’s Top Young Scientist’.
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Date: November 26
Application Deadline: November 26
Eligibility: Categories A, B, or C for high school students, primary school students, or their respective equivalents; Open category (non-competitive) for all others
Physics Brawl Online is a three-hour-long team competition for middle school students interested in physics. It is organized by the FYKOS student group, consisting mostly of students at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University. You’ll solve problems in teams of up to 5, and continue to receive increasingly challenging problem sets after the first seven. After 90 minutes, a special “Hurry-up” round begins with bonus problems from different physics fields. All problems have numerical solutions, and you can use printed literature, any computer program such as Wolfram, GeoGebra, and the internet during the competition.
Location: Virtual
Cost: No cost
Dates: National Judging and Educational Event: June 22 – 26
Application Deadline: February 25
Eligibility: Students in grades 6–9
The eCYBERMISSION competition is a free, virtual STEM competition for 6-9 grade students. You’ll select a community problem and either scientifically investigate it or design an engineering solution for it in teams of 2-4, under the mentorship of an adult Team Advisor. Your submission is scored by a panel of Virtual Judges, who are educators, STEM professionals, post-secondary students, or military service members. Next, the top three teams proceed to compete at the regional level. As a Regional Finalist, you’ll give a four-minute oral presentation on your project to Regional Judges, consisting of U.S. Army Scientists and Engineers. If you’re in the top 20, you’ll advance to the National Judging & Educational Event, where you’ll participate in STEM-related activities hosted by eCYBERMISSION and the U.S. Army Educational Outreach Program. Here, you’ll give a five-minute oral presentation to a panel of National Judges of the U.S. Army Scientists and Engineers working at Army Laboratories. Winning teams receive multiple awards, including U.S. EE Savings Bonds.
Location: Virtual; Festival in Washington, D.C.
Cost: No cost
Dates: National STEM Festival: June 23
Application Deadline: November 12
Eligibility: Middle school students
The National STEM Festival by EXPLR invites you to come up with innovative STEM projects addressing real-world challenges. You can choose from six festival themes: Environmental Stewardship, Future Foods, Aerospace Innovation, Health & Medicine, Tech for Good, and Powering the Planet. You can either follow the scientific method or the engineering design process, and submit your project with a 3-page PDF presentation with text and images. If your project is selected as a top project, you’ll advance to Round 2 by submitting a video explanation. As a top-scoring student in Round 2, you’ll earn a trip to Washington, D.C., along with 70 National Champions, to showcase your projects to corporate leaders, government agencies, and media at the National STEM Festival.
Location: Virtual
Cost: No cost
Dates: To be announced
Application Deadline: February 3
Eligibility: Middle school students
The ExploraVision competition by Toshiba and the National Science Teaching Association invites middle school students to engage in problem-solving with an emphasis on STEM. You’ll work in teams of 2-4, led by a teaching coach. To compete, you’ll submit your project with a title, abstract, project description, bibliography, and five sample Web pages. If your team is in the 24 regional winning teams, you’ll use your original projects as a guide and create a website for your envisioned future technology, along with a prototype. National winners travel to D.C. to showcase their projects to a panel of experts, including executives from Toshiba and NSTA, and government officials. The key idea of the competition is to envision technology 10 or more years in the future through collaborative brainstorming and research. Past winning projects have ranged from a hand-held food allergen detector to devices helping people with lost limbs regain movement in real time.
10. Science Olympiad
Location: Varies by region
Cost: $60–$100, depending on state
Dates: Finals: May 22 – 23 at USC
Application Deadline: Varies by competition
Eligibility: Middle school students
The Science Olympiad is a team-based, national STEM competition for middle school students. There are 23 team events in the middle school division in areas like genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering, and technology. You’ll be actively involved in group participation with peers, with events around building bridges or flying devices, and conducting scientific experiments. If you reach the Science Olympiad National Tournament, held at a different venue every year, you can visit new parts of the country and tour colleges for undergraduate studies.
Location: Finals in Orlando, FL
Cost: $40 – $70, depending on registration type
Dates: School Competitions: August – January | Chapter Competitions: February 1 – 28 | State Competitions: March 1 – 31 | National Competition: May 10 – 11
Application Deadline: December 15
Eligibility: Middle school students in grades 6–8
The Mathcounts Competition Series is a national mathematics competition designed for middle school students. It features four levels of live contests — school, chapter, state, and national — each comprising four distinct rounds: Sprint, Target, Team, and Countdown Round. Students collaborate with coaches in the fall to prepare for the competition, which typically runs from winter through spring. If you’re in the top 4 of your state, you’ll receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the RTX MATHCOUNTS National Competition. Here, along with the total of 224 competitors, you’ll form 4-person state teams and compete individually for the title of National Champion. You can win medals, trophies, and college scholarships.
Location: The Final will be organized in Washington, D.C.
Cost/Stipend: $25 registration fee
Dates: Competition typically held in January or February
Application Deadline: Typically in October
Eligibility: Students in grades 6–8
Future City is an educational engineering program for middle school students interested in exploring the integration of STEM skills into real life by designing a city for the future. You’ll work in teams of at least three students, an educator, and a volunteer mentor, combining the engineering design process (EDP) with project management to design cities of the future. Past challenges have included building a sustainable floating city and providing examples of how it works and keeps its citizens healthy.
Location: At the team’s school; National Finals at Great Meadow in The Plains, VA
Cost: $175 per team; $365 to enter into finals
Dates: National Finals: May 16
Application Deadline: December 6
Eligibility: Middle school students
The American Rocketry Challenge is the largest student rocket competition in the world, open to U.S. middle school students. You’ll design, build, and test model rockets in teams of 3-10 members. Each year’s challenge varies slightly, but it involves engineering design and flight precision. For instance, launching the model rocket and meeting defined flight goals, including time staying airborne, and returning the assigned payload safely back to the launch location. You’ll test your rocket, analyze the flight data, and refine your design to improve flight performance. If selected as a finalist, you’ll be invited to compete for a share of the $100,000 in awards at the National Finals Fly-off in May.
14. MAA AMC 8
Location: Various U.S. middle schools and approved test centers
Cost: $55 (early bird), $75 (regular registration), $115 (late registration) for competition managers
Dates: January 22 – 28
Application Deadline: October 28 (early bird), January 5 (regular), January 15 (late)
Eligibility: Students in grades 6–8 (younger students may also participate)
The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) 8 is a 40-minute, 25-question mathematical competition designed to introduce middle school students to problem-solving beyond the school curriculum. You’ll cover a wide range of middle school mathematics topics, including probability, estimation, and proportional reasoning. Completing AMC 8 is a great way to explore competitive mathematics and prepare for advanced contests, including the AMC 10 and 12 for later years.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $100
Dates: September 29 – October 20
Application Deadline: October 20
Eligibility: Middle school students
The Future Problem Solving World Solutions Challenge Competition is a three-week competition series for middle school students. You’ll participate in teams of 2 to 4, learn to research and analyze real issues, then apply a 6-step creative problem-solving process to develop relevant action plans. You’ll submit both a written action plan and one supplemental item to demonstrate it. You can submit a promotional video or podcast under three minutes long, or up to four pages of diagrams or graphics. Past challenge topics have included the impact of rising sea levels. This challenge is an introductory experience to the signature Global Issues program.
One more option—The Lumiere Junior Explorer Program
The Lumiere Junior Explorer Program is a program for middle school students to work one-on-one with a mentor to explore their academic interests and build a project they are passionate about. Our mentors are scholars from top research universities such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, Duke, and LSE.
The program was founded by a Harvard & Oxford PhD who met as undergraduates at Harvard. The program is rigorous and fully virtual. We offer need-based financial aid for students who qualify. You can find the application in the brochure! To learn more, you can reach out to our Director, Dhruva, at dhruva.bhat@lumiere.education, or go to our website.
Multiple rolling deadlines for JEP cohorts across the year, you can apply using this application link! If you'd like to take a look at the upcoming cohorts + deadlines, you can refer to this page!
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.
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