Breadth Vs Depth paradigm question.....Award/Recognition.

Wow, it's tough to sort through all of your awards!

My personal measure and determining factor is not the size of the award but the uniqueness of it. It sounds like your stock options were awarded for your excellent performance, which is great, but keep in mind that your app will be compared to those of thousands of other people who also received stock options (whether or not they were merit-based). So, at a glance, an adcomm might see your stock options and think of them as part of the semi-normal compensation that many young workers get in successful companies.

Meanwhile, not many people get a gift and special recognition from their VP. This will stand out much more. Don't worry if it's worth less money. Thinking like an adcomm for a minute, I'd be more interested in hearing about a $100 bonus that you got for making a unique contribution than hearing about a $5,000 bonus you got for just doing pretty good work.

Hope that helps. In the end, I promise that it won't matter all that much. I mean, these things definitely matter, but don't worry about the adcomms examining every line of your app looking for whether a bonus should have been listed in Section A or Section B. It's your overall story -- and how you tell it -- that matters the most!

Scott