How much do National French Exam Silver Awards count for?

They're not the best of the best, but they're definitely good awards to have on your Awards/Honors list. Especially if the language you're receiving the award in has some relevance to the thing you're studying — e.g., if you could tie your achievements in French to your interest in polisci in one of your essays, it would have a more substantial effect on your chances than just having the medal itself. As it is, it's a strong award, on the same level as something like National Merit Commended. Not a make-or-break thing, but a good supplemental piece of your app.

hey! i’m one year older than you and i’ve also taken the grand concours. i also got silver this year (lvl 4), but i got gold last year and platinum the year before. i’ll tell you that if you study intentionally and use the practice materials the the grand concours provides you (online practice exams) you can definitely get up to a gold (2nd place nationally - 10th place i believe). tbh people don’t really study for the nfe so even a little prep goes a long way. to be honest i dont think the awards are especially standout unless you get platinum/gold but they are still impressive. if i remember correctly silver is top 15%, gold top 5 or 10% and platinum is 1st place nationally. it will be a nice add on to your resume if you can tie this in with french honor society, some french tutoring, or another french-related EC like french culture club or whatever. unless you’re going to apply for french or francophone culture it will be a nice add on but not worth much since it doesn’t relate yo your major. unless you’re thinking about IR/international relations (such as myself), where french is one of the two official languages of the UN and is a required language to work at the UN (or english), taking french is more of a cool hobby than a standout thing. IR requires you to take a “modern foreign language” so taking french would actually help you save credits if you get a 5 on the AP since you can skip introductory french in college. anyway, they’re a nice award but not worth much unless you plan to study IR or french/francophone studies where knowing French is key to success. still, congrats though :)