The old science fairs actually did find real geniuses. Many kids who placed highly in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search ended up winning Nobel Prizes later in life.
The modern ones are sadly just another checkbox for college admissions, full of cheaters gaming the metrics.
>Many kids who placed highly in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search ended up winning Nobel Prizes later in life
Do you happen to have a list available? I saw a few among the winners, but I wasn't able to find much about non-winning top placers.
The ones I could find won their Nobel much later than their Talent Search win (40+ years, and in one case more than 60 years after), so it might be premature to rule out the more modern contestants. (at least based on that alone)
The modern ones are sadly just another checkbox for college admissions, full of cheaters gaming the metrics.