6 Essay Contests for High School Students to Earn Money for College Scholarships

Who doesn't need money for college, right? Well, write!

Essay contests often get a bad rap - and sometimes, it's deserved. Many contests are more like the lottery, and don't really reward great writing.

Certainly, you should read and choose carefully among the various essay contest "scholarship" contests. (I suggest skipping any that charge a fee to enter.) On a positive note, your odds of winning an essay contest are almost certainly better than winning the lottery.

Below, six essay contests (with cash prizes and scholarship $$) geared for high school/college-bound students. Sharpen your pencils (or stick some fresh batteries in your keyboard) and start writing!

1. Do something! -- not all writing-based, but there is writing involved. I like Do Something! because it encourages taking action to improve life around you...you pick the area of life/society you want to work to improve. Deadlines vary.
2. Read any good Ayn Rand books lately? If objectivism is your bag, this is your site. You'll have to register to get info about contests and deadlines. Primarily for college students.
3. The Williams-Mystic Essay Contest in Honor of Joseph Conrad accepts fiction or non-fiction entries about the ocean or any major body of water. $400 prize. Deadline in October.
4. What's your Superpower? Find it and get your entry in before the end of March. Open to writers ages 13 and up! $250 prizes.
5. Engineers are kind of like superheroes... this contest from Engineer Girl has a February deadline.
6. The John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage essay contest for high school students (grades 9-12) selects a winner from every state. Deadline January 4, 2017.

Want more? Scholarship Mentor has a long, long list of other writing contests to sort through.

Write Smart to Write Your Best College Essay

Scholarship mentor has a helpful checklist - do yourself a favor and read it:
http://scholarshipmentor.com/top-5-items-list-your-scholarship-essay

Here's my favorite tip from the Ayn Rand essay contest site: read the winning entries from previous contests! It's like a study guide. Take advantage of it.

And the most basic advice you need to get started: BIC. (Butt in chair.) You can't get it done until you begin.

Good luck and have fun writing! 

Will I Ever Have to Write an Essay in the Real World? Hello, College Scholarships!

I've argued that the ability to write essays is actually useful in real life. (More so than calculus, even.) Whether you agree or not is no matter - if you're a college-bound student, you need to write essays. Lots of them!

Here are two essay contests with deadlines fast-approaching. Have fun.

Write a Letter to the Number 5       $1500 scholarship opportunity

https://www.unigo.com/scholarships/our-scholarships/fifth-month-scholarship
Entries due 5/31/16

Do-over Scholarship      $1500 scholarship opportunity

https://www.unigo.com/scholarships/our-scholarships/do-over-scholarship
Entries due 6/30/16

Writing for Free, Contests, and Other Opportunities

I've always liked Midwest Book Review, for several reasons. As a reader, I find its reviews are clean and clear. As a writer, I find it policies simple and straightforward.

Midwest Book Review doesn't pay reviewers, and it makes that clear in a nice way: reviewers are called "volunteers." Submission is simple (text in the body of an email) and MBR doesn't get all fluffy describing the "benefits" of volunteering. It is clear about bylines - you can get one, but won't always. The criteria, again, is clear. 

Also as a reader, you might want to know why most MBR reviews are positive. That's because it only accepts to review books it thinks will make the cut, so to speak. 

So, if you're a writer looking for a place to get exposure and have some decent, recent online writing samples, look into writing for MBR. Trust me, you could do a lot worse. If you're a reader looking for reviews on books you'll probably like, same goes. 

Writing Contests - May 2014 & More

Looking for essay, poetry, fiction or non-fiction writing contests? I love "how-tos" so I'm partial to this one:

Baltimore Review Summer Contest

Online submission deadline: May 31, 2014

The theme for the Baltimore Review’s summer contest is “How To.” Why? Because writers are unabashedly inquisitive and can instruct readers in such eloquent ways. Instruct our readers in how to do anything—anything at all—in the course of your poem, fiction, or creative nonfiction, and you’re eligible. 3,000-word limit for prose, 1-3 poems per entry. $10 entry fee. Prizes: $500, $200, and $100. All entries considered for publication. Deadline is May 31, 2014. Final judge: Michael Downs. Hit blue Submit button on Submit page, then the Contest link to enter. Also considering non-theme (non-contest) submissions. Visit baltimorereview.org.

If you're a longer-form fiction writer, you might like Glimmer Train's Standard contests, for stories not to exceed 12,000 words. Three contests per year, prize money, and no reading fee! A nice combination, don't you think?

I found these contests on NewPages.com, where most of the contests are for unpublished work. However, it also lists a few for previously published work. 

$15,000 for a Breakthrough Novel

Yep, that's right. Call it the WalMart of the internet if you want to, Amazon is offering more than most publishers in its Breakthrough Novel Award. Entries are accepted starting today. Write hard, my friends!

Feel lucky? Poetry, short fiction contests a-plenty

Deadlines in March, April, May - and all, as far as I can tell, free to enter. Well, what are  you waiting for? Start tapping away, enter, and when you win... I hope you remember that you saw it here :D

National Grammar Day: Give a Tweet

Tweet was something once
Only birdies did but now
It passes for thought.

Please forgive me; you know I'm not a poet. That said, some darned fine creative writers rise to the challenge of the Tweeted-haiku Contest each year.

This year it's March 4 - which is also National Grammar Day. You're on alert, dear writers.

Writing Contests! Somebody has to win...

...and it might as well be YOU, right?

From food and love (is that redundant?) to health, fingernails, and cleaning products, About guide Sandra Graushopf  keeps her list of writing contests current.

High School Essay Contest offers $1,000 prize

Why is it important that we have news media that are independent of the government? 

That's the topic for the Society of Professional Journalists' annual high school essay contest. Entries are due March 6. Rules can be found here. Inspiration and examples can be found...um, everywhere. 

Children's Writer Poetry Contest

If you think you're as smart as Shel Silverstein
And your writing skills are really keen,
Go ahead and prove it -
But you better move it:
The deadline is Halloween!

And there you have it. You can enter this children's poetry writing contest with absolutely nothing to fear from me.

About the contest:
Sponsored by Children's Writer*
Free for subscribers, $15 entry fee for non-subscribers (which includes a one-year subscription to the newsletter)
Poems may be on any subject, up to 300 words, and must appeal to children
Top prize is $500 and publication
Deadline for entries: October 31, 2011
Good luck!

*Children's Writer is a newsletter of writing and publishing trends. Since I've been a subscriber, I've been impressed with its very practical advice. (Not that my children's books are winning any awards - oh wait, that's because I don't have any published children's books...yet. Well anyway, good luck!)

The Best of Bad Writing

The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, named for the creator of the "dark and stormy night" stuff made famous by Snoopy, honors the best worst first sentence of a novel.

This year, a University of Wisconsin professor earned the award with a sentence about dead birds and dead-end thinking. Or something like that.

If you aspire to similar heights, learn more about the contest here:
http:// bulwer-lytton.com

Do You Need the Challenge of a Writing Contest?

Motivation is a mighty interesting thing, and writing contests really illustrate the point.

Will you write for food? A t-shirt? An Amazon gift card? OK. Just remember to read the rules, terms and conditions carefully (if for no other reason than some poor writer labored over them) and if the contest charges an entry fee, read them again. Carefully.

Still rarin' to go? Here, a few contests underway now:

Grate Righter, Bad Speler Contest (No I'm not kidding! This is my favorite!)
Contest closes at 12 AM CST on Sunday, May 29, 2011
http://lifein64squarefeet.com/2011/04/15/the-grate-righter-bad-speler-contest

Soaring Above Essay Contest (Looking for personal accounts re: overcoming obstacles)
Entries due May 31, 2011 
http://www.twinfeatherpublishing.com/contest.asp

Fiction in Five June Contest (750-1,000 words on writing prompt, given upon request)
Entries due June 6, 2011. Entry fees are due June 3. Hmmm.
http://janiewrites.com/writing-contests/a-fiction-in-five-rules

Good luck and haf fun! (I'd love to see your entries for the first contest.)

Short, sweet monthly caption contest

National Wildlife Federation editors post an image each month from the previous year's photo contest. Your mission, if you choose to accept it: write the winning caption. For rules and this month's inspiring photo, visit http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/PhotoZone/Archives/2010/caption-contest-2010-enter.aspx   
- and good luck! 

From National Wildlife Federation - credit Hira U Punjabi

Haiku Contest: Perfect for Teachers - but hurry!

What did you do over summer vacation? Haiku about it! National Wildlife Federation's 'Be Out There' Haiku contest, like summer, is short. The deadline for submissions is August 31.

Entrants must be 18 or older but parents and/or teachers can submit haikus from minors. What a great writing exercise for the first day of school, eh? Find all the details here:

http://online.nwf.org/site/PageNavigator/BeOutThere_HaikuContest_2010      

(More about the haiku form below photo)

Don't worry if you're a bit fuzzy on Haiku form, they're easy to write. Actually, the original Japanese form is quite difficult, but the modern, simplified English version is a snap, consisting of three lines. The first line should contain five syllables, the second will have seven, the last line has five. No need to fuss over rhyme or meter. For the purpose of this contest, that's about all you need to know.

Literary sticklers will point out the Japanese haiku isn't a "short, easy" form of poetry; rather it's a "complex condensed" form.* A work of art, not a formulaic exercise. The key point non-Japanese poets miss is that the haiku is not a poem of 17 syllables, but one made of 17 syllables or less. And there are many other rules! A fundamental one: the haiku should be pure observation - no metaphoric images - and the observation(s) should concern an element of natural beauty. 

Another wrinkle in the American/English version of haiku is that, obviously, the form is designed around the Japanese language. The English translation of 'syllable' is a loose one, intended to describe a sound depicted by a single character, and a line in the Japanese language is not written left-to-right, but top-to-bottom.

None of which should take the fun out of haiku. Or the contest. Enjoy!

* Sagan, M. Unbroken Line: Writing in the Lineage of Poetry, (c) 1999 Sherman Asher Publishing.

Sell your book in 25 words or less

Can you do it? Literary Agent's contest ends Saturday. Great practice!
http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2010/06/one-sentence-summary.html

3-minute inspiration

Writers, NPR is doing you a tremendous favor. All you have to do is come up with a 600-word (or shorter) story, inspired by the picture provided here. Too lazy to enter? You can tickle your muse by reading recent winners and the judges' comments on why those particular stories rose to the top.