Writing is one of the most crucial skills for high school students, and if you have a way with words, you should consider participating in essay competitions. They are a great way to showcase your writing skills while winning prizes and boosting your college applications. 

Well, if you are confident in your writing skills, participating in essay competitions can help you gain some recognition. If you are uncertain about how to get started with participating in these competitions, don't worry, as we have put together a list of 10 great essay competitions suitable for high school students. 

1. John Locke Essay Competition

The John Locke Essay Competition is an annual competition hosted by the John Locke Institute, a non-profit educational organization based in Oxford, United Kingdom. The competition invites participants to explore various important questions outside of the school curriculum, which expands their critical thinking and helps develop an understanding of real-world problems. 

Participating in this competition will help you develop the qualities that make great writers: independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis, and persuasive style. You can write an essay in any of the following seven fields, with each having three questions: Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology, and Law. 

If you are interested in learning more about this competition, you can view this comprehensive guide here!

2. Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition

The Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition is an online competition that offers high school students (13-18 years old) who have a passion for writing an opportunity to write a 500-word essay in one of the three fields - creative, argumentative, or journalistic. There will be prompts provided (around three in each) for you to choose from. 

This will be the first round and contested at the regional level. For U.S. students, the region is North America (U.S. and Canada). The top 5 creative, top 5 argumentative, and top 5 journalistic essays from each region will be invited to the Global Final. For this round, each participant will have to further elaborate on their essays from the regional submission for a maximum of 1,500 words. 

The competition is hosted annually by The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper of Harvard University founded in 1873, and Crimson Education. You can refer to the detailed judging criteria here and some useful resources here. You can refer to the 2024 prompts here. 

3. AFSA National High School Essay Contest

The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) contests an annual essay contest for high school students, in which they are invited to write about topics related to foreign services and diplomacy. The contest is run in partnership with the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).

In 2024, the participants were tasked with identifying in a 1,000-1,500-word essay what they believed to be the biggest challenge to face the Foreign Service in the future. The essay was expected to talk about this challenge in detail and clearly define how American diplomats can help mitigate it.

The winner will receive a $2,500 cash prize, an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. with his/her parents, and also earn an all-expenses-paid educational voyage thanks to the Semester at Sea. The runner-up will receive a cash reward of $1,250 as well as a full scholarship to the National Student Leadership Conference's International Diplomacy Program.

Please note that students whose parents are in the Foreign Service are not eligible to participate if they are in grades nine through twelve in the USA. You can check out the resources for the contest here. 

4. Ayn Rand Essay Contests

The Ayn Rand Institute hosts an annual student essay contest based on Ayn Rand’s novels, in which middle school, high school, and even graduate students can participate. This is not a single essay contest but based on three novels by Ayn Rand - Anthem, The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged. 

These contests are designed to help students engage with Rand’s ideas by deeply reading her influential novels. If you decide to participate, you will need to read the selected book carefully, understand its complex themes, and bring the best out of your writing ability. Doing so will give you a deeper appreciation for Rand’s literary works and develop a curiosity for the philosophy underlying them.

You can submit essays in all categories, as long as you meet the eligibility requirements. Essays need to be between 800-1600 words and the annual grand prize is $25,000 cash!

5. High School Essay Contest @ CERCL, Rice University

The Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning (CERCL) at Rice University hosts an annual high school essay contest for generally not represented proportionately in its undergraduate programs. Students can be from economically or socially challenged backgrounds. This contest is only open to sophomores & juniors (with a 3.0 GPA or are in the Top 10% of their class) from Title One high schools within the Houston Independent School District (HISD). 

You are expected to write an essay (500-750 words) on a topic that involves critical thinking and concise writing skills. You will be judged on the complexity of thought, essay structure, execution of the idea, and compliance with the length limitation. All participants get to attend a full-day workshop covering general and college essay writing, an admissions talk, and a tour of the Rice campus. 

Top ten essay writers attend a summer intensive Princeton Review SAT preparation course. The top three essays received The Charlos Ward and Lee M. Riley Awards - First Place: $1000, Second Place: $750, and Third Place: $500. 

6. High School Essay Contest @ Columbia Undergraduate Law Review (CULR)

The Columbia Undergraduate Law Review (CULR), Columbia University’s premier undergraduate legal publication, organizes an essay contest for high school students, excluding recent graduates. The topic for the 2024 competition was - Freedom of Speech and Social Media: The Battle Between Censorship and Misinformation. 

Participants need to submit an essay on the prompt, which changes every year but is related to some burning questions from the field of law. The submission needs to be limited to 1,500 words and should refer to at least one court case or legal document. The winning essay will be published on the CULR website, and the winner and runners-up will be invited to a speaker event hosted by CULR on free speech and social media!

7. SPJ/JEA High School Essay Contest

This contest, sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists and the Journalism Education Association, is designed for students to explore the role of the free press in American society. The prompt for the 2024 competition was - Media literacy is connected to democracy. What are some top strategies to engage people of all ages with media literacy and democracy? Essays should be between 300 and 500 words long. The topic for the 2025 competition will be announced in the fall. 

The first-place winner receives a $1,000 scholarship, second-place receives $500, and third-place receives $300. The competition is accessible to students in grades 9 through 12 in the United States. The registration fee for the competition is $5.

8. Eon Essay Contest on The Precipice

The Eon Essay Contest on The Precipice is an annual essay competition open to middle school, high school, and graduate students. High school students can participate in the 13-18 Age Bracket group, which will have a different topic than that for students aged 19 years and above. To participate, you should read The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity, a 2020 non-fiction book by the Australian philosopher Toby Ord. 

After that, you are required to submit an essay of up to 1,500 words on one of the prompts that will be active during every submission window. In 2024, you had to respond to this prompt - Pick a transformative technology you think will be created someday. Imagine that you are in a position of responsibility for it. How would you approach your job to have the greatest chance of preserving humanity’s potential? What are the risks you face?

The $15,000 first-place winner will be selected from all age groups. $5,000 for second-placed participants in all categories and a $2,000 prize for two participants in each category. We have covered the competition in great detail here.

9. Annual High School Writing Contest @ Rider University

The High School Writing Contest has been running for 43 years and invites high school students to submit either an essay, short story, or a poem. You cannot register directly, and your teacher will have to nominate you for the tournament and verify that the submission is an original piece of work from the participating student. 

For the essay writing category, the rules are flexible because, unlike other competitions on this list, you can write a creative nonfiction essay on a topic of your choice. It should be no more than five double-spaced, typed pages. The winner in each category receives a $100 prize, while all finalists will receive a Certificate of Honorable Mention.

10. High School Essay Competition: Princeton Legal Journal

The Princeton Legal Journal (PLJ) is Princeton University's only student-run law review and conducts an annual high school essay competition. The contest provides opportunities for students to explore their own legal interests and to develop their personal editing and writing skills. If you are interested in a career in law and policy, having a participation certificate from this contest will be a huge boost to your resume. 

While there is no prize money for winners, the top three essays are published on the PLJ’s website, and 3-4 essays also receive honorable mentions on the website. The PLJ was established in 2021 and has conducted two essay competitions thus far. The topic for the 2023 competition was - Emerging Issues in Law and Technology and The First Amendment in Public Life for the 2024 competition. 

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