The Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition is an annual opportunity for students to showcase their talents on a global stage, compete to win exclusive educational opportunities and prizes, and explore different possibilities of a future in writing.
The Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition provides a platform for young, ambitious high school students to exercise their writing skills in a non-traditional environment. This competition encourages students to challenge themselves and explore different writing styles to ultimately strengthen their writing skills.
Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition 2024 Details
The Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition (HCGEC) brings together from around the world ambitious high school students (aged 13 – 18) with a passion for, or interest in, writing.
The competition is hosted completely online, breaking down geographical barriers and providing students from all over the world access to explore and develop their writing interests.
2024 Global Prizes are exceptional and include exclusive internships with The Harvard Crimson, the opportunity to have work published and endorsed by two global educational organizations.
Essay competition info
Participants in an essay competition select a prompt from the options provided to showcase their critical thoughts, creative ideas, and written communication skills.
Each competitor will be permitted to submit one essay before the submission closing date.
Each essay will be marked in accordance with the marking rubric and against other competitors in each region and round. The most impressive submissions qualify in the regional round and go head to head in the global final.
To compete in the global round, participants must go head-to-head with local participants and place in the top 10 of the regional qualifiers.
- Australia & New Zealand.
- Central and South America.
- East, South and Southeast Asia.
- Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Russia and Central Asia.
- North America.
WHAT STYLE SHOULD THE ESSAYS BE WRITTEN IN?
HCGEC believes that it’s important to cater to students with different interests, and therefore provides prompts from three different tracks: creative, argumentative (or persuasive), and journalistic. Each participant selects a prompt at the beginning of the competition and will submit a 500-word (max) essay.
Creative
- The year is 2041. AI has led us astray. What has happened?
- What has been the most impactful piece of media you have consumed and why?
- What quote do you live by?
Argumentative
- WHAT SHOULD THE IDEAL VOTING AGE BE?
- Is gene editing ethical?
- It would be a good thing if by the year 2050, half the pregnancies in developed countries occurred through surrogacy. Agree or disagree?
Journalistic
- WHAT IS AN ONGOING TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT THAT IS HELPING SOCIETY ADVANCE?
- Modern journalists primarily chase clicks, scandals, bad news, and public take-downs. What impact does this have on our society?
- What event had the largest impact in your community during the past year?
Who can enter the competition?
The Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition provides a platform for young, ambitious high school students to exercise their writing skills in a non-traditional environment.
Students must be between the ages of 13-18 and currently enrolled in a secondary or high school at the time of the global competition in January 2024 -OR- have not started university studies yet and is under the age of 19.
Essay Competition Entry fee
- Early Bird Registration Fee: US$7.50 until December 15th.
- Regular Registration Fee: US$15 between December 16th – January 19th
Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition 2024 Prizes
- Published work on the official HCGEC website.
- Exclusive internships with The Harvard Crimson.
- Crimson credit with Crimson Education to help reach individual goals.
- Harvard Merch for every global winner!
- Generous cash prizes.
Competition Application Guide
To register you will need:
- Parent permission for anyone under 18 years of age.
- A credit card for the registration fee:
- Early Bird Registration Fee: US$7.50.
- Regular Registration Fee: US$15
- Includes competition entry and access to participant exclusive workshops & recordings.
- An email that is not a school email address.
more information about essay submission and submission examples follows this link.
Essay Competition Deadline
HCGEC 2024 will run from January through February. The competition features two key rounds, the regional qualifiers held throughout 5 regions, followed by the global finals.
- NOVEMBER 30TH, 2023: Early Bird Registrations open.
- DECEMBER 15th 2023: Early Bird Registrations close.
- Jan 31st, 2024: Regular Registrations open.
- 22nd of FEBRUARY 2024: Regional Essay submission deadline
- 20th of March 2024: Global Winners announce
More information following this link.
Competition Website
You can check the essay competition website following this link.
Check other prizes and contests following International Competitions category
