Participating in scholarship contests gives high school students practical experience filling out forms, working with deadlines, and completing writing assignments. High School essay contests are available annually from several foundations and organizations. Homeschoolers are generally welcome to participate in essay contests and win scholarships for college.
Rules for National Essay Contests for High School Students
Since there are so many national essay contests for high school students, consider the idea of creating a calendar or notebook for keeping track of the deadlines and entry forms. It's wise to fill out forms online when possible and print a copy for tracking purposes. Quite often, a scholarship contest will announce a theme, then accept entries between certain dates. Mailing or submitting the essay during these dates is important. Essay contests for high school students have strict rules that must be adhered to, in order to win. Aside from writing a winning essay, all of the application requirements must be met in order to be awarded a college scholarship for essay writing.
College Scholarships for Essay Writing Contests
Homeschoolers who enjoy teaching situations that occur in real life tend to favor college scholarships for essay writing contests. Ready-made writing assignments with real-world results are the learning experiences that can shape a child's future. Winning college scholarships by participating in essay contests can give a teens ownership of their future and a sense of responsibility for the outcome of their education.
Finding Writing Contests for Scholarships
Local chambers of commerce often offer annual scholarship contests, as do nonprofit foundations. The VFW, Veterans of Foreign Wars, has a patriotic themed essay contest for students in middle school and above. Contact your community college for resources for finding essay contests. Internet directories list scholarship opportunities for high school writers in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Students who know which college they'd like to attend or which field of study they'd like to specialize in can look toward professional organizations or university scholarship foundations for their essay contests.
As students enter and win, or place highly in essay writing contests, be sure to document and include the information on their college applications, high school transcripts and even resume.
Participation in writing contests allows students to practice meeting deadlines and requires personal organization to keep track of rules, applications, fees and other requirements. Finding and following the rules of various essay writing contests is a practical way to enhance a high school writing curriculum with skills that will serve students in their adult life.
Lisa Russell - Lisa Russell is a freelance writer and mom of six daughters. She blogs about their life at lisarussell.org
