Essay Writing - Virtual

Rules & Guidelines

• Contestants must have access to a laptop with Zoom to participate in both rounds.  Parents should not be present during the written round. 

• Round 1 - Written Round: There is only one round in this contest. Contestants will have forty minutes to plan, write, review, and submit an essay on the given topic. Sample topics are provided for practice. If an essay is not submitted, the contestant will be disqualified.

  • Essays must be typed into a form on contest day. ​Contestants are encouraged to practice typing essays on notes, google docs, word, or other platforms before test day.  

  • During the contest, a proctor will be present to monitor the contestants. The proctor will also keep track of time and notify contestants at the beginning of the 40 minutes, when 20 minutes are remaining, and when there are five minutes left. 

  • Essays will not be returned to contestants.

  • Graders will look for the following in the contestants' essays: focus / purpose / main idea, supporting details / development of main idea, structure / organization, tone, mood, point of view, grammar or spelling errors, and vocabulary / word usage. 

• Disqualification / Consequences: As with any event, we ask that you are honest. Anyone suspected of cheating will be disqualified and will not be allowed to compete in any future events. 
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