25 Writing Competitions for High School Students in 2025

What’s Covered:

• Why Should You Enter a Writing Competition?
• Writing Competitions for High School Students
• How Do Writing Competitions Affect My Admissions Chances?

 

Do you dream of writing the next great American novel? Are you passionate about poetry? Do you aspire to become a screenwriter? No matter what genre of writing you’re interested in—whether it’s fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or something else entirely—there’s a writing competition focused on it.

 

Writing competitions provide great motivation to put pen to paper (or finger to key). Moreover, they’re an excellent step toward getting published and can ultimately start you on the path to becoming a professional writer.

 

Why Should You Enter a Writing Competition?

 

One of the best ways to improve your writing is simply to write, and competitions provide an excellent impetus to do so. Writing competitions also serve as an introduction to what life is like for many writers; participants entering writing competitions will receive a prompt or must think of an original idea, compose a piece of work, and submit it for review.

 

Another benefit of entering a writing competition for high schoolers is that many offer cash awards and scholarships, which can be used to help with the costs of college. Additionally, many writing competitions are run by colleges and universities, so submitting to them is a great way to introduce yourself and your work to faculty. If you win an award—especially a prestigious award—it can significantly improve your odds of college acceptance.

 

Writing Competitions for High School Students

 

1. The Adroit Prizes for Poetry and Prose

 

Type: Poetry and Prose

Submission Fee: $15

Prize: $200

Deadline: May 1

Eligibility: All secondary and undergraduate students

Guidelines:

• Each student may send up to five total submissions across the genres of poetry and prose
• Each poetry submission may include up to five poems (maximum of ten pages, single-spaced)
• Each prose submission may include up to three works of fiction or creative nonfiction (combined 3,500 word limit; excerpts are acceptable)

 

Adroit Prizes are awarded to emerging high school and college writers in two categories: poetry and prose. Winning pieces are considered for publication in the Adroit Journal, and winners receive an award of $200.

 

2. Ten-Minute Play Contest

 

Type: Plays

Submission Fee: N/A

Prize: $100-$500

Deadline: N/A

Eligibility: Students in 11th grade in the U.S. (or international equivalent of 11th grade)

Guidelines: Applicants may submit only one play (10 pages maximum)

 

The Ten-Minute Play Contest is put on by Princeton University’s Lewis Center of the Arts. Applicants are allowed to submit one play that is no longer than 10 pages. The contest closes once 250 entries are received, so enter your submission early!

 

3. Ayn Rand Anthem Essay Contests

 

Type: Essays

Submission Fee: N/A

Prizes: $2,000

Deadline: N/A

Eligibility: All middle and high school students

Guidelines: Essays must be written in English only and be between 600 and 1,200 words in length, double-spaced

 

In this essay competition, students pick one of three prompts about a topic related to Ayn Rand’s book, Anthem, and write an essay that goes through three stages of grading. Students are graded on their clarity, organization, understanding, and ability to stay on topic.

 

4. Ayn Rand The Fountainhead Essay Contests

 

Type: Essays

Submission Fee: N/A

Prizes: $25,000

Deadline: N/A

Eligibility: All middle and high school students

Guidelines: Essays must be written in English only and be between 800 and 1,600 words in length, double-spaced

 

Participants in this essay contest are encouraged to engage with the ideas presented in Ayn Rand’s book, The Fountainhead. The contest aims to push students to have a deeper appreciation for Rand’s writing and develop a deeper curiosity for the philosophical themes underlying them.

 

5. Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest

 

Type: Essays

Submission Fee: N/A

Prize: $25,000

Deadline: N/A

Eligibility: Open to all high school, undergraduate, and graduate students worldwide

Guidelines: Essays must be written in English and be between 800 and 1,600 words in length, double-spaced

 

This essay competition challenges to explore Ayn Rand’s iconic tome, the 1,072-page Atlas Shrugged. Prompts change seasonally—summer, fall, and winter—with the authors of the three top essays each season awarded a cash prize. The first-place essay from each season can contend for the $25,000 grand prize. 

 

Winning essays show a deep understanding of the philosophical meaning of Atlas Shrugged and demonstrate organized, clear, and articulate writing.  

 

6. Leonard L. Milberg ’53 High School Poetry Prize

 

Type: Poetry

Submission Fee: N/A

Prize: $500-$1,500

Deadline: N/A

Eligibility: Students must be in 11th grade in the U.S. or abroad

Guidelines: Applicants may submit up to 3 poems

 

The Leonard L. Milberg ’53 High School Poetry Prize is another contest run by Princeton University’s Lewis Center of the Arts. Winners are chosen by judges who are both poets and members of Princeton University’s creative writing faculty. Three monetary awards are available.

 

7. World Historian Student Essay Competition

 

Type: Essays

Submission Fee: N/A

Prize: $500

Deadline: May 1

Eligibility: Students enrolled in grades K–12 in public, private, and parochial schools, and those in home-study programs

Guidelines: Essays should be approximately 1,000 words

 

Winners of this competition receive a $500 prize along with a free yearlong membership to the World History Association. To apply, you must submit an approximately 1,000-word essay responding to the following prompt:

 

Submit an essay that addresses the following topic and discusses how it relates to you personally and to World History: Your view of a family story related to a historical event or your personal family cultural background, or an issue of personal relevance or specific regional history/knowledge.

 

8. Jane Austen Society of North America Essay Contest

 

Type: Essays

Submission Fee: N/A

Prize: $250-$1,000

Deadline: June 2

Eligibility: Open to high school, undergraduate, and graduate students

Guidelines:

• Must be submitted by the student through the official Essay Contest Submission website
• Entries may include a statement about the student’s mentor; however, a mentor statement is not required
• The essay must be six to eight pages in length, not including the Works Cited page
• The essay must use MLA documentation, including a Works Cited page and parenthetical citations in the body of the text
  • Use endnotes only for substantive notes
  • Source material that is directly quoted, paraphrased, or summarized must be cited
  • Quotations from the Jane Austen work under discussion should be cited as well

 

The Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) Essay Contest is an annual writing competition aimed at fostering an appreciation for its namesake’s work. The contest is broken down into three divisions: high school, college/university, and graduate school.

 

First-place winners are awarded a $1,000 prize along with free registration and lodging for two nights at JASNA’s Annual General Meeting. Smaller monetary awards are also given to second- and third-place essayists.

 

This year’s essay topic:

 

“No check to my genius from beginning to end,” a joking remark from one of her letters. This has suggested the prompt for our contest this year, which is to choose something Austen has used in her novels—a particular word, a recurring situation or motif, perhaps a physical object, symbol or activity—and then choose two scenes (they may be from the same novel or different ones) where she employs the chosen “something” in contrasting or complementary ways. Explain the different roles it plays and why Austen uses them as she does. What point is she trying to make? Does she succeed? In conclusion, explain what prompted your choice.

 

9. Bennington College Young Writers Awards

 

Type: Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction

Submission Fee: Free

Prize: $250-$1,000

Deadline: November 1

Eligibility: Students in grades 9-12

Guidelines:

• Poetry: A group of three poems
• Fiction: A short story (1,500 words or fewer)
• Nonfiction: A personal or academic essay (1,500 words or fewer)

 

Bennington College has a strong history of developing writers—it has produced twelve Pulitzer Prize winners, three U.S. poet laureates, and countless New York Times bestsellers—and the Bennington College Young Writers Awards celebrate this legacy.

 

In addition to offering cash awards to winners and finalists in all three categories, winners and finalists who apply and are accepted to Bennington College are also eligible for substantial scholarships.

 

10. Rachel Carson Intergenerational Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild Contest

 

Type: Poetry and Essays

Submission Fee: N/A

Prize: N/A

Deadline: November 16

Eligibility:

• You are required to have a team of 2 or more people
• The team must be intergenerational

Guidelines: Maximum length of 500 words (approximately 2 pages)

 

This unique writing competition requires that entries be submitted by a team of two people from different generations—for example, a high school student and a teacher. Contestants can compete in a number of categories and themes, each with unique submission requirements.

 

11. John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Contest

 

Type: Essays

Submission Fee: N/A

Prize: $100-$10,000

Deadline: January 17

Eligibility: Open to United States high school students in grades 9-12, U.S. students under the age of 20 enrolled in a high school correspondence/GED program, and U.S. citizens attending schools overseas

Guidelines:

• Essays can be no more than 1,000 words but must be a minimum of 700 words
  • Citations and bibliography are not included in the word count
• Essays must have a minimum of five sources

 

The prestigious John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Contest is one of the most recognizable and prestigious writing competitions for high schoolers in the nation. Essays for the contest are required to describe an act of political courage by a U.S. elected official who served during or after 1917. The first-place winner of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Contest takes home a $10,000 award, and the second-place winner receives a $3,000 prize.

 

12. YoungArts National Writing Competition

 

Type: Fiction, Nonfiction, Plays, Scripts, Poetry, and Spoken Word

Submission Fee: N/A

Prize: $250-$10,000

Deadline: Opens in July

Eligibility: In grades 10 through 12 or ages 15 to 18

Guidelines: N/A

 

YoungArts supports talented young artists between the ages of 15 and 18 (or grades 10-12) in 10 disciplines, including writing. Applicants can submit entries in six genres: creative nonfiction, novel, play or script, poetry, short story, and spoken word.

 

13. SPJ/JEA High School Essay Contest

 

Type: Essays

Submission Fee: $5

Prize: $300-$1,000

Deadline: February 19

Eligibility: All students enrolled in grades 9-12 in public, private, and home schools within the United States

Guidelines:

• The essay should be 300-500 words
• Entries may be typed or handwritten, but must be double-spaced

 

This high school writing contest is presented by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the Journalism Education Association (JEA) to increase awareness of the importance of independent media.

 

This year’s prompt is: What is the biggest challenge journalists face today, and how might they overcome it?

 

14. VSA Playwright Discovery Program Competitions

 

Type: Plays

Submission Fee: N/A

Prize: $1,000

Deadline: N/A

Eligibility: High school students with disabilities

Guidelines:

• 10-minute script
• Entries may be the work of an individual student or a collaboration between two students that includes at least one student with a disability

 

This writing competition, presented by the Kennedy Center, is open to students ages 14-19 (or enrolled in high school) with disabilities. Writers may submit a 10-minute script in any genre, including plays, musicals, multimedia, video, film, TV, and podcasts.

 

Entries can be the work of an individual or the product of collaboration—provided that at least one of the collaborators has a disability. Multiple winners are chosen and given the chance to work with industry professionals, attend Kennedy Center professional development activities, and participate in networking opportunities.

 

15. Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest

 

Type: Poetry

Submission Fee: N/A

Prize: $350

Deadline: N/A

Eligibility: Women who are sophomores or juniors in high school

Guidelines: No more than two poems by any one student may be submitted

 

For more than six decades, the Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest has provided recognition, scholarships, and awards to the best female high school sophomore and junior poets. Submissions are reviewed by faculty members of Hollins University’s creative writing program and students enrolled in its M.F.A. in creative writing.

 

The first-place winner receives a $350 cash prize, a renewable $5,000 scholarship to Hollins University if they choose to enroll there, as well as free tuition and housing at the university’s Hollinsummer creative writing program. Their winning work is also published in Cargoes, the university’s student literary magazine.

 

16. Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

 

Type: Various

Submission Fee: $10 for individual entry, $30 for portfolio (can use Fee Waiver Form)

Prize: Varies

Deadline: N/A

Eligibility: Teens in grades 7–12 (ages 13 and up)

Guidelines: Varies by category

 

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens. They offer 28 submission categories, including critical essay, dramatic scripts, flash fiction, journalism, humor, novel writing, personal essay and memoir, poetry, science fiction and fantasy, and short story.

 

Works are judged by famous jurors who look for works that show originality, skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. Students can earn a variety of scholarships through success in these competitions.

 

Works that celebrate individual differences or personal grief, loss, and bereavement are eligible for $2,500 scholarships. High school seniors submitting winning portfolios of six works are eligible for up to $12,500 in scholarships.

 

17. Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Contest

 

Type: Creative Writing and Poetry

Submission Fee: N/A

Prize: $100-$1,500

Deadline: June 9

Eligibility:

• Students ages 11-18 from around the world
  • Junior Division: Ages 11-14
  • Senior Division: Ages 15-18
• Students can participate as individuals or as clubs, classes, or groups of any size
• All students must provide the contact information for an Adult Sponsor (teacher, parent, mentor, etc.)

Guidelines:

• Creative Writing
  • Junior Division: No more than 3 pages (approximately 750 words)
  • Senior Division: No more than 5 pages (approximately 1,250 words)
• Poetry
  • Junior Division: No more than 1 page
  • Senior Division: No more than 2 pages
• A written reflection is required to accompany your submission, regardless of category—it is like the introduction to a book or an artist’s statement in a museum

 

The annual Ocean Awareness Contest is a platform for young people to learn about environmental issues through art-making and creative communication, explore their relationship to a changing world, and become advocates for positive change. Students can participate in seven different categories, including poetry and spoken word, and creative writing.

 

This year’s prompt encourages participants to explore the natural world and their place in it:

 

We invite you to think about your unique connection to nature and how being outside makes you feel. There are so many different ways that you can connect to nature, whether that’s exploring the history of the land you live on, volunteering in the fight against climate change, or taking a restorative walk in your local park. Go through the sub-themes and explore the topics that resonate with you. Share your relationship with the natural world through art, writing, performance, film, or multimedia. What is your connection to nature?

 

18. John Locke Global Essay Competition

 

Type: Essays

Submission Fee: N/A (unless late entry)

Prize: $2,000-$10,000 toward attending any John Locke Institute program

Deadline: June 30 (must register by May 31)

Eligibility: Candidates must be no older than 18 years old on June 30 (candidates for the Junior Prize must be no older than 14 on the same date)

Guidelines: Each essay must address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category, and must not exceed 2,000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, footnotes, bibliography, or authorship declaration)

 

Students competing in this competition have the opportunity to write an essay in one of seven categories: philosophy, politics, economics, history, psychology, theology, and law. Each category has three prompts, from which students choose and respond to one.

 

Essays are judged on knowledge and understanding of the relevant material, the competent use of evidence, quality of argumentation, originality, structure, writing style, and persuasive force.

 

19. AFSA National High School Essay Contest

 

Type: Essays

Submission Fee: N/A

Prize: $1,250-$2,500

Deadline: March 1

Eligibility:

• Students whose parents are not in the Foreign Service are eligible to participate
• Students must be in grades 9-12 in any of the 50 states, Washington, D.C, the U.S. territories, or—if they are U.S. citizens/lawful permanent residents—attending high school overseas

Guidelines: Your essay should be at least 1,000 words but should not exceed 1,500 words (word count does not apply to the list of sources)

 

The AFSA Essay Contest focuses on knowledge of foreign policy and the American Foreign Service. This year’s prompt is:

 

Drawing in part from The Foreign Service Journal’s 40th anniversary coverage of the end of the Vietnam war, critically assess what you believe to be the most significant effects of the Foreign Service’s work during the Vietnam War on contemporary U.S. diplomacy.

 

The first-place winner receives $2,500, a paid trip to the nation’s capital with a parent and teacher, and all-expenses-paid educational voyage courtesy of Semester at Sea. The runner-up wins $1,250 and full tuition to attend a summer session of the National Student Leadership Conference’s International Diplomacy program.

 

20. EngineerGirl Writing Contest

 

Type: Essays

Submission Fee: N/A

Prize: $500-$1,000

Deadline: February 1

Eligibility:

• Elementary School Students: Grades 3-5
• Middle School Students: Grades 6-8
• High School Students: Grades 9-12

Guidelines:

• High school student essays must be no more than 1,200 words
• You must also include a reference list of up to 8 resources

 

In this competition, students must respond to the following prompt:

 

Describe a common object you would make “smart.” Tell us what it would do, how it would help people, and what could go wrong.

 

“Smart” objects are electronic devices that perform some level of computing, and they connect with other devices via the internet. These devices create all sorts of new possibilities for ways that the objects in your home can help you, but that means they also come with new risks.

 

Imagine an object you wish to make smart—a household appliance, a toy, a piece of furniture, or other technology. Think about the information your smart device would need to function and consider risks or problems you might encounter by making your object smart.

 

Students are judged based on their presentation and examples of engineering (~50%), their perspectives considered (~35%), and their quality of writing (~15%).

 

21. The Blank Theatre Young Playwrights Festival (YPF)

 

Type: Plays

Submission Fee: Free

Prize: Play is produced

Deadline: March 15

Eligibility: Playwrights must be 19 years old or younger as of March 15; co-authored plays are welcome, provided all authors are 19 or younger

Guidelines:

• Original plays or musicals of any length or genre and on any subject
• Up to three plays per playwright or team

 

While winners of this theater competition do not receive a cash prize, they have the unique opportunity to be mentored by leaders in the field, and then have their play directed and performed by professional artists during the following summer.

 

22. Saint Mary’s College of California River of Words Contest

 

Type: Poetry and Arts

Submission Fee: Free

Prize: N/A

Deadline: January 31

Eligibility:

• The contest is open to K-12 students, ages 5-19
• Students must be enrolled in school to be eligible

Guidelines:

• Participants may submit up to 5 entries for poetry and 5 entries for art (total of up to 10 entries)
• Poems should not exceed 32 lines in length
• Collaborative poems and artwork are accepted, but only one student (chosen as the group representative) will be eligible for any prizes awarded

 

The River of Words contest aims to promote environmental literacy through the exchange of arts and culture. River of Words has been inspiring educators and students through this competition for over 25 years.

 

The goal of River of Words is to connect youth with their watersheds—the environments they live in—through engagement with art and poetry related to the idea of “place.” They look for art and poetry that shows the connection between students and the world around them.

 

23. Writopia Lab’s Worldwide Plays Festival

 

Type: Plays

Submission Fee: N/A

Prize: Play is produced

Deadline: March 14

Eligibility: Playwrights ages 6 to 18

Guidelines:

• 10 minutes maximum
• Any genre or style
• Maximum 3 actors
• There can be no narrator of the play who is not emotionally invested in the story
• Students must incorporate at utilize lighting

 

Since 2010, Writopia Lab has been producing, designing, and directing one-act plays submitted by young playwrights. These winning plays are then performed by New York City theater professionals. The contest looks for playwrights who embody fearlessness and imagination. Writopia Lab says, “Write deeply! Write fiercely! Write politically and personally! And don’t be afraid to write with a sense of play—they are called plays, after all.”

 

24. The New York Times Opinion Writing Contest

 

Type: Letters

Submission Fee: N/A

Prize: Letter is published

Deadline: April 16

Eligibility: Middle and high school students ages 13 to 19

Guidelines:

• 500 words or less (title and sources are not factored into word count)
• Include a short artist statement with your submission

 

This writing contest, presented by The New York Times, challenges students to call attention to an issue or problem and prompt action on it—think of Martin Luther King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail.  Letters can be addressed to an individual or a metonym, like Washington or Silicon Valley. They can also address what you care about—whether it’s a small local issue or a global problem.

 

Letters should inform readers with evidence from at least two sources, with one source being The New York Times.

 

25. Norm Strung Student Writing Contest

 

Type: Prose

Submission Fee: Free

Prize: $50-$200

Deadline: January 31

Eligibility: Grades 11 and 12

Guidelines: Prose writing between 500-1,000 words

 

The Norm Strung Student Writing Contest is sponsored by the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) and rewards up-and-coming outdoor writers. Submissions can be in any form of prose and should have an outdoor theme—for example, nature, ecology, hiking, camping, biking, surfing, boating, canoeing, fishing, or hunting. Writing about organized athletics—like baseball or football—is not eligible.

 

In addition to monetary awards, winners also receive a OWAA student membership and have their work published in the OWAA’s magazine, Outdoor Unlimited.

 

How Do Writing Competitions Affect My Admissions Chances?

 

While we can’t know exactly how activities outside of the classroom will affect your college admissions odds, the 4 Tiers of Extracurricular Activities provide a helpful framework for understanding how colleges view your extracurriculars.

 

Extracurricular activities in Tiers 1 and 2 are reserved for the most exclusive and acclaimed awards, and can significantly improve your odds of college admission. By contrast, Tiers 3 and 4 are reserved for more common extracurriculars, and have less of an impact on your chances of college admission.

 

For example, if you place in a nationally renowned writing competition—a Tier 2 activity—this will positively affect your admissions chances. On the other hand, if you receive an honorable mention in your high school’s poetry contest—a Tier 4 activity—your admissions chances will not be significantly affected.

 

That said, if you are applying to an English Literature or Creative Writing program with a well-developed essay and recommendations that emphasize your commitment to language, participation in Tier 3 and 4 writing competitions could help admissions officers conceptualize your passion for your future career.

 

Curious how the writing competition you participated in will affect your college admission chances? CollegeVine can help! Our free chancing calculator uses a variety of factors—including grades, test scores, and extracurriculars—to estimate your odds of getting into hundreds of colleges and universities, while also providing insight into how to improve your profile.