2024 Essay Contest
$500 Short Essay Contest
The Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at the George Washington University invites undergraduate students to take part in our third annual short (500 word) essay contest.
This contest is open to all undergraduate students in good academic standing who will be enrolled at GW in Spring 2024.
Essays will be judged by PBK faculty members and a first prize ($500) and second prize ($300) will be awarded.
Choose one of the prompts below and tell us a story. Make it interesting and detailed but keep it to a maximum of 500 words!
1) Why is a liberal arts education of value to you, personally?
2) What's the most surprising thing you've learned at GW, something you'll carry with you the rest of your life?
3) What's something that you learned in one course/department but have applied in others?
4) What's an insight you gained outside of GW (maybe through service learning, an internship, or a research project) that you brought into your academic work at GW?
5) If you could design a new department or program at GW, what would it be? What could you do as a student in that program that you can't already do at GW?
Submission Deadline: April 8th, 2024 @ 23:59 (EST)
2024 GW PBK Essay Contest Official Rules:
Submission: Essays must be submitted online. If you have questions or difficulties, please contact [email protected], but please note that submissions will not be accepted via email. Only one submission per student will be accepted and only essays addressing one of the 5 provided prompts will be considered. The link to the submission form is:
SUBMIT YOUR ESSAY HERE (this is a Google Form link)
Eligibility: Submissions are open to all undergraduate students who are in good academic standing and who will be enrolled (either full time or part time) at GW in Spring 2024. Graduate students are not eligible.
Length: Essays should not exceed 500 words.
Original Work: Submissions are expected to abide by GW's Academic Integrity policy and each essay must be the author’s original work.
Judging Criteria: Essays will be judged by faculty members of the Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at the George Washington University. Essays will be judged based on both content and style, with an eye towards essays that illustrate the power and importance of a liberal arts education.
Award: The awards are provided in the form of cash gift cards.
Deadline: Submissions must be received by 23:59 EST on April 8, 2024.