Everything You Need to Know About Knovva’s College Essay Contest

Getting involved in a high school essay contest can help set your college application apart from the competition. Not only do you have the potential to earn scholarship money, you’ll also improve your writing skills and boost your self-confidence. Our EdTech company’s Scholar Search is an essay contest for scholarships that also gives you a chance to get professional feedback and edits on your college essay! In this article, we’ll go over everything you need to know about the essay contest, including how and who’s eligible to apply and common FAQs.

What Is the Knovva Scholar Search?

The Knovva Scholar Search is an annual high school essay contest open to all high schoolers from anywhere in the world. Students in grades nine through 12 can submit their college essay to Knovva’s Scholar Search for a chance to win exciting prizes, including scholarships. The contest is open from November 13, 2022 until January 13, 2023, and allows easy submission through our online portal. Students who submit their essay can expect to receive feedback on March 15, just in time for college admissions.

Important Essay Contest Dates

If you’re a high school student looking for an essay contest for scholarships, you can submit your college essay to the Knovva Scholar Search for a chance to win both professional feedback and scholarship money. Below is the timeline for the contest.

Harvard Summer School

If you’ve ever been curious about what life is like for the typical Harvard student, you can now apply to find out. Summer at Harvard offers intensive, two-week courses intended to give high schoolers a glimpse at life on the iconic Cambridge campus and the typical coursework volume. Harvard summer school is a great opportunity for students considering the university as their top-choice school and wishing to show the admissions office their early interest and commitment as a prospective applicant. The summer program also allows students to develop their own understanding of the famed institution.

November 13: Submissions open

January 13: Evaluations begin

February 15: Winners announced

March 15: College essay feedback sent

What Are the Prizes and How Do I Win?

The best writing contests in 2022 will include a number of prizes and opportunities to excel as a writer, and this one is no exception. Here are the prizes available to the finalists in our high school essay contest:

Especially exciting is the connection you’re bound to build with other students. Since many international high schoolers attend pre-college programs, they will have the opportunity to gain a broader perspective of the world and possibly make lifelong friends!

First place: $1,000 scholarship and feedback on their college essay

Second place: $500 scholarship and feedback on their college essay

Third - 10th place: The top 10 contestants will receive feedback on their college essay

Scoring the essay contest for scholarships and feedback will be based on a number of factors related to the overall quality of the work, including writing style and grammatical correctness. Judges will score each submission anonymously and based on the following rubric:

• Content: 20 points
• Organization: 20 points
• Writing style: 30 points
• Spelling and grammar: 20 points
• Proper use of citation: 10 points

Can I Submit My College Essay?

Submitting your essay is easy! First, access our submission portal through this link and fill in your important information, such as your name and email, so we can contact you if you win.

Fill out all necessary information and scroll down until you get to the bottom section, where you can attach your college essay in a Word document (.doc or .docx) format.

Make sure to choose which essay prompt you would like to use. Please note the choices are either Prompt #1 or Prompt #7 from the Common App.

Prompt #1:

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

Prompt #7:

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Essay Contest Rules

While this essay contest is open to all high schoolers from around the world, we ask that you follow a few rules that will ensure we can get feedback to contestants as quickly as possible.

• Submit your essay in standard U.S. English
• Use standard MLA format for citations if necessary
• Choose from either Prompt #1 or #7 from the Common App
• Submit only one essay per contestant
• Submission must be original work and written by the person submitting

For a full breakdown of the contest rules and eligibility, please click here.

Contest FAQs

As high schoolers get ready for college admissions, they may be wondering how an essay contest can improve their academic profile. Winning an essay contest can earn you scholarship money and other benefits, such as a place in the publication or an award. Before you can get started, familiarizing yourself with the essay rules is the first step to the submission process. Read more for common questions about the Knovva Scholar Search.

Who Is This Contest For?

Any actively enrolled high school student is eligible to submit their college essay for this contest.

How Soon Will I Receive Feedback?

All winning contestants will receive a response on March 15, 2023, through the email address you provided during submission.

What if I Have More Than One College Essay?

Please submit only one college essay. Receiving more than one submission from a student may delay our response. We will only review the first submission we receive.

What if I Want to Respond to a Different Common App Prompt?

We are currently only accepting answers for either Prompt #1 or #7.

Learn More About Knovva Academy

Knovva Academy is the leader in online learning and college readiness, connecting students from around the world with visionary educators and experts in college prep.

Our counselors are here to help you navigate the admissions landscape, from tailored one-on-one sessions to world-class online courses. If you need additional help with your college essay, we also offer online college essay writing courses that will help you succeed.