Entry Requirements

Registration

Only candidates who register before the registration deadline of March 1st, 2024 may enter this year's competition. Entry is free for on-time applications, as we want to ensure the greatest access to our competition! There is a late registration fee of $15 USD, and a late submission fee of $15 USD.

Submission

The final late submission deadline is June 1st, 2024. Candidates must be eighteen years old, or younger, on that date. Candidates can be from any country.

The filename of your pdf must be in this format: FirstName-LastName-Category-QuestionNumber.pdf; so, for instance, Joshua Towers would submit his answer to question 2 in the Psychology category with the following file name: Joshua-Towers-Psychology-2.pdf

Candidates should NOT add footnotes. They may, however, add endnotes and/or a Bibliography that is clearly titled as such. APA or Chicaco-Turabian are acceptable citation styles.

Assessment

Our evaluation system is confidential, and participants may be required to discuss their submission with a faculty member. To ensure academic integrity, we employ various methods to detect plagiarism, contract cheating, artificial intelligence usage, and other forms of fraud, and our decisions in such cases are definitive.

Essays will be assessed based on their grasp of relevant material, skillful utilization of evidence, the strength of argumentation, originality, coherent structure, writing style, and persuasive impact, with a focus on essays that have the potential to influence perspectives. Essays that overlook or neglect to address the most robust objections and counter-arguments are less likely to succeed.

Candidates are advised to respond to the prompt with precision and directness, providing accurate and focused answers.

Results

The writers of the top three essays for each category will receive a commendation and be shortlisted for a prize. The awards will be given for bronze, silver, and gold, gold, in addition to our award for the most outstanding essay of all categories. Writers of shortlisted essays will be notified by 11.59 pm BST on 15 July, 2024.

All short-listed candidates, including prize-winners, will be able to download certificates that specify their achievement.

Prizes

The Burr-Hamilton Competition offers a prize for the most outstanding essay out of all the categories. First prize for the most outstanding essay submitted to our competition will be granted a scholarship valued at US$5000, and the student's essay will be featured on the website for the National Burr-Hamilton Essay Competition. Winners will also receive a certificate from our organization!

Please note that the judges' decisions are definitive, and there will be no further correspondence on the matter.

Key Dates

Registration opens: 1 November, 2023.

Registration deadline: 1 March, 2024.

Early submission deadline: 1 May, 2024.

Final late submission deadline: 1 June, 2024.

Notification of short-listed essayists: TBD

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