harvard essay competition regions

COMPETITIONS & Programs

Develop your critical thinking and communication skills while having your work recognized by one of the world's most prominent collegiate newspapers., december 2023 - june 2024, grow your vision.

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About:   Calling all entrepreneurs! We are excited to announce the launch of our newest competition in partnership with Asdan China. This startup-style contest is tailor-made to cultivate the next generation of problem solvers. Participants will engage in two rigorous rounds—a preliminary round (virtual submissions) followed by a thrilling championship round held in-person at The Crimson. Those who qualify for the Championship Round will have an opportunity to be mentored by industry professionals and members of The Harvard Crimson's esteemed business board, offering a platform to test and refine one’s business acumen.

For more information and to submit by the April 6th deadline, explore below:

HARVARD Crimson Business Competition

January - march 2024.

About:  The Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition brings together ambitious high school students from around the world with an interest in writing. This competition is an annual opportunity for students to showcase their talents on a global stage, compete to win exclusive educational opportunities and prizes, and explore different possibilities of a future in writing.

Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition

Coming soon.

About:  Recently launched in the winter of 2023 in our continued partnership with Crimson Education, the Harvard Crimson Global Case Competition unites high school students across the world the opportunity to step into the shoes of a CEO and help a top global business tackle its challenges. In this immersive case-style competition, participants are presented with a real-world business challenge, and are tasked with creating innovative solutions impact recommendations.

Harvard Crimson Business Case Competition

About:  Over the course of 8 weeks, students have the incredible opportunity to learn directly from a professional in the journalism industry. This virtual series unfolds in two phases: during the first four weeks, students are led by the guest professional, followed by one-on-one mentorships with one of The Crimson’s esteemed writers to conclude the series.

HS2 Winter Internship        Program

Past competitions & programs, spring 2023.

About:  As the nation's oldest continuously published collegiate newspaper, The Crimson's newsroom has been a transformative experience for generations of young journalists. Through this competition, we hope to inspire high schoolers of all experience levels to develop their research and writing skills in the same way.

Participants will receive access to The Crimson's robust network of alumni in these fields, while winners will be invited to take an internship on The Crimson's summer 2024 content  team.

HARVARD Crimson Journalism Competition

Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition 2024

Types: Submission, Tournament

Scope: International

Registration

Entry Fee: $15

[email protected]

Participate

This competition encourages students to challenge themselves and explore different writing styles to ultimately strengthen their writing skills. Hone written communication skills and challenge yourself with university-style guidelines, while in high school.

The registration fee is US$15 per student and must be paid upon registration but can get 33% off with code: AMB336

Each participant is invited to attend best-in-class bootcamps, explore careers in writing, and compete for exclusive opportunities and global recognition!

• APAC (East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania)
• Europe, Russia, and Central Asia
• Middle East, North Africa, Central and South Africa
• LATAM (South America, Central America, Mexico, and the islands of the Caribbean)
• North America

Website: https://www.essaycomp.org/

Managing Organization: Harvard Crimson

Contact: [email protected]

Eligibility: Students between the ages of 13-18, in the 8th - 12th grade

Registration Opens: December 1, 2023

Registration Closes: February 7, 2024

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON GLOBAL ESSAY COMPETITION

THE HARVARD CRIMSON AND CRIMSON EDUCATION

Sponsoring Institution:  The Harvard Crimson and Crimson Education

Type: Essay Contest

Eligibility: 13 -18 year olds (from anywhere) enrolled in a secondary institution

Application Deadline:  Mid February

Highlight:  Are you a current high school student who’s passionate about writing and wants to get their work evaluated by The Harvard Crimson? Then try your hand at participating in The Harvard Crimson Global Essay Contest ! This essay contest encourages high school students (13-18) from all around the globe to compete for various opportunities and prizes that could change their writing career forever. Since this essay contest is completely virtual , there are practically zero barriers stopping you from entering this essay contest. You might be wondering what type of prompts you need to write about in The Harvard Crimson’s essay contest. Well, every year, there are two different prompt tracks following either a creative or persuasive theme. There are typically 10 different prompts for the contestants to write about. The prizes for this essay contest are the same for both creative and persuasive tracks. The first, second, and third place winners receive an internship with The Harvard Crimson, a recommendation letter, and Harvard merchandise. In addition they will receive $1000, $750, and $500 in cash and Crimson Mentorship credit. To qualify for The English Learner prize of $100 and Harvard “merch”, you cannot come from an English speaking family, or have social interactions that are primarily in English, or have completed any period of schooling where English is the primary language. Additional awards include the 50 regional awards distributed across 5 global regions which feature a $25 Amazon gift card and a Regional Finalist Certificate. Just and fyi: you are able to submit previously written essays to this essay contest given that they’re under 500 words long and were written by you. There are multiple webinars and exclusive workshops presented by The Harvard Crimson to help you get started…so, perks galore!!! With all that this global essay contest offers… for free…it’s hard to resist applying to Harvard!

It is our anual free funding event for high schoolers from all over the world

HIR Academic Writing Contest

The Harvard International Review is a quarterly magazine offering insight on international affairs from the perspectives of scholars, leaders, and policymakers. Since our founding in 1979, we've set out to bridge the worlds of academia and policy through outstanding writing and editorial selection.

The quality of our content is unparalleled. Each issue of the Harvard International Review includes exclusive interviews and editorials by leading international figures along with expert staff analysis of critical international issues. We have featured commentary by 43 Presidents and Prime Ministers, 4 Secretaries-General, 4 Nobel Economics Prize laureates, and 7 Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

The Contest

Inspired by our growing high school readership around the world, we have run the Harvard International Review Academic Writing Contest since 2020 to encourage and highlight outstanding high school writing on topics related to international affairs.

Contest Format

Participants in the contest submit a short-form article on a topic in international affairs. Each submission will be read and scored by the Harvard International Review .

A number of contestants will be selected as finalists, who are invited to participate in a virtual HIR Defense Day. At the Defense Day, students will have the opportunity to give a 15-minute presentation and oral defense to Harvard International Review judges.

Submission Guidelines

All submissions must adhere to the following requirements, as outlined in the Submission Guide below.

Participants will have a choice of two different themes and must note which prompt they have chosen at the top of their submissions.

Theme A: Inequalities in a VUCA World

Theme B: Global Challenges and Collective Actions

Contestants may choose either topic above when writing the article.

Content: Articles should address a topic related to international affairs today. Potential categories include (but are not limited to): Agriculture, Business, Cybersecurity, Defense, Education, Employment & Immigration, Energy & Environment, Finance & Economy, Public Health, Science & Technology, Space, Trade, and Transportation. Articles should examine the theme from a global perspective rather than focusing on the United States.

Length: Articles should be at least 800 words but not exceed 1,200 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, or authorship declaration).

Writing Style: Submissions should present an analytically backed perspective on an under-appreciated global topic.  

AI Policy : The usage of ChatGPT is prohibited. Judges will be running all articles through multiple AI checkers, and articles that receive high AI generation scores across multiple checkers will be disqualified.

Excellent contest submissions will aim to present a topic holistically from a balanced perspective. Evidence and nuance are critical. Submissions should be well-researched, well-informed, and formal in style and prose.

The HIR does not accept op-eds , otherwise known as editorials or opinion pieces for its competition. Articles are expected to have a thesis but should not have an agenda. Submissions should also not be merely a collection of facts.

As a journalist organization, we ask that submissions follow AP Style's newest edition . We also ask that submissions are culturally sensitive, fact-checked, and respectful.

Examples of pieces that would be considered excellent submissions are below.

Citation and Sources : All factual claims must be backed by a citation from a reliable source. All ideas that are not your own must be properly attributed. Citations should be made via hyperlinks. Non-digital sources are welcome but must be cited properly as per AP Style . See the examples above for examples of using hyperlinks for citations.

Click Here: Submission Guide

Contest dates.

There are three distinct submission cycles for the 2024 Contest.

Please note that contestants are requested to register and pay before becoming eligible to submit their articles prior to the submission deadline.  

Admissions are done on a rolling basis! Capacity is limited.

Spring 2024

Article Submission Deadline: May 31, 2024

HIR Defense Day: June 29, 2024

Summer 2024

Article Submission Deadline: August 31, 2024

HIR Defense Day: October 5, 2024

Fall 2024 / Winter 2024

Article Submission Deadline: January 2, 2025

HIR Defense Day: February 5, 2025

Contest Prizes

All submissions will receive a score from the Harvard International Review based on the Evaluation Rubric described in the Submission Guide. Contestants that receive a passing score without qualifying for a HIR Defense Day will receive individual prizes. Finalists will be eligible for the following Gold/Silver/Bronze medals based on their scores and performance in the HIR Defense Day.

Commendation Prize: HIR Certificate

Outstanding Writing Content / Style Prize : HIR Certificate

High Commendation Prize : HIR Certificate

Bronze Medal : HIR Certificate and name listed on website (global top 20 percent)

Silver Medal: HIR Certificate and name listed on website (global top 10 percent)

Gold Medal: HIR Certificate and name listed on website (global top three percent)

All scoring and prize decisions are final. The contest will not be able to provide additional detail beyond the scores provided by HIR graders. All contestants who manage to submit their articles will receive a certificate of completion.

Contest Eligibility:

United States

Students are eligible if they are in grades nine through twelve in any of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories, or if they are U.S. citizens/lawful permanent residents attending high school overseas.

International

Students in countries outside of the United States (grades 9-12) are also welcome to submit. Submissions are expected to be written in English and with traditional American spelling. For more information on submissions in your country, please contact [email protected]

Register Here

Harvard Alumni for Global Women's Empowerment

Annual essay contest, the harvard globalwe essay contest shares global student perspectives.

In 2015, Harvard GlobalWE launched its annual essay contest at the Beaconhouse School in Islamabad, Pakistan. In 2016, we expanded the contest to schools in Germany and Turkey, with the goal of providing inspiration and encouragement to students who engage in topics relating to global women's rights and freedoms.

We welcome you to read essays from high school students around the world who are inspiring others to learn about and help women and girls who face daily challenges that often define their communities, but not their aspirations. We invited students to respond to the question:

“What is the biggest challenge facing women and girls in your country today?”

Please visit the Harvard GlobalWE Essay Website to learn more and read winning submissions.

Harvard International Economics

Essay contest (hieec).

HIEEC provides students the opportunity to demonstrate an accomplished level of writing and understanding of economic theory. Through the contest, students hone their academic and professional skills and exhibit their knowledge. 

HIEE C 202 3 -2024

Hieec 2023-2024 is now closed. .

The 2023-2024  Harvard International Economics Essay Contest is sponsored by the Harvard Undergraduate Economics Association (HUEA). This essay competition is open to high school studen ts of any year and is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrat e an accom plished level of writing and understanding of economic the ory. T hrough the contest, student competitors hone their academic and professional skills and exhibit their knowledge to future employers and academic programs. 

Competitors must construct a convincing argument using economic theory and real-world examples. Winning essays will be published on our website  and will be available for the greater Harvard community to read. Essays should focus on argumentation supported with facts and references, although data-based support is also welcome.

Yiheng Lyu​

Audrey Ku k​

Hyoungjin Jin

Juyoung Chun

Kevin Zhang

Matthew Choi

Mikayil Sadikhov

Raunak Agarwal

Vallabh Himakunthala

Highly Commended

Aronima Biswas

Aryan Nangia

Kridaya Gupta

Leonardo Jia

Rohan Mathur

Anagha Chakravarti

Amberlynn Gong

Neha Shanavas

Donghyeon Oh

2023-2024  Essay Questions

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to affect growth, inequality, productivity, innovation, and employment. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, in particular, has greatly increased public awareness about the significance of AI and its implications for the future. What impact will the development of AI have on economic inequality, the composition of the workforce, and economic output as a whole? How can nations prepare for the micro and macroeconomic changes brought about by AI?

Measuring national and global economic activity allows us to understand how economies change in size and structure—how they grow and contract. In addition to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), government budgets, and the money supply, alternatives like the Human Development Index (HDI) and Gross National Income (GNI) are used to assess economic progress. What are the advantages of our current economic indices, including GDP, HDI, GNI, government budgets, and the money supply, and in what areas are they lacking? Which of these indices do you find most helpful, and how can we enhance or combine them to improve our understanding of economic measurement?

Proponents of income redistribution support the idea that redistribution policies will increase economic stability and give more opportunities to the less wealthy. Others, however, are more skeptical and believe it could have negative consequences for economic growth. Current methods of redistribution include taxation, welfare, public services, and other monetary policies. What strategies for income redistribution should the U.S. adopt from other countries? What economic impacts could a wealth tax or super millionaire tax have? What type of redistribution is most effective and feasible? What would be the impacts of the U.S. enacting universal basic income? Discuss the implications of any of these issues and feel free to expand on other areas of economic redistribution.

As the United States weighs the impacts of China’s rise to global prominence, economics and national security have become increasingly intertwined. As a result, the United States government has imposed both tariffs and investment restrictions on China to limit the nation’s access to both US markets and intellectual property (specifically in sensitive industries such as semiconductors). What are the economic implications of these policies for United States firms, consumers, and workers? Discuss the most important perspectives of the US-China trade war and provide suggestions on how both countries can manage the prospect of a changing economic order.

2nd November 2023 – Essay titles released

11:59pm EST 5th January 2024  – Essay submission deadline

Late February 2024*  – Highly Commended and Finalists notified

Early March 2024 * – Winners notified, results published on the website

*We received a high volume of submissions, therefore we anticipate  that it will take us a couple m ore w eeks to release the results. 

Entrants must choose one of the four prompts and write a response to it with a strict limit of 1500 words. Submission must be via the HUEA website and entrants are limited to submitting one essay with only the first submission being considered. Each essay submission will have a $20 reading fee which should be paid upon submission of the essay. If this fee will impose a significant financial burden on your family, please email us. The deadline for submitting the essay is 11:59pm EST January 5th, 2024. ​

Please submit essay submissions via this form.

If the above link does not work, use:  https://forms.gle/9NVDu9WVbU71iPpq6

*Be sure to read all the details in the submission form carefully before submitting, as failure to complete any of the steps correctly may result in your submission not being considered.

The essays will be judged by the board of the HUEA, with the top 10 submissions being adjudicated by the esteemed Harvard professor and 2016 Economics Nobel Prize winner Oliver Hart.

The top three winning essays will be published ( with the author’s permission) on our website. A finalist s list of the top  submissions will be published online and adjudicated by 2016 Economics Nobel Prize Winner Oliver Hart. A list of names that will receive the "Highly Commended" distinction will also be published online​. The judges' decisions are final.

Terms and Conditions

The word limit of 1500 must be strictly adhered to. Any words past the limit will be truncated. This limit excludes references, footnotes, titles, headers and footers.

Essays must be written only by the entrant. Any outside assistance must be declared in the beginning or end of the essay.

Only your first submission will be accepted. Any further submissions will not be read.

References must be included, and any plagiarism will lead to disqualification.

References must be in Chicago or APA format. 

The only accepted document formatting is PDF. Any other format will not be accepted, nor will refunds be given to those who do not follow this rule.

No refunds are granted.

Grades 9-12 are permitted.

The essay must not be entered in any other competition nor be published elsewhere.

No individual feedback of essays will be granted.

The decisions made by HUEA by the final round of adjudication are final.

All winners agree to their names being published on the HUEA website.

Past Winners

2022  prompts an d winners.

In recent years and decades, many countries have seen fertility rates drop, potentially leading to falling populations. Currently, China has a fertility rate of 1.3, one of the lowest in the world. However, in 2021, China experienced GDP growth of 8% with output totaling $17.7 trillion. Will this lowered fertility rate (with potential to fall further) affect China’s economic growth and policy? How so? What, if anything, can the Chinese government do to limit the risk of falling fertility rates?

U.S. mortgage rates recently passed 7%, making the purchase of a new home increasingly unaffordable. Meanwhile, the United States has suffered from a chronic shortage of available housing for decades, particularly in urban areas, leading to what many scholars and advocates call an affordability crisis. Why is housing so unaffordable in the U.S.? What can (or should) be done by private actors, state and local governments, and the federal government to alleviate the affordability crisis?

It is often suggested that a tradeoff exists between economic growth and the health of the environment, especially now as the threat of climate change becomes more dire. What economic risks does a changing climate pose? Can economic growth be consistent with a healthy environment? What policies, either market-based or otherwise, should governments enact to protect the environment while posing the least danger to economic efficiency? 

Central banks such as the Federal Reserve in the U.S. and the Bank of England in the UK manage their nation’s macroeconomies with the goal of ensuring price stability and maximum employment. Globally, inflation rates are rising to levels not seen since the 1980s, particularly in the U.S. and European countries. To what extent should the monetary policies of central banks in various Western countries differ or resemble one another as a reaction to the specific causes of inflation facing their economies?

​ Click below to view each winner's essay

Ashwin t elang  *   nanxi jiang   *   duncan wong, 2019 wi n ner.

https://www.economicsreview.org/post/when-is-one-choice-one-t oo-many

2020 Winners

https://www.economicsreview.org/post/covid-19-and-the-market

https://www.economicsreview.org/post/automation-and-jobs-this-time-is-different

https://www.economicsreview.org/post/making-rational-decisions

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Writing competition

Harvard Crimson - the U.S.’s oldest continuously published daily college newspaper - is pleased to invite you to the Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition (HCGEC) 2024!

Registration is open to all students aged 13-18. Competitors will have to write a 500-word essay after choosing a prompt from the creative, argumentative, or journalistic category.

Sounds easy? Sign-up here and use the promo code AMB194 for a USD $5 discount off your registration fee!

Registered participants get:

✍️ Exclusive workshops by The Harvard Crimson to level-up your writing skills.

🏅 The opportunity to be recognized as a regional finalist or global winner.

💼 The chance to win exclusive internships with The Harvard Crimson!

Check out our website at https://www.essaycomp.org for more details!

We hope to see your community represented on our global stage, and please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions!

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