<p>How prestigious is the Ayn Rand competition? I was thinking about doing it but its a HUGE book and am wondering if it is worth the investment of time?</p>
<p>It is QUITE prestigious on any level.</p>
<p>However, it is not that easy to get considering you really have to understand the nuances of the book and philosophy.</p>
<p>On one hand it is competative and there's quite a lot of money to be won.</p>
<p>On the other hand, each page of The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged makes your soul die a little bit.</p>
<p>/personal hatred. I couldn't stand The Fountainhead.</p>
<p>but is it prestigious if ur only a semi-finalist or finalist
i know it must be extremely prestigious if u get 1, 2, or even three</p>
<p>do u think regardless of the palce u come in it is still prestigious
especially for someones whose going to be an english major</p>
<p>It's extremely difficult to get semi-finalist, so I would think it would be prestigious even at that level.</p>
<p>As opposed to goldenratiophi, I think there are significant lessons to be learned from Atlas Shrugged - today more than ever. I think everyone should read it, whether for scholarship competition, assignment in school (doubtful, I suspect), or simply on one's own - which is what I did.</p>
<p>I'm not totally objectivist, but there is a point...</p>
<p>Philosophy <3</p>
<p>I think winning any selective/difficult national essay contest like that would be positive to a degree. The thing with Rand is that she's a bit polarizing, and I think obviously the reason why this contest is here (as with all other essay contests) is to promote her "philosophy." Hence, most of the people who enter would be ones already passionate about her ideas, I would think. It may not be worth it if you read The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged and then decide that you hate it.</p>
<p>If you're looking for prestigious contests as a prospective English major, maybe look into Scholastic or NCTE contests?</p>
<p>If you have trouble with big books, you'll never make it through Ayn Rand's stuff. If you like big books, you'll likely not make it through her stuff anyway, unless you enjoy horrid (not badly written, but still horrid) characters and depressing storylines.</p>
<p>satorialiste- I'm actually doing both competitions. I was wondering if I should do ayn rand as well because I need some pretigious awards for top selective schools.</p>
<p>out of curiosty, is scholastic, ncte and ayn rand as pretisiougs as Intel STs, etc</p>
<p>bump anylone know about this?</p>
<p>I agree with goldenratiophi. Every time I try to read Rand's stuff I end up clawing my eyes out. She's presumptuous.</p>
<p>I vote no.</p>
<p>I was a huge fan of ayn rand. So much in fact, that I competed my sophomore year. I was a finalist in the Anthem contest in 2007. More than anything else, it gives you an opportunity to put your ideas out there and try something new. I'm more of a science person, but I found this was a really good way show colleges that I also love to write. So I think you should go for it--you don't really have anything to lose.</p>
<p>You shouldn't read Rand for the sole purpose of wanting prestige. You should do it because you are ready to look the devil in the face and see if you are strong enough to survive.</p>