i gold, one silver, one honorable mention, one didn’t get anything --meh results
wistfulwords, I’ve asked this question in a slightly different context. Scholastic said that it must be materially different in order to be considered a new piece. So yes, you can resubmit, but it must be materially different. I don’t think you can take the same piece and switch categories.My suggestion would be to rework it, improve it, change it materially and then enter it again in the right category. As an aside, my daughter entered a portfolio of about 6 poems last year. I believe a couple were pretty good and couple were pretty average, at best. It won a silver key. Just to see what would happen (for only $5), she entered what we believe to be her best poem from the group as a single poem this year. We have not seen all of the regional awards yet but we know for sure that this poem did not win gold or silver since we know which of her pieces won gold (4) and silver (3). I suspect it got rejected. They probably have some sort of plagiarism type program that bumps current submissions against prior. Just my belief, no information on it.
1 HM, 1 piece submitted. To be successful in this competition, it seems like you need to submit multiple works. I put a lot of effort into one piece, and it did not pay off as much as I hoped.
@Alluvial it’s just that writing is extremely subjective so sending in multiple means higher chances of something that the judges like
My first time entering as a junior at the Southeast Region at Large! All 4 pieces I entered received an award: 3 gold keys and 1 honorable mention. I didn’t really expect anything and tried to keep myself humble with low expectations so I’m really happy. Good luck to anybody going to nationals or who won awards this year! If you didn’t get an award, don’t let the rejection stop you from growth. Writing/Art is subjective so just try to prosper! <3
@bbq5ue The stats are posted on our results page with Writopia, who is our writing partner for the region. I think it varies between regions. There were no stats posted for the Region at Large art awards when I checked them so it really depends on the person or organization posting them…
Does anybody know if all gold keys automatically get a national award, or is it just consideration for a national award?
@tsm1250 They are just considered for national awards, nationals is super competitive!
CONGRATS to everyone on their results! Now the long wait till nationals begins…
hey I just thought I’d post my results here because why not. I submitted 6 short stories and got 1 gold key, 2 silver keys, and 1 honorable mention. had 1 story that I thought was exactly the type that Scholastic likes but it only got silver while another garbage story that I literally slapped together at the last minute got silver too, somehow.
I think this year was a really competitive year overall, there were only 35 gold keys in my region out of almost 520 entries
My region hasn’t posted our results yet and I am so mad about that. So I can’t really say what I got.
But I do know that I seem to be one of the lucky ones here…
My best piece (like best best piece that I’ve ever written) got a Gold Key. I was literally screaming with joy. It possibly could’ve gotten a special award too but I don’t know for sure cause again my region hasn’t posted our results yet (UGHHH).
But my second best piece got a Silver Key and my third piece (which I knew wasn’t a story fit for scholastic hence not that best one. But I submitted for the heck of it) either got nothing or an HM. Again I don’t know cause my REGION HASN’T POSTED OUR RESULTS YET!!!
But I am honestly SOOO happy with my results! I know I didn’t get Gold Keys for everything but my best piece was all that I cared about. If anything the other two stories I sent in was literally just cushions/safety stories just in case I didn’t win anything for that one. I think its also funny because I predicted which piece would get what in order of my best works and apparently I was accurate. So I’m really pleased with this year. When my region posts our results I’ll update you guys on the solid confirmation of what I really got, but that’s all I know for now.
nice, guys… most of yall seem to have done really well 
Meanwhile, I’ve had to reevaluate how I’m spending my time and the direction of my writing hobby after my results… after months and months of writing, only having 1 HM to show for it has been pretty brutal. Especially since I’d gotten pretty positive prognostications from friends, teachers, and even some of you all who’ve read my stuff beforehand.
Congrats to all of you, though! Best of luck for nationals! Probably won’t be checking back on this thread, but I’ll be rooting for all of you guys. Go get those medals!
@Kingtape Thank you so much! And Congrats on your award! An HM is just as much of a great accomplishment as the other awards and I’m sure next year you’ll come in stronger winning Gold Keys in flying colors 
By the way, I agree with @nobodycansaveme Literally my region had 7 Gold Key winners in my category which was short story but this year we only had 2 Gold Key winners for the short story category and my jaw dropped. It was me and one other girl. It honestly shook me to the core. But in terms of overall winners, we did have more Gold Key winners than last year but only by so much.
Hey! I got one silver and four hm. Sorta disappointed because my worst piece got a silver, but it’s totally ok.
Kingtape, Scholastic does not in any way validate your writing. Of course its nice to win awards but you should write what you want. This is the third year my daughter entered. I kind of have a feel for what wins and have advised my daughter what to write. She ignores me of course and writes what she wants. Several of her best pieces did not win anything. A piece she dislikes won Gold. I had a feeling it would win because I knew it would appeal to adult judges. If you really want to win these types of contests, take a step back and try to think what will move an adult judge reading hundreds of pieces. It’s not enough to just be good writing, It needs to stand out and move an adult judge. What are those types of topics? A few in my mind are teen anxiety/depression/suicide, race, sexuality, sexual assault (but not too graphic), loss of loved ones, and etcetera.I think one can say the exact same think about college application essays.
@Kingtape don’t stop writing! My first of year of scholastic, I only got 1 HM (in novel writing) and my second year I only got 1 gold key in journalism and nothing in nationals. Remember, you can always grow as a writer and it will only get better from here on.
I got a gold key for poetry in the Southeast Region at large awards. How good are my chances of winning a national medal? What are your guys’ experiences?
Hi guys! Scholastic veteran popping in here to agree with what @kdm1582 and @wistfulwords are saying about the results not necessarily reflecting whether your writing is subjectively ‘good’ or not. I got one gold key for each of the four years that I participated, and ended up getting two gold medals out of it (in my last two years of high school, for Flash Fiction and Short Story). One was for a piece that I didn’t even like and had just submitted for the heck of it, while that same year, my favorite piece got an honorable mention. I’ve had pieces that weren’t even acknowledged by Scholastic published in literary journals and other publications, and I’ve had pieces that Scholastic loved get rejected by other outlets. It’s an amazing opportunity, and the national ceremonies are really fun ways to meet other young writers and artists, but please don’t let them define how you see your work. One of the saddest things I’ve ever heard was a friend of mine beginning to think she was a bad writer because of the rejection she had faced, and I would hate to see any of you go down the same track. Seek out mentors to critique your work and people who have been through the process to learn from their experiences. Being an artist is 90% resilience and 10% talent, so use both your wins and your losses to inspire you to keep doing better.
Just a little update guys! My regional results FINALLY came out today!! And honestly what I got for each piece was EXACTLY what I’d predicted and I think it’s funny. I like to think I’m Psychic now because of it
I submitted 3 pieces and got awards for 3/3 pieces.
My best piece not only a Gold Key apparently but an American Voices Nominee and I’m ecstatic!!!
My second best piece got a Silver Key
My not-so-great piece got an Honorable Mention.
So all across the board I guess. But like I mentioned before my last two pieces I only submitted for the heck of it. I wasn’t mad that I didn’t get all Gold Keys because all I cared about was my Best piece. Those two pieces were just safeties in case I didn’t get anything. So I’m feally grateful to see it got not only a Gold but a special award as well!
So yeah, crossing my fingers for Nationals!! ^^ ^^