Hi everyone!!! I’m a newbie to the Scholastic competition–I’m a junior and it’ll be my first time entering. I’ll be doing so under the West Region-at-Large.
Does anyone know if Region-at-Large programs give you a lower/higher chance of winning, or if it’s bigger or more competitive than a normal region?
@phanakin It will probably be more competitive since it is a region at large, more so than a stand-alone region because it’s multiple states. But don’t let that discourage you. Whip up a good piece, polish and revise and I’m sure you’ll do well 
@phanakin I’m also part of West Region-at-Large. I think that the awards are given in proportion to the entries from the region. Meaning that although there are more entries, there are tend to be more regionals awards. I mean through assumption since the list of winners always seems pretty huge.
@Lunarlitgend @wistfulwords Thank you both so much!!! I have pretty ambitious plans this year, but with junior year kicking me in the butt, who knows how many of my ideas I’ll follow through with.
@phanakin Ooohhhh yeah I’m a junior too this year so I completely understand how you feel! I wish you the greatest of luck though
hi, i was a scholastic winner here to answer any burning questions you may have. my submissions were mostly art/design/animation related, unfortunately i have no clue how writing works
awards-
National silver medal
Gold keys x3
Silver keys x2
HM x3ish? maybe 4 idk
lmk if youre unsure about anything, & gl to everyone this year
I’m also a national winner, but in writing, and I’m willing to help out if anyone needs it. I recieved one national gold medal, a special achievement award, and a national silver medal (all in poetry). Northeast Regionals I received six gold keys, 12 silver keys, and ~10 HMs. My areas of expertise are poetry/critical essay/flash fiction/script/personal essay. Good luck everyone! I remember submitting myself, and it didn’t take me until senior year to crack open the national egg, so patience in editing is indeed a virtue. <3
++ edited afterthought don’t sweat it if you don’t win much. I’ve found out after four years that competitions like Scholastic and Youngarts skewer extremely towards certain aesthetics and themes, and if you don’t fit their mold sometimes you’re just not going to break through. It doesn’t mean your work can be bad. I know someone who won YA and the same pieces that won YA didn’t even get a regional HM in Scholastic. It all can boil down to who got ahold of your piece first and what they like/experience.
Hey everyone, as deadlines steadfastly approach and I go over my work just a quick technical question. Would naming my place of worship count as personal information?
ugh, the deadline is in 12 days and I still have an entire poetry collection and a poem i want to write. i’m probably going to have to cut down my expectations lol
@wistfulwords definitely not. also, i think they’re pretty lax on that rule
@dreamthief001 Hey @dreamthief001 did you finish reading over my Scholastic stories yet? 
Has anyone figured out how to upload to the Midwest Region that will keep your formatting? They make a big deal about presentation and layout, but every method I have tried to upload strips all my formatting away. I’ve emailed them, but still waiting to hear back…and the deadline is in a week! I wish they just did PDF uploads…
@LabMom4131 For me, after I had typed my writing (I assume you are talking about writing?) in Word and had the formatting as I like, I copy the writing (for me it is poetry) and paste it into the Scholastic text box. There is a notification that pops up when you go to paste it that asks if you want to erase all formatting. If you click cancel, the text pastes in the format it was in Word. If you hit OK, it reverses all unique formatting. I hope this helps! Btw, I am from a West affiliate, so I don’t know if it is any different than yours.
Speaking of formatting, does anyone know how they expect you to format? What kind of font, double- or single-spaced, etc.?
I’m also in the West Region at Large and got a Gold Medal for a poetry collection last year so if anyone wants advice or has questions feel free to PM me.
In terms of advice, I’m a prose reader for the Adroit Journal and what we’re seeing is over two-thirds of submissions centering around those themes that people say Scholastic and Young Arts tend to favor. Consequently, we often find that submissions that don’t try so hard to do the same thing are actually successful. Not advising anyone to avoid those subjects, but just putting in a word—just write whatever you love because that really shines through and a lot of times that love makes your work stand out.
Anyone have any tips for how to incorporate humor into writing? I’m a 9th grader just getting into this competition I hope I can get at least one gold key this year…
Also, sorry for bombarding y’all with questions, but does anyone know whether how close you submit to the deadline has an impact? In my case, I’ve tentatively finished one or two works and could submit them now (but I’ve been holding out for revision); would that be better than submitting closer to Dec 4th?
@StreenaSkywalker Which themes are those which Scholastic favors?
@phanakin Nope! Absolutely not! Believe me, I know! I literally turned in my short story the day of the deadline at around 8:00 pm and had my letter mailed either day of the deadline or the day after and yet (to my surprise) I ended up winning a Gold Key.
So it’s fine whether you turn it in early or do what I did. But I highly recommend not too. It was really stressful getting that all that ready. XD
@StreenaSkywalker agree with your point but would also say pieces highlight your personal identity - whether that includes being Chinese American, Native American, African American, Muslim or Jewish - also seem to have a strong impact. I did a few personal identity pieces and now I’m just word vomiting and editing over and over. All of my work, whether it approaches societal or identity themes, remains captivating and insightful. As a current second reader for Polyphony H.S, I’ve realized that a lot of pieces by high schoolers, while captivating in theme, sometimes lack technical skills. Obviously you have a grasp on this area as you won last year but putting the word out there to remember the basics when writing.
@Pentatonix123 I have gotten that bubble, and I hit cancel and it still strips my formatting…UGH.