<p>I love to write. I have a blog, I'm part of the school paper, I'm applying to this program over the summer where you go to a university for Journalism Classes. And I'm in the process of writing a book which I plan to get published by the time I apply to colleges.</p>
<p>Do you guys know of any major awards that would distinguish me as a writer. I plan to be editor in Chief of my school paper by Senior year and show some sort of Writing commitment in my summers after this one too but still. Any awards, scholarships that could help me show my passion? Yes I know , write a really good Essay but still...</p>
<p>Any Idea's.</p>
<p>If anyone would like to read my book, I think most people would find it interesting, its written from the point of view of a Harvard Law School Grad who is Muslim living in a post-9/11 world.</p>
<p>I believe Scholastic has a major writing competition. </p>
<p>Unless you’re willing to self-publish, planning on getting a book published and actually getting it published are two very different things. High school students have certainly published books, but getting published is a more herculean task than you might imagine.</p>
<p>Another way to show excellence in writing is to get articles/stories published in non-school publications. Obviously, getting a story published in a major national publication would be best, but that’s a very long shot. Getting published anywhere outside your school would be good, but the bigger the better.</p>
<p>My first EC listed was writing a book, but I’m not sure that was what got me in. I didn’t show a large amount of writing passion on my application as a whole, though I did have three ECs related to it. I wrote the EC essay on the Common App (150 word essay elaborating on an EC, if you haven’t seen it yet), and in the supplementary material section, included a 700-word excerpt. It would be a good idea to give the admissions committee a taste of what you are writing, rather than something filtered through your own interpretation of your artistic endeavors. I can ask my admissions officer what he and the committee thought of it, if you’d like. It might prove helpful to you when you are deciding on what specifically to include.</p>
<p>First, you should how to pluralize the word “idea.” Hint: no apostrophe!</p>
<p>Then, try the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards or, if you’re really committed, the Davidson Fellowship. Also make sure your essays are outstanding!</p>
<p>I really think that the only writing award that will make HYP adcoms sit up and take notice is the Davidson Fellowship. Other than that, they’re going to care less about what awards you seek out and more about how cultured you come off in your interview and how articulate and insightful you come off in your essays. The essays matter, and an extremely well-written one can get a well-rounded application into HYP. </p>
<p>I think the national awards are more important for math/science people, both because the criterion are less subjective and because the top awards are more well-known to ambitious students.</p>
<p>Although, of course, don’t hold back from seeking out awards if writing is also your primary EC in addition to being an academic talent.</p>
<p>I would agree. You can win all the awards you want, but make sure your essay’s keep up. When you jot down your awards, the only thing they’ll see is the place and type of award you won, not your actual writing. That’s where the essay’s come in because they’ll look at them to see your writing style and everything.</p>
<p>Write a stellar essay–do it from a narrative view to show off your writing skills. Don’t make it plain and boring. Entertain, as well as inform the admissions guys.
As already mentioned, scholastic is the only contest I know of. THere are smaller ones, but they are short story/poetry, with no connections to school. Just google writing contests if your interested.
As for publishing (sorry) but ha! Trust me, publishing a book is hard. If you do it the old fashion way you have to query agents first (you porbably know this, right?) and go through a lengthy process…and agents are very, very selective. Getting into Yale maybe easier.
but remeber, you only need one yes. Persist and your book will eventually get published. (though maybe not for a while)</p>
<p>Since you’re interested in journalism, you might want to try writing feature articles and commentaries to be published in your local major newspaper. That’s what I did.</p>
<p>I am trying to get published in different publications, hopefully that will help…
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Can someone explain the Literature- Davidson Fellowship thing to me?
Thanks in advance</p>
<p>I think luna luna’s suggestion to write articles for your local major newspaper is a good idea. I actually got a personal piece about running published in the New York Times in my freshman year.</p>
<p>By the way, about your book, if you want to endear yourself to the Yale Admissions Committee and convince them that you will go, you should change this: </p>
<p>I dont know if anyone has any expeirnece with the Davidson Instituate, I cant seem the understand what exactly they mean by a literature project.</p>
<p>and haha, Harvard Law School, maybe Yale would be better :D</p>
<p>i would expect disappointment if you’re setting your sights as high as the Times (or the Tribune, for that matter)–no harm in trying, but very very few high school students write clearly or well enough to immediately catch the eye of a national periodical editor. trying for an unsolicited op-ed would be your best shot.</p>
<p>instead, why not do something with your local/regional paper? call their office and ask if you can be a youth correspondent for something or another (i know of one story about a girl who went on an exchage trip and wrote “foreign correspondent” articles for her regional paper). or, try getting a summer internship at the paper–that should really showcase your dedication.</p>
<p>overall, the best way to show your writing abilities is through your admissions essays. really work at them, and your talent should shine through on its own. fyi, i’m similar to you in terms of interests–strong interest in creative and journalistic writing–and all i did was win a Scholastic National Gold Award for a journalism piece. the rest was just editing my newspaper and really working on my college essays, and hey, i got in someplace nice</p>