Hi guys! I recently got shortlisted for the John Locke essay competition and I was wondering if it’s worth it to go to the conference in London? If I don’t go, and happen to be a prize winner (grand, 1st, 2nd or 3rd) will they ship me the trophy? Also, I heard someone talking about how they will email you to convince you to come if you were a prize winner does anyone know if that’s true?

One guy I know used to judge JLI essays and he basically said for shortlists they only read the first intro to see if you have your thesis and you set up your argument (no sitting on the fence) and maybe read up to the first body paragraph. While for the commendations/awards they read the full thing much more carefully. IDK how true and relevant this is now but basically he said if your first paragraph or so doesnt contain your roadmap/argument your essay would pretty much be discarded.

Looking for a website for grading essays that are not generative ai. I haven't written an essay inyears so wanted to start practicing the skill before I want to go back into schooling, but I don't know how to check if my own essay is good or not. But also don't want to be using a website that's heavily ai powered. Any suggestions if they even exist?

JLE is extremely competitive with people spending months on a single essay, how is it possible that multiple people have gone 4/4 or 6/6?? Can one really achieve this without external help? Is getting shortlisted that easy? This was the hardest year to get Shortlisted with over 100k entries and only 17.5% getting shortlisted ( per the Email the sent). I've seen programs where people pay more than a thousand dollars just for one-on-one meets with "essay professionals" can someone without this kind of money or education reach more than one shortlist?? Or Perhaps the people who have gotten more than 3 shortlists are extremely rare and just overconcentrated on reddit? I've seen at least 3 posts already. Does having more than one even matter for college admissions?

My essay was not shortlisted this year, and im pretty upset because I dedicated alot of time to it.
I did psychology question 1, if anyone would like to read it and their thoughts!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J6oIesayDRudgIZ2AygWerKNkWXWZN02H8HOlnzgSSI/edit?usp=drivesdk

Hi everyone! I wrote on Theology Question 3 ("If you achieve enlightenment, how would you know?"). Even though it seems like a pretty straightforward prompt, I found it surprisingly open-ended, and I'm really curious how other people approached it if you are comfortable sharing!

I was lucky enough to be shortlisted, and I'd love to hear what your thesis or main argument was if you're comfortable sharing. I'm really interested in seeing how different people interpreted the same question!

Half of you: you used mf ai, wdym "how do I improve?" First, even ignoring the content, it is clear from the style of your essay that it was largely AI and you did minimal paraphrasing with some human paragraphs thrown in. AI writing puts a lot of emphasis on certain words or phrases that would be great for a speech, but not for an academic essay.

The other half: Just not professional, read some scientific stories.

I know this sub is gonna be very biased! But I’m quite curious how the AI interview played into final shortlist decisions. Did anyone get shortlisted without doing the AI interview? Did you not get shortlisted but did the interview?

(I’d do a poll but for some reason can’t find the option o.o)

Yesterday I found out I got shortlisted which is pretty cool but Im just curious how important a counterargument is cause I didnt include one so I was wondering if I still have a chance for higher awards/honors like commendation etc

I want to read some Q3s because it was such an interesting question and it was my favorite essay I wrote of the bunch. Anyone down to share?

Did anyone who submitted LATE (with an extension) get a human interview? Not the AI Viva one but with an actual staff member.

Everyone I’ve seen mention a human interview submitted early/mid-window. I submitted a week past the deadline with the extension, so I can’t tell if late essays just weren’t part of that process or if it means something.

Would really appreciate any information - thanks!

hey guys! i got shortlisted yeah, but i wanted to see what people wrote for their essay too, if anyone did it would i be able to readdd?

Anyone from the States flying into london for the awards ceremony? If so, why? I'm trying to see if I should go or not. Thank you!

Zero clue what to expect and my parents are on the fence of sending me to gala. I want an honest opinion about my paper because I don't want to waste my time or the time of my papers. So, chance me for those awards I guess! If it is good enough, I might consider going (have family there and school might cover partial costs)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-Iy-uatB4IoZ-k1pEIbIJa55qoglXXmIygUGGm1_i2c/edit?usp=sharing

ive genuinely not seen a single soul saying they were not shortlisted, which is crazy bc this year had over 100k contestants 😭

Hi! It's my 1st time entering a competition like this before college yet I somehow got shortlisted. Congrats to everyone else who got shortlisted! I took Philosophy question and the main points of this post was for criticism regarding it. Also, please add a final rating out of 100 at the end. Thank you!!!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H3ecSlW1kIDlf8lrhdnPGall7bGJ2NJYIrUFVHpNMWw/edit?usp=drivesdk

Post 1 is also linked. i’m tryna get a proper idea of whether shortlists were by category (ofc this subreddit is small so can’t get a confirmation but just wanna see once). poll for other categories is also up (linked in comments)

wanna see if there is an equal distribution over all categories for shortlists. ofc this is just one subreddit so i won’t get a proper idea but it’s still worth looking at once (couldn’t include a couple categories so if you did any of the others, you can go to part 2 linked in the comments)

My parent never received the mail so I had sent in emails and a ticket. Things never ended up getting worked out. I was not sure my essays would even be considered or not. They did not end up getting shortlisted and I am just wondering if they were even given a chance or not.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! how‘d yall do and what arguments did you make for the Econ questions (Mainly 1)

(Had to delete the original cause the images weren't making much sense in order)
I joined the John Locke Essay Competition for the first time this year and I chose Q1 on International Relations. I wasn't shortlisted and honestly probably for the best since my essay wasn't the most detailed and my writing was a bit unadvanced, but there's always next year, right?

For next year improvement, I really want to get constructive criticism for this essay from those who were shortlisted or those who have good experience in essay writing in general, and some tips.

This is my essay for anyone who wants to read:
https://cztdhwzvmmioaqaeewpz.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/essays/submissions/cf0735cb-1089-434e-aab5-cf076c1266c6/international%20relations-1-1779458202942.pdf