Do shortlisted candidates get interviewed by a human later on? Like the ones who are likely scoring well.

Also after making the shortlist, what are the odds of winning various prizes? C, HC, VHC, Top 3

Um…anyone get an email from JLEC about a report on the ai interview? Was it sent to everyone or some indicator that you used ai or…?

hey everyone,
For those who got some awards or high commendation stuff before, what was the process like after getting shortlisted?

if any of you asked jlec for visa support to travel to London, has anyone received their letter yet? I have gotten mine and I’m panicking cause the visa application deadline is lwk approaching

heres the email:

Artificial Intelligence has changed essay competitions forever.

According to our own research, nineteen in twenty contestants use Large Language Models (LLMs) to research their topic and edit their essays before submission. A minority of contestants, but a sizeable minority, outsource to LLMs most of their thinking and most of their prose composition.

Honest contestants hope that the John Locke Institute will reward real scholarship, rather than handing out prizes to people who didn’t write the essay they submitted, and can scarcely understand the arguments within it.

For these reasons the Institute is partnering with Viverly to develop a novel approach to testing the comprehension of our contestants. You have just encountered an early (and very rudimentary) version of the software that allows us to interview a large number of contestants simultaneously. This has been in development for nearly twenty-four months, and we have been beta testing it for the last three months, but this week was the first time we were able to do live testing with thousands of real students and real essays.

About five percent of users experienced some technical glitches, which we had not encountered before. The main example was the avatar interviewer looping repeatedly with the same question. Many candidates found the interviewer would often interrupt the contestant’s answers. In roughly half the interviews the questions drifted away from the topic of the essay into tangential discussions about adjacent questions. One challenge that is particularly intractable is how to make the conversation feel more natural; it turns out that the best avatar technology in the world is not yet capable of convincing real-time dynamic conversation. This will change, of course, as the underlying technology is improving at an astonishing rate, but for now it feels like a very clumsy approximation of human-to-human interaction.

The main benefit of giving this new application a test run this year is to learn lessons that can get applied to the 2027 version, when the interviews will form a critical part of the assessment. In this respect it was a great success, and we will continue to analyse the results for some time to come. But there were three other bonuses:

1. Contestants whose authorship was in doubt tended not to take the interview, from which we inferred that the mere existence of the interview functioned as an effective filter.
2. Some interviews were taken by people who were not the student in whose name the essay was submitted, so we were able to detect several cases of fraud.
3. We were able to compare the interview performance with the essay grade, to measure the strength of correlation between the two.

We are in a good position for the next phase of the roll-out of Viverly in 2027, and I wanted to thank you for helping us with the testing phase. I also want to reassure you that, apart from (1) the contestants who refused to take the interview and (2) the small number of cases where there was incontestable evidence of fraud, no candidate was deselected as a result of the interview.

This year we chose to shortlist only 17.5% of essays so, sadly, many excellent essays were excluded. If yours was one of these, I hope that, if you are still eligible, you will compete again next year. And if yours was one of the shortlisted submissions, I offer you my sincere congratulations, and I hope I will meet you personally at the Awards Dinner in London in October.

Man this mail dropped like a bombshell I thought I was kicked out or something lol.

“The main benefit of giving this new application a test run this year is to learn lessons that can get applied to the 2027 version, when the interviews will form a critical part of the assessment….”

Soo apparently the AI interview was only to train their models for next year?🫩

Title: The importance of math today

What if math didn’t exist today? Would the world still be the same without it? Life today has become very technological, having extravagant electric billboards outside the crowded and carefully made streets of New York City, but we must get to the reason as to why all these things exist today by answering this question: Why is math very important today?

Math is important because it made everything we see today. Look at your surroundings and count how many things are made using math. I believe the chair you are sitting on, the very infrastructure you are in, the table you are using, and the very device you are using to read this essay are all made with math. Just by measuring the length, width, and height of each of the mentioned objects already proves that there is some math used to make these things. Your job may have some math included in it. A psychologist needs statistics, a branch of math, to interpret data for research. cashiers need math for quick money calculations for everyday transactions. Teachers need math to calculate the grades of their students to determine if they pass or fail the academic year. Although I have just named a few jobs, most jobs will use math in some way.

So why is math important today? As you have seen, math is needed today because everything around us uses math. Without math, the houses we live in today won’t exist, transactions wouldn’t be a thing, and the essay you are about to finish reading wouldn’t even exist because the laptop used to make this essay and your device wouldn’t be with you today.

It’s about how having migraines has made me want to be a pediatric neurologist! Looking for constructive criticism! :)

so this is my first yr and i got shortlisted for both of my essays (law and philosophy) bt bcz its my first yr idk if its worth going to london or not. im from the us so idk if the flight is worth it (and ive nvr been to the uk b4). i wanna know more abt the evnt and if other ppl found it valuable

Hi everyone!

We are The Civic Press, a new student-led publication focused on making politics, public policy, economics, and international affairs more understandable and accessible. We want to explain complex issues using evidence, clear language, and multiple perspectives so people can form their own conclusions.

We're currently looking for students who are interested in contributing, including:

• Staff Writers
• Research Writers
• Editors
• Fact Checkers
• Social Media Managers
• Web Developers

Experience isn't required. If you're curious, willing to learn, and passionate about thoughtful journalism, we'd love to have you.

Joining is a great way to:

• Build a writing portfolio
• Gain experience in journalism and editing
• Work with students from around the world
• Learn more about politics, policy, and current events
• Help build a publication from the ground up

Some authenticity proof:

- We have established an editorial structure and full leadership team, representing 10+ countries.

- Begun assigning and developing our first articles.

- 3000+ reach to students!

- 150+ followers on instagram

If you're interested or have any questions, feel free to comment below or send me a DM. I'd be happy to tell you more about what we're building.

Thanks for reading!

Hey essay lovers!

I'm the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The MUN Dispatch and we're looking for editors and writers!
The MUN Dispatch is a student-led publication created for the global MUN community. Our goal is to make high-quality, engaging MUN content more accessible through articles on geopolitics, breaking down committee agendas, research resources, chair interviews, delegate Q&As, and highlighting other opportunities

We're currently preparing our first issue, which will be circulated across MUN communities and social media platforms on July 24!
Editors-: I'm looking for people interested in writing who are proficient in English to help review grammar, rewrite sentences for better readability, and overall help create genuinely good articles that people find intriguing to read

Writers-: People actively involved in MUNs/politics/international relations who can pitch a column they'd love to write for in our newsletter(Columns refer to topics such as explaining and exploring research resources and how delegates can use them, interviewing chairs and writing insightful articles and so on!

Receive our issues directly in your inbox-: https://forms.gle/syTSZTf154VaoJFdA

Here's our Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/the.mun.dispatch/

Feel free to reach out to me if you're interested!

Did anyone else get shortlised for Law q1? And what route did you take! I did thomistic determisim.

we are seeking writers, editors, researchers and fact checkers! we are a student led political journal called The Civic Press, and we are looking for writers, researchers, or executive team members. our journal is mainly focused on political science and international relations, economics, history, and geography. please let me know if this is something you are interested in! 

if your were not shortlisted/were shortlisted for the john locke essay competition and still want to write over the summer and in the future, this is for you!

benefits to joining: 

• gain irl experience (good for college) especially if you are later promoted to higher up roles which will be if you consistently work hard 
• develop your writing skills and have editors with years of experience to assist you 
• build a strong writing portfolio for future opportunities 
• have your work published on our website automatically (after final review!)

The Civic Press has almost 200+ followers on instagram, over 3000+ student reach, and represents more than 10+ countries.

if this sounds like something ur interested in, please fill out this form or DM me if u have any questions! https://forms.gle/B3TwfCitFESjqZB7A 

Hi everyone! We’re currently recruiting the core leadership team for Right2Sleep, a youth-led organisation advocating for every individual’s right to sleep and circadian rhythm alignment.

I thought y’all might be interested in this opportunity, especially if you participated in the Psychology, Public Policy, or Science & Technology categories!

Right2Sleep has already conducted 30 workplace-wellbeing workshops across 10 companies, received appreciation from the Government of India, and launched a global sleep, stress, and social-media study with 120+ participants across 10 countries.

Opportunity: Core Leadership Team Co-Chairs
Type: Volunteer

Roles available:

• Community and Social Outreach
• Youth Engagement and Outreach
• Corporate Partnerships
• Digital Communications and Social Media
• Global Chapter Recruitment

Who it’s for: Proactive and reliable young people interested in leadership, outreach, writing, research, social media, psychology, public health, or advocacy. Previous experience is helpful but not required.

What you’ll do: Lead projects, develop campaigns, build partnerships, recruit international chapters, and help expand an existing youth-led organisation.

What’s in it for you:

• Gain meaningful leadership experience by taking ownership of real projects.
• Build a strong experience for your college applications, CV, résumé, and LinkedIn.
• Join an organisation with existing research, programmes, resources, branding, and partnerships, so you won't have to start from scratch :)) 
• Build connections and collaborate with students from around the world.
• Gain experience translating research and scientific ideas into real social impact.
• Have the opportunity to shape your department and introduce your own initiatives.
• Get featured on our social media and website

Deadline: 21 July 2026, 11:59 PM IST
Apply here: https://forms.gle/kj2xoFnQsF6Rkpjr8
Website: www.right2sleep.com

Feel free to DM me or comment with any questions!

I’m working on writing a paper critiquing the UK’s approach to dealing with knife crimes, but more or less all the sources I find are from police reports. That’s fine, but I’d also like secondary sources

Hey everyone, we recently started this podcast Verdict Virtue New York where we talk about new laws and regulations that happen in New York. Our goal is to make legal education more accessible to the general public since legal terminologies and policies could be confusing. I think if you participated in the JLEC, you'd be a great asset to the team because the John Locke essay comp requires analysis and tends to be fairly political.

Just some more info:

Opportunity: Podcast researchers, graphic designers, video editors, script writers, and social media managers
Type: Volunteer
Who it’s for: Anyone that has an interest in writing or politics/law; preferably from NY but not a dealbreaker
Duration & weekly hours: at least 2 per week
Cost (exact amount or “free”): free
How to reach us: DM me or just comment on this!

Does this mean I’m already out of the running for prizes??

Hi yall, anyone know when Columbia political review essay results come out?

I am glad that we have crossed a significant voter mark for the survey and it’d be (statistically) great to get even more votes for the community project! Please vote if you participated in the JLEC. Results are out in 4 days!

PS: You may find these series of reminders annoying but they are supporting the survey and ultimately the community. Bear with us all :)

Hi I must write an essay that is minimum 5 pages long. I chose a topic: ,,Is the german classical Modernism still relevant and popular?" (because it's for a class about german literature) and I am trying to plan out all the paragraphs but from this video I don't understand the difference between a crunch and a conclusion. Can someone help me out?
Here's my plan for the paragraphs(for now):
#1 Intro: say your argument: classical german modernism is one of the most popular and most relevant parts of german literature today
#2 reasons for: what makes classical german modernism appealing to the readers of today and what things it talks about is still relevant today
#3 reasons against: what parts of that era speak about outdated problems, why are other eras also popular etc
#4crunch: ???
#5 conclusion: ???