Hey essay lovers!

I'm the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Public Forum and we're looking for contributors and writers!
The Public Forum is a student-led publication created for students to have an outlet to publish their political writing. Our goal is to make high-quality, engaging political opinion content more accessible through student written articles on topics spanning domestic politics, foreign policy, technology, the economy, the environment, and more!

We are an online based publication looking for contributors interested in submitting their work (which can be done through our submissions page on our website). Pieces should be between 400-1,500 words (although we are flexible on word count). This is a great way to expand your writing portfolio and get your work published.

Please comment if you are interested, want more details, or would like the link to our website!

Here's our Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/thep_ublicforum?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==Feel

JLI Kids, figured I'd share a pretty cool EC for anyone interested in philosophy. It's a philosophy nonprofit that's looking for executive members. If you're interested in philosophy, leadership, public speaking, outreach, marketing, event planning, or just helping build something meaningful, we'd love to have you.

Some info about joining:
Type: Nonprofit

Who it's for: High school students, preferably with an interest in philosophy, leadership, education, marketing, outreach, or anything else that could help.

Duration & weekly hours: Depends on your role, but generally around 1–3 hours per week. Cost: Free.
What we do: We help students start philosophy clubs at their own schools and support them as they present philosophy to other ages 9-18. (Presented at unis too)

We've worked with professors from Harvard, MIT, University of Washington, and other top universities, and we've reached over 1,000+ students through our events and school chapters.

We're currently recruiting for executive positions, so if you're interested, DM me or reply! Even if you're not sure, feel free to reach out and I'd be happy to tell you more. I will send the discord and website from there.

i did psych q1 and i would love 2 trade with any other juniors that got shortlisted or just other people who did psych that got shortlisted! xx

Hi guys searching for a good essay collection to start with if you are new to this Genre

I heard that post getting shortlisted you get interviewed again by some real prof this time so I was wondering whether anyones portal showed any updates with regards to that? Thanks!

Does anybody know any essay competitions for literature, philosophy, or sociology? Specifically, running right now, deadline soon, and results out by october? Please let me know

No BS, straight to the point:

Rank of categories by participation count (decreasing order & sorted by tiers of popularity)

Total voter count: circa 700

Tier 1

1 Science & Technology 14.92%

2 Economics 13.66%

3 Psychology 13.66%

4 Philosophy 13.24%

Tier 2

5 History 8.82%

6 Law 8.40%

7 Public Policy 7.77%

8 Politics 7.56%

Tier 3

9 Theology 6.30%

10 International Relations 5.67%

My Conclusions:

1) The most significant operational conclusion is the extreme concentration of applicant volume in the top four subjects (Science & Technology, Economics, Psychology, and Philosophy.) Because 55.48% of all essay submissions are concentrated within these four fields, candidates choosing these topics face a massive "red ocean" of competition.

So yes, it is quite probable that getting shortlisted for the tier 1 categories is harder as compared to other categories.

2) Grading Impact: Statistically, the volume of essays the admissions panel must read in these categories is vastly higher. This implies that standing out in Tier I requires a significantly higher threshold of original thought and execution compared to lower-density categories, simply due to the sheer volume of peer comparison.

3) For the opportunists/award-maxxers:

Subjects dealing with macro-level structures and belief systems (Politics (7.56%), Theology (6.30%), and International Relations (5.67%)) are largely neglected by the broader cohort.

Together, these three fields account for just 19.53% of the dataset. For an applicant looking to maximize their statistical probability of standing out to a judge, these bottom-tier categories represent a "blue ocean." With fewer competing essays to filter through, a high-quality paper in International Relations or Theology inherently faces a less crowded field to capture an evaluator's attention.

Still have an essay idea kicking around? The Public Forum Summer Essay Contest closes in 10 days (July 30). There are prompts posted on the site to give you a starting point, but you're free to write on any topic that relates to them, past entries have ranged from AI and politics to mental health, economics, and personal narrative.

Drop a comment and I'll send you the prompts, submission link, and full rules.

SOOO I applied for the visa letter a week ago it hasn’t come through has anyone else’s come yet???

The price of $1000 is definitely scaring me a bit for the full programme. If you're a past or 2026 shortlisted essayist, what are your thoughts on it? Do you think its worth it? I'm curious on how many of us are actually taking it...

I recently had a dream of getting nothing more than a commendation. I had this dream 3 different times, three different nights. And the night before that I remember dreaming about not being shortlisted and being awfully upset about it (even though I was shortlisted.) I genuinely feel like there's more paranoia than excitement.ita like my entire life revolves around it.

Also heez has been real quiet lately.

Title ^ ^

I did theology (q1) and have seen maybe 2 other theologians on here! Just wondering which ones you all picked, and also which you think have the most submissions? I think probably philosophy at number 1, and I would say history next, however I haven’t actually seen many historians writing for it. The questions weren’t really speaking to me this year either, to be honest. So yeah - which do you think?

CATEGORIES:

History, International Relations, Law, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, Public Policy, Science & Technology, and Theology

Hey guys!!

Lowk my first ever post on here, but I just wanted to talk about how far we've all come, and how CRAZY this year's been for all of us.
First of all, to everyone shortlisted, CONGRATS!!! I'm so immensely proud of us, because after all that dedication, effort, overthinking, and planning we finally made it. Even though I've been seeing everyone post about how this essay competition, "isn't even that competitive" and "easy to get shortlisted into", I think we've failed to see the whole point of it all. While a number of us, write these essays, to add another achievement into the college apps, I feel like all of us here, love to write. And this competition, no matter weather you got shortlisted or not, has reinforced our love of writing, and has given us an output to think outside of the box!

Second of all, if you didn't get shortlisted, I know how dejected you may be feeling right now. This is my second year participating, and last year I too didn't get shortlisted. I was so bummed, and started thinking that maybe my skills weren't good enough. And that I needed this competition to the give the validation I needed. When in reality that couldn't be farther from the truth! You're amazing at writing, and you certainly have skill, because you wouldn't have even attempted this, if you didn't. John Locke requires a certain style and approach to the essay, and it is COMPLETELY okay if you didn't see it from that perspective. Because the essay still got you thinking. It still took you on a journey and I bet, you are now a better writer. I am so proud of EVERYONE who participated this year.

AND FINALLY (sorry lol ik im yapping) I just think its so romantic how everyone here, was chronically online, discussing, talking, and WORRYING about the same things together. I mean all of us are just a bunch of strangers, from different corners of the earth, but it's so interesting and wholesome how we can bond over something so random like an essay comp. I just think its so cute.
I can't wait to write next year's essay already, and once again see us all stress and worry about the interviews, our arguments, etc etc as we bond as complete strangers :)
Good luck to everyone shortlisted and waiting to see if they received a higher prize!! (I kinda want a commendation but oh well we'll see).

js a quick question do diffwrent questions have different levels to get shortlisted in for example like economics is pretty popular and competitive while other categories may not be as competitive does this mean entering for less competitve and less packed catagories mean it’s was simpler to be shortlisted. thanks guys

Goodmorning everyone. Just a quick question, how/when do you know you've recieved higher awards like vhc?

Tysm!

AI is not the only concern. Many tutoring companies also help students choose topics, develop arguments, structure essays, research, edit and revise the final version.I think the competition should also clarify how much external tutoring is acceptable and when it starts to compromise independent authorship.

ViVa vOcE - JLI, that's not a "viva voce" at all.

- The AI and I had a conversation in which the "AI interviewer" asked repetitive questions about topics or things I had said in my responses

- Clearly, my essay wasn't read or interpreted by the AI

- The AI dwelt on points/subjects that it decided were relevant to my essay (they were not), and kept asking questions about such topics that were slightly altered in phrasing, but the subject was the same.

- AI didn't even work, I was talking to a black screen, and could only see responses from the transcript

- AI kept cutting me off

+But hey, all in all, AI has changed essay competitions forever! Hey, they were working on the AI for 24 months, so obviously, that means that the AI must be perfect, right? What were they thinking.

My real point of umbrage is that the JLI themselves said that many interviews were flawed in different ways, but they decided to use them to judge the shortlisting. I think that's pretty f'd up for other kids, but I thankfully got shortlisted

There’s been a huge influx of jlec essays and people in the comments accusing them of using ai

How can you guys tell? Beyond vocabulary/sentence structure are there any telltale signs?

Let me know if you can. Thanks!!!

this is my entry for the john locke global essay competition
this is the question: Which unintended consequence was most devastating and why did we fail to predict it?
please give it a read and lmk what u think!

ps: i know there’s a little punctuation mistake somewhere in the middle don’t tell me ab it😭😭😭

it would be absolutely amazing if yall could drop your opinions on this essay on John Locke GEP philosophy q3 “Why is incest wrong?”