Have you ever read one of Ayn Rand’s thought-provoking novels? Now’s the time! Enter an Ayn Rand Institute essay contest and you’ll have a chance to win thousands of dollars in scholarship prize money.
ARI has held worldwide essay contests for students on Ayn Rand’s fiction for more than thirty years, awarding over $2 million in total prize money! This year we will award more than $30,000 to student winners.
Recordings from reading groups on Anthem, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged are now available.
Questions? Write to us at [email protected].
Plus! Sign up for updates on contest deadlines and tips on how to write a stronger essay.
Ayn Rand wrote Anthem in just three months in the summer of 1937 — as a break from the work of planning The Fountainhead.
Ayn Rand once said that Anthem “has the same relation to The Fountainhead as the preliminary sketches which artists draw for their future big canvases. . . . [I]t has the same theme, spirit and intention, although in quite a different form.”
Essays will be judged on whether the student is able to argue for and justify his or her view—not on whether the Institute agrees with the view the student expresses. Judges will look for writing that is clear, articulate and logically organized. Winning essays must demonstrate an outstanding grasp of the philosophical meaning of Anthem.
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Other than endorsing perfect punctuation and grammar in English, the Ayn Rand Institute offers no advice or feedback on contest essays.
The following links are recommended to improve your essay content:
To submit an essay electronically, please complete the steps below:
Entrants are responsible for keeping copies of their essays, as duplicate copies will not be provided. If you have difficulty submitting your essay electronically, or if you have not received an email notification confirming receipt of your electronically submitted essay within 24 hours, please email [email protected].
Essays will be judged on whether the student is able to argue for and justify his or her view—not on whether the Institute agrees with the view the student expresses. Judges will look for writing that is clear, articulate and logically organized. Winning essays must demonstrate an outstanding grasp of the philosophical meaning of The Fountainhead.
Protected by Ithenticate Plagiarism Detection Software
Other than endorsing perfect punctuation and grammar in English, the Ayn Rand Institute offers no advice or feedback on contest essays.
The following links are recommended to improve your essay content:
To submit an essay electronically, please complete the steps below:
Entrants are responsible for keeping copies of their essays, as duplicate copies will not be provided. If you have difficulty submitting your essay electronically, or if you have not received an email notification confirming receipt of your electronically submitted essay within 24 hours, please email [email protected].
Essays will be judged on whether the student is able to argue for and justify his or her view—not on whether the Institute agrees with the view the student expresses. Judges will look for writing that is clear, articulate and logically organized. Winning essays must demonstrate an outstanding grasp of the philosophical meaning of Atlas Shrugged.
Protected by IThenticate Plagiarism Detection Software
Other than endorsing perfect punctuation and grammar in English, the Ayn Rand Institute offers no advice or feedback on contest essays.
The following links are recommended to improve your essay content:
To submit an essay electronically, please complete the steps below:
Entrants are responsible for keeping copies of their essays, as duplicate copies will not be provided. If you have difficulty submitting your essay electronically, or if you have not received an email notification confirming receipt of your electronically submitted essay within 24 hours, please email [email protected].
Yes! Homeschooled students may enter our essay contests. Please enter the contest for your current grade level. Instead of writing your school name and address on your coversheet, just write “Homeschooled.” If you’re not sure which contest you’re eligible for, please write to the Education Department at [email protected].
Yes! Foreign students may enter our essay contests, except where void or prohibited by law. We have no citizenship requirements. Please enter the contest for your current grade level. If you’re not sure which contest you’re eligible for, please write to the Education Department at [email protected].
If you send your essay by mail, you should paperclip a self-addressed, stamped postcard to your essay. When we receive your essay, we will drop your postcard in the mail. Alternatively, you can send your essay to us via registered mail or by using Priority Mail Delivery Confirmation. If you send your essay via email or our web form, we will reply to your message by email and notify you that we received your essay.
Please note that it could take up to three weeks to receive your postcard from the date you sent your essay. If you are concerned that your essay was lost by the post office, please write to [email protected].
Yes
We cannot accept essays postmarked after the deadline. If you have a valid reason why your essay could not be postmarked by the appropriate deadline, please write to [email protected].
Yes, as long as you were not previously a first-place winner. In fact, some students have won prizes two years in a row!
You can enter if you are in a lower grade, but not if you are in a higher grade.
No. All awards are cash prizes. We place no restrictions on how the prize money is spent. Prize winners simply receive a check from us in the amount of their award.
You do not need to reference page numbers for quotes from the essay topics. However, if you use any quotes from the novel you are writing about, you should cite the page numbers and place quotation marks around the quoted material. You do not need to include a bibliography unless you quote from a source besides the novel you are writing on. (Please note that you do not need to reference any additional material other than the assigned novel to write your essay. See the next question.)
You do not need any source material other than the novel you are writing on. However, you may quote and reference other sources if you like. If you do, please cite your sources and include a bibliography with your essay.
Yes, you may have your essay proofread. It is not plagiarism to have someone check your essay for spelling and grammatical or structural errors. However, it is plagiarism to have someone else write your essay for you, or if you use someone else’s words as if they were your own (see above regarding citing outside sources).
Plagiarism is using someone else’s words as if they were your own. It is not plagiarism as long as you cite your sources.
We typically contact all the Atlas Shrugged contest entrants by January of the contest year, and all the Anthem and The Fountainhead contest entrants by July of the contest year.
No. You may submit one essay for each contest, each year.
Yes! You are welcome to enter multiple contests.
No. The contest guidelines ask that you select ONE of three topics. Please select only one topic.
No. Essays not written on one of the three topics will be disqualified.
All of Ayn Rand’s novels can be purchased via links from our website. They should also be available in your local bookstore or library.
No. Judges look for essays that show a clear understanding of the novel, so no additional knowledge about Ayn Rand’s philosophy is required.
This will have no effect on your chances of winning. Judges look for writing that demonstrates an understanding of the novel, not whether the student agrees with it.
Yes, graduate students are welcome to participate in the contest.
Yes, community college students are welcome to participate in the contest.
No.
No.
Yes
Yes
Please send your comments or questions about the essay contests to [email protected]. In most cases, we should be able to respond within two to five business days.