In order to apply for the DFLA Education Fund Scholarship Essay Contest, applicants must submit a 500-word to 800-word essay based on the year's prompt. Each essay is scored based on originality, creativity, the strength of argument, acknowledgment of alternative perspectives, and proper use of grammar and spelling. Party affiliation, gender, and personal politics are immaterial. The contest will use "blind" scoring. Judges will see no personal information (e.g. name; school; gender; age; address; etc.) about the writer, and evaluate essays strictly on their content. The winner will be invited to read his/her essay at the DFLA Education Fund National Conference. Must be 17 to 26 years of age, a full-time student, and a U.S. citizen or DACA recipient. The DFLA Education Fund is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit that does both educational and advocacy work. There is no required reading for this essay, nor are any citations required in the essay. However, reviewing the recommended resources is highly encouraged.
Some tips from the judges at DFLA Education Fund for essay writers include: Write your essay without formatting (our submission form will NOT accept "bold," underline," "italics" or other types of formatting--but WILL record breaks between paragraphs). Be sure to count your words and do not include your name, school, or other personal information at the top of your essay submission. We'll already have that information from other fields in our submission form, and redacting this personal information could cause the essay length to drop below the minimum word count. It is left to the participant's discretion whether to list references. Keep in mind that they do count against overall essay length.
