"My Turn" Essay Competition Official Rules
1) No purchase necessary. Students may enter the Contest in either of the following ways. Each student may complete the official entry form (or a photocopy) and submit it with two (2) copies of an original essay (500-1,000 words) on a topic of the student's choice, where the student shares his or her opinion, experience or personal feeling.
Students may also enter by visiting the Kaplan website at kaptest.com/essay and following the instructions to complete and submit an official online entry form. As part of a student's entry, the student will be asked to provide his or her first and last name, email address, permanent address and phone number, parent's first and last name, parent's email (if available), date of birth, the name and address of the high school he or she is currently attending, his or her current grade level, and the name and phone number of his or her guidance counselor. Students will also have to submit an original essay (500-1,000 words) on a topic of the student's choice, where the student shares his or her opinion, experience or personal feeling. Parental consent must also be provided if the student is 17 years of age or younger. A check box is also provided on the online entry form for parents to grant consent.
2) The Kaplan/NEWSWEEK "My Turn" Essay Competition is open to any citizen and/or resident of the United States (and its territories and possessions) who, as of January 1, 2009, is enrolled as a high-school student at the time of entry, and who intends to attend a college or university following high school. All other entries will be disqualified. Prize winners of past Kaplan/NEWSWEEK essay competition(s) and employees of The Washington Post companies, affiliates and subsidiaries are ineligible.
Each student may enter only one essay. The essay must have a title. Mail-in entries must follow the following rules: The essay must be typed or computer-printed, double-spaced, and in English. The student must submit 2 copies of the essay when entering by mail. Both copies must be individually stapled and the entry form should be stapled to at least one copy. Handwritten essays or essays presented in any other way will be disqualified. Each essay entry must include entrant's home telephone number, including area code, computer-printed or typed in the upper righthand corner of each page. It must be the same number as that listed on the entry form. DO NOT put your name on the essay. Essays accompanying mail-in entry forms must be mailed flat in a 9x12 envelope. Entries submitted online must include your home telephone number, including area code, in the upper right hand corner of your copied text as well as the title of your essay.
All entries, online or mail-in, must be received no later than February 1, 2009, to be eligible for the contest.
Mail-in entries should be sent to: Kaplan/NEWSWEEK "My Turn" Essay Competition, 1440 Broadway, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10018. Neither Kaplan nor NEWSWEEK assumes responsibility for lost, late, misdirected, mutilated, postage-due, and illegible entries, all of which will be disqualified. All materials submitted will become Kaplan's and/or NEWSWEEK's exclusive property and will not be returned.
3) Essays must be original, not in the public domain, factually accurate, and must not infringe or violate any law or the legal or equitable right of any person or entity, nor contain material that infringes or violates any personal property rights of others or that constitutes defamation, invasion of privacy, an infringement of the intellectual property rights of any third person, or is otherwise unlawful. By submitting an essay, each student acknowledges his or her understanding of and compliance with these rules. Kaplan and NEWSWEEK reserve the right to disqualify any entry deemed inappropriate for publication, at their discretion. Essays will be judged by prescreening groups consisting of qualified Kaplan and NEWSWEEK employees, and then by a final judging panel. The decisions of the judges will be final. Essays will be judged on the following criteria: (1) effectiveness, insightfulness, creativity, and completeness (33 1/3%); (2) organization and development of the ideas expressed, with clear and appropriate examples to support them (33 1/3%); and (3) consistency in the use of language, variety in sentence structure and range of vocabulary, use of proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation (33 1/3%).
4) One high-school student will win $5,000 for the first-prize winning essay, another high-school student will win $2,000 for the second-prize winning essay, and an additional eight high-school students will each win $1,000, which may be used for future educational needs. Additionally there will be 10 entrants that will receive honorable mentions, but not cash prizes. Winning essays, as well as 10 honorable mentions (the authors of which are not entitled to any monetary or other award), may be published initially by the NEWSWEEK and/or Kaplan, Inc. In the event of a tie, the essay with the higher score for creativity will win. In the event of a second tie, the tying contestants will be required to submit a new essay on a topic of Kaplan/NEWSWEEK's choice which will be judged on the same criteria as the original entries.
5) The likelihood of winning will depend upon the quality of all other entries as judged by the criteria stated above. Prizes are nontransferable. All prizes will be awarded. Competition is void where prohibited or restricted by law. Winners will be solely responsible for any federal, state or local taxes. Within 10 days of the date specified in the notification, winners and their parents/legal guardians will be required to execute an affidavit of originality, eligibility, and compliance with rules, a release of liability and grant of publication rights, or the prize will be awarded to an alternate winner. Winners must provide a street address where Kaplan can mail the winners a publicity release, affidavit of eligibility, and if applicable, a tax form.
6) All essays and all rights to their publication become the property of Kaplan and/or NEWSWEEK, which may use, edit and excerpt these entries for promotional or any other purpose, including placing them online (e.g., on www.kaptest.com) without attribution or compensation, additional or otherwise. Kaplan and NEWSWEEK reserve the right to use prizewinners' names and hometowns in any advertising or promotional materials relating to this competition without further notification, permission, or compensation to the winners, except where prohibited by law.
7) Winners will be selected during the month of June 2009, and will be notified by mail. Winners will also be posted online at kaptest.com/essay. For the names of winners, send a separate, stamped self-addressed envelope by August 31, 2009, to: Kaplan/NEWSWEEK "My Turn" Essay Winners, 1440 Broadway, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10018. Requests received after August 31, 2009, will not be answered.
8) Use of entrants and winner information. The information that you provide in connection with this contest may be used by the Sponsors (Kaplan and/or Newsweek) to send you further information about its products and services. If you would like your name and information to be removed from the Sponsor's mailing list or if you do not wish to receive information from the Sponsors, please write to Kaplan, Inc., Marketing Department, 1440 Broadway, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10018.
