Let Grow's Think for Yourself Essay Contest Awards $14,000 in Scholarships
Every year, Let Grow asks U.S. high school seniors to think about the importance of independence, curiosity, and open-mindedness in their everyday lives. This year, we are increasing our award amounts! We will award an $8,000 scholarship to the Grand Prize Winner, and $2,000 each to three Runners-Up.
This is the simplest scholarship anyone can apply for, and our awards can be used for traditional university, community college, or trade school.
Since launching in 2018 we have received over 33,000 entries and awarded $57,000 in college scholarships.
The winners’ essays have been published in USA Today, The New York Post, The New York Daily News, The San Francisco Chronicle, The New Jersey Ledger, Quilette, and EdWeek. This year, David Iglesias had his essay published in The San Francisco Chronicle and Caitlyn Evans had hers published in The Virginian Pilot.
For eligibility and the Scholarship Rules, click here.
Our 2025 Contest for U.S. High School Seniors is Open!
Your personal story is all you need! No GPA's, test scores, or referrals!
What To Write
Respond to one of the prompts below with a compelling story of independence, thinking for yourself, and personal growth. We want real-life experiences that have helped define your character and beliefs (not your resume or bio, or the personal statement your guidance counselor made you write). We are not looking for a perfectly polished essay with big words and perfect grammar and spelling (so skip the AI, please).
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Write about a time you unexpectedly had to deal with an adult situation on your own. What independent skills or experiences did you draw from? What did you learn about yourself?
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What is your favorite memory from real life and favorite one from time online? How would you compare the experiences?
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Write about a time someone changed your mind about an idea or belief you strongly held. How did this change happen and what did you learn from the process? Is there anything you’ll do differently from now on?
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Write about a time you didn’t speak up — or almost didn’t — for fear your idea or viewpoint might be unpopular. Was this the right decision and would you do the same thing again?
How to Write It
Your 600-800 word response must be a personal narrative, written by yourself, about yourself and your opinions.
Please, do not submit your resume, your standard school essay or bio. You might want to check out this short video about Let Grow before you enter, but even if you don’t, please know that we will not consider anything written or submitted by your parents.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS (We want you to think for yourself but also follow these instructions!)
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Have your essay ready to copy and paste into a text field. Skip any special formatting and no images or hyperlinks.
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To help us judge fairly, do not include your full name within your essay.
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Write at least 600 words but not more than 800 words (title is not included).
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Submissions will be checked for plagiarism and use of ChatGPT or other AI tools. You need to think for yourself, NOT ask AI or someone else to think for you.