The Ultimate Guide to the 2024 John Locke Essay Competition (with FREE Checklist)

John Locke Essay Competition topics have been released!

This guide provides you with detailed information about the competition, preparation tips, strategic advice, and insights into writing a winning essay.

Additionally, we've provided a downloadable FREE checklist at the end so that you can reference it side by side when crafting your essay.

If you're already familiar with this competition, navigate to "Important Tips to Do Well in This Competition" for guidance on enhancing your writing.

Table of contents

1. What is the John Locke Essay Competition?

2. Why should I participate?

3. Eligibility and cost of participation

4. Essay topics

5. Entry requirements

6. Prizes

7. What kind of content the judges are looking for

8. Important tips to do well in this competition

9. How MyCrimson can help you

10. FREE 6-page PDF checklist for the John Locke Essay Competition

What is the John Locke Essay Competition?

The John Locke Institute Essay Competition is a globally recognized contest that serves as a significant stepping stone for students aspiring to attend world-renowned universities, including Harvard, Oxford, Princeton, Columbia, and other Ivy League institutions.

More importantly, this competition is designed to develop key skills in young scholars, such as independent thought and persuasive writing, by inviting them to write on a variety of subjects beyond their school curriculum.

It offers a platform for students to enhance their knowledge and argumentation skills, with their essays being judged by senior academics from top universities, including Oxford and Princeton.

Why should I participate?

Joining the competition is a brilliant way to develop your academic abilities and make your college application stand out. Winning a prize or even being shortlisted can catch the eye of those top university admission panels, showcasing your academic dedication and excellence.

The competition also presents an excellent chance to engage with contemporary global issues through intriguing topics, allowing participants to refine their critical thinking by crafting well-researched, thoughtful essays.

Eligibility and cost of participation

Students from any country, who are 18 years old or younger, are eligible to participate. Entry is free.

Additionally, there is a junior category specifically designed for students who are 14 years old or younger.

Essay topics

Philosophy

1. Do we have any good reasons to trust our moral intuition?

2. Do girls have a right to compete in sporting contests that exclude boys?

3. Should I be held responsible for what I believe?

Politics

1. Is there such a thing as too much democracy?

2. Is peace in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip possible?

3. When is compliance complicity?

Economics

1. What is the optimal global population?

2. Accurate news reporting is a public good. Does it follow that news agencies should be funded from taxation?

3. Do successful business people benefit others when making their money, when spending it, both, or neither?

History

1. Why was sustained economic growth so rare before the later 18th century and why did this change?

2. Has music ever significantly changed the course of history?

3. Why do civilisations collapse? Is our civilisation in danger?

Law

1. When, if ever, should a company be permitted to refuse to do business with a person because of that person’s public statements?

2. In the last five years British police have arrested several thousand people for things they posted on social media. Is the UK becoming a police state?

3. Your parents say that 11pm is your bedtime. But they don’t punish you if you don’t go to bed by 11pm. Is 11pm really your bedtime?

Psychology

1. According to a study by four British universities, for each 16-point increase in IQ, the likelihood of getting married increases by 35% for a man but decreases by 40% for a woman. Why?

2. There is an unprecedented epidemic of depression and anxiety among young people. Can we fix this? How?

3. What is the difference between a psychiatric illness and a character flaw?

Theology

1. “I am not religious, but I am spiritual.” What could the speaker mean by “spiritual”?

2. Is it reasonable to thank God for protection from some natural harm if He is responsible for causing the harm?

3. Does God reward those who believe in him? If so, why?

Junior Prize

1. Does winning a free and fair election automatically confer a mandate for governing?

2. Has the anti-racism movement reduced racism?

3. Is there life after death?

4. How did it happen that governments came to own and run most high schools, while leaving food production to private enterprise?

5. When will advancing technology make most of us unemployable? What should we do about this?

6. Should we trust fourteen-year-olds to make decisions about their own bodies?

Entry requirements

1. Students should register before Friday, May 31, 2024, to enter this year’s competition. Registration opens on April 1, 2024.

2. All entries must be submitted by 11.59 pm BST on the submission deadline: Sunday, June 30, 2024. Candidates must be eighteen years old, or younger, on that date. (Candidates for the Junior Prize must be fourteen years old, or younger, on that date.)

3. Each essay must address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category

4. Each essay must not exceed 2,000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, endnotes, bibliography, or authorship declaration)

5. The filename of your pdf must be in this format: FirstName-LastName-Category-QuestionNumber.pdf. Example: “Alexander-Popham-Psychology-2.pdf”

6. Candidates should NOT add footnotes. They may, however, add endnotes and/or a Bibliography that is clearly titled as such.

7. Each candidate will be required to provide the email address of an academic referee (a school teacher or another responsible adult) who is familiar with the candidate's written academic work.

8. Plagiarism, contract cheating, and the use of AI are prohibited.

9. We recommend that you submit your essay well in advance of the deadline to avoid any last-minute complications.

Prizes

1. The prize for each winner of a subject category, and the winner of the Junior category, is a scholarship worth US$2000 towards the cost of attending any John Locke Institute program, and the essays will be published on the Institute's website.

2. Prize-giving ceremonies will take place in London, at which winners and runners-up will be able to meet some of the judges and other faculty members of the John Locke Institute. Family, friends, and teachers are also welcome.

3. The candidate who submits the best essay overall will be awarded an honorary John Locke Institute Junior Fellowship, which comes with a US$10,000 scholarship to attend one or more of our summer schools and/or visiting scholars programs.

What kind of content the judges are looking for

The John Locke Institute website clearly outlines the specific types of essays they are looking for.

In other words, they’re looking for a persuasive essay that changes the judge’s mind and addresses the strongest counter-arguments.

More specifically, the website provides detailed criteria for what is expected in a submission:

1. Knowledge and understanding of the relevant material

2. The competent use of evidence

3. Quality of argumentation

4. Originality of the essay

5. Structure

6. Writing style and persuasive force

Important tips to do well in this competition

1. Read all the award-winning essays from the past competition

Don’t start writing an essay without reading the past essays that have received awards.

Before writing a single word, it’s crucial to familiarize yourself with the specific content, argument, and structure that this essay competition values and seeks.

Luckily, each category features a past essay that has received an award. I strongly suggest reviewing all the past award-winning essays to gain a comprehensive understanding of the type of content, argumentation, and structure expected in this competition.

You can check out past essays here.

2. Having the right essay structure is the most important

I’m not talking about having a structure like an introduction, body 1, body 2, body 3, and a conclusion.

I’m talking about what specific content should populate each of these sections.

For example, last year's top essay in the 'law' category was written by Huaming. The topic was this:

To answer this question, she wrote her essay with an intuitive and logical structure:

1. Introduction - 3 reasons why the presumption of innocent principle (“PIP”) should not apply to public censure:

   1) courts of law and public censure differ in their functions and consequences

   2) PIP restricts the fundamental right to freedom of expression

   3) enforcing PIP in public forums is impractical

2. Body 1 - expand on the first argument

3. Body 2 - expand on the second argument

4. Body 3 - expand on the third argument

5. Conclusion

The simplicity and efficiency of her essay's structure led to an easy understanding of her logic from start to finish.

Note that she highlighted all three arguments in the introduction, allowing the reader to easily anticipate the content of the body paragraphs.

3. Come up with different arguments from diverse viewpoints

The judges want to see that you've thought deeply about the topic questions and have brought together different perspectives to back up your main point.

Last year's top essay in the 'economics' category was written by Kit Young.

He talked about why governments can’t just print more money to finance government spending.

He explored two different perspectives and one counterargument to argue that financing fiscal expenditure solely by creating money is not feasible:

1. Printing money usually leads to hyperinflation

2. Highlighted Japan as a counterargument where printing money didn't result in hyperinflation and argued that it’s a special case

3. Printing money worsens income inequality

You can easily see that he's put a lot of thought into forming his argument from various angles. He also used relevant graphs and charts to support each argument.

4. Incorporating philosophical or thought-provoking quotes could be beneficial

On the "About" page of the John Locke Institute website, it is stated that they’re interested in helping people learn the following:

Consider integrating quotes that echo these ideals, challenging assumptions, and inviting reflection.

By doing so, you not only adhere to the competition's standards but also showcase your ability to think deeply and engage with complex issues in a nuanced way.

For example, last year's top essay in the 'junior' category was written by Joonyoung Heo.

In his essay, he used John Stuart Mill’s quote "The state should restrict our liberty only to prevent us from harming others“ to provoke thoughts about whether there should be a law to prevent people from freely making self-harming decisions and expand his argument.

Using a quote like this can serve as a powerful tool to introduce your points.

5. Use external sources to support your argument. You need at least 20+ sources to secure being short-listed!

Using external evidence not only strengthens your argument but also demonstrates your ability to critically evaluate information from various perspectives.

On page 2 of Kit Young’s essay, he draws on data from Vietnam and China to illustrate the positive correlation between inflation and money supply.

This data supports his argument that increasing the money supply will lead to inflation.

6. Continuously update the endnote pages with each new source addition, instead of deferring this until after the draft is completed.

We've encountered numerous instances where students, despite their best efforts to complete their essay drafts, neglect to update their endnotes and references in real-time.

This resulted in students forgetting which sources they have cited, leading to confusion and inaccuracies in documenting references and undermining the essay’s credibility.

Students must cultivate the habit of promptly updating their endnote pages each time a new source is incorporated into their work.

7. Don’t overcomplicate your idea and avoid fancy words

Since most topics are thought-provoking and open-ended, it's easy to fall into the trap of overcomplicating your ideas.

You should be able to express your main argument in one sentence in plain English. Otherwise, you’re overcomplicating your essay.

To accomplish this, avoid overly sophisticated language. There's a common misconception among students that fancy vocabulary enhances their essays, yet the opposite is true. The key is to concentrate on crafting your argument in a creative and logical manner, rather than relying on elaborate terminology.

Competition Website: For more information about the competition, click here.

How MyCrimson can help you

For the best outcomes, we advise students to combine group and individual classes. Group sessions foster collaborative learning, research skills, and idea development, while one-on-one sessions focus on refining and editing ideas for optimal results.

Students who previously took the class:

• Seoul Foreign School

• Seoul International School

• Chadwick International School

• Yokohama International School

• The American School in Japan

• United Would College of South East Asia (UWCSEA) in Singapore

• St. Joseph School

• Stamford American International School in Singapore

• North London Colligate School in Singapore

MyCrimson Achievement:

• Year 2021: 50% shortlisted inducing high commendations

• Year 2022: 50% shortlisted including commendations

• Year 2023: 90% shortlisted including high commendations

FREE 6-page PDF checklist for the John Locke Essay Competition

Our team has curated the ultimate checklist for writing your essay for the competition.

We highly recommend using this guide before you start drafting your essay. It covers all the steps you need to take before, during, and after writing your essay.

You can get the checklist here.

Hope this helps and good luck! 🍀