The last time we hosted a college essay contest, in 2019, the world was a very different place. Three years ago, college students had yet to experience a pandemic, a global movement for social and racial justice, an increasing number of climate catastrophes, or a riot at the United States Capitol.
What has love been like for you during these extraordinary times? Have you experienced surprising opportunities, unexpected challenges, new ways to connect or make the best of difficult circumstances? We are looking for stories that are timely or timeless, affected by world events or not.
Tell us your story in a personal essay of 1,500 to 1,700 words and submit it no later than March 27 at 11:59 p.m. ET. We’ll announce one winner and four finalists by early May. The winner will receive a $1,000 prize and all five essays may be published in Modern Love.
As with all Modern Love essays, we are looking for honest, well-told narratives, in which both the author and reader realize something they had not before. To get a sense of what we look for, read our past college contest winners and finalists. As you’ll see, subjects vary from the way technology is changing how we connect to oppressive masculine codes of behavior.
The contest is open to legal residents of the United States who are 18 years and older and current undergraduate students in an American college or university (including those who are expected to graduate in the first six months of 2022 and those who are taking a leave of absence from their undergraduate studies). For official rules, click here.
How do I submit?
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Send submissions of 1500-1700 words to [email protected]. Please put the topic of your essay or a possible title in the email subject line.
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Include your full, legal name and the name of the college or university you are currently attending, even if you are currently on leave.
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Attach your essay as a Microsoft Word-compatible doc and paste the text into the body of the email. If your first submission is incomplete, please resubmit one complete entry; do not submit just the missing pieces in additional emails.
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Essays must be entirely true. Do not use pseudonyms (including for yourself), composite characters or invented situations or scenes. There are no exceptions to this rule.
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Essays must be previously unpublished. Work that has appeared online — on another news website, a personal blog, Medium or elsewhere — is considered previously published.
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Essays will be edited in consultation with writers, and writers will be compensated for work that is published.
Feel free to spread the word about the contest to any eligible undergraduate who might be interested in submitting an essay. We look forward to hearing from you.
Modern Love can be reached at [email protected].
To find previous Modern Love essays, Tiny Love Stories and podcast episodes, visit our archive.
Want more from Modern Love? Watch the TV series; sign up for the newsletter; or listen to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify or Google Play. We also have swag at the NYT Store and two books, “Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption” and “Tiny Love Stories: True Tales of Love in 100 Words or Less.”
