Chris Johnston
Omono
We just finished judging essays for the (Mensa Education and Research Foundation MERF) scholarship essay contest. We accept essays from college-bound high school seniors and adults, and evaluate them to advance them in the competition. We have a few local winners every year, and there are some national winners as well. It was a fun time of cameraderie as well as a chance to see what people are thinking and writing.
The guidelines for the essays were fairly flexible. The essay had to be less than 550 words, be postmarked by Jan. 17, typed, double-spaced, and had two content requirements: a clear statement of purpose (meaning their educational or career goals) and supporting evidence that they were preparing well and/or had a high likelihood of achieving that goal.
We had a prejudging in which we immediately dropped essays with major problems including atrocious mistakes, etc. Our outline for judging the essays was very informative.
Up to 30 points were awarded for grammar, word usage and creativity. (10 each)
Up to 40 points were awarded for content, 20 points for goals statement and 20 for supporting evidence.
Up to 30 points were awarded for the judge's subjective opinion, meaning a) do they have a chance to actually succeed (20 points for an almost sure thing), and b) what was your opinion of their personal goal (10 points).
I would like to see something like this if we do an article contest in the future, or even have a judging poll attached to every article, to make us all think about how we communicate and help improve our skills. Perhaps the poll could be anonymous to avoid recriminations....
I'd like to hear some feedback on the idea!
The guidelines for the essays were fairly flexible. The essay had to be less than 550 words, be postmarked by Jan. 17, typed, double-spaced, and had two content requirements: a clear statement of purpose (meaning their educational or career goals) and supporting evidence that they were preparing well and/or had a high likelihood of achieving that goal.
We had a prejudging in which we immediately dropped essays with major problems including atrocious mistakes, etc. Our outline for judging the essays was very informative.
Up to 30 points were awarded for grammar, word usage and creativity. (10 each)
Up to 40 points were awarded for content, 20 points for goals statement and 20 for supporting evidence.
Up to 30 points were awarded for the judge's subjective opinion, meaning a) do they have a chance to actually succeed (20 points for an almost sure thing), and b) what was your opinion of their personal goal (10 points).
I would like to see something like this if we do an article contest in the future, or even have a judging poll attached to every article, to make us all think about how we communicate and help improve our skills. Perhaps the poll could be anonymous to avoid recriminations....
I'd like to hear some feedback on the idea!
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