Terms and Conditions
The promoter of this competition is Crimson Consulting Limited, a company incorporated under the laws of New Zealand with registration number 4957459, and having its registered office address at 18 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, Maritime Square, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand (the “Promoter”, “us”, “we”). Information on how to enter and the prizes form part of these conditions of entry (the “Terms of Participation”).
1. Eligibility
1.1. Entry is open to residents of all countries. Students must be at or between the ages of 13-18 and currently attending a secondary or high school at the time of the global competition in February-March 2025 OR if they have graduated already, will not start university studies before September 2025.
1.2. If you are a minor over the age of 16 but under the age of 18, you should review these Terms and Conditions with your parent or guardian to make sure you both understand them. We require parental consent to award the prize to participants under 18 who are selected as winners of any of the prizes. If we learn that we have collected information from an individual under the age of 16 without parental consent, then we will delete that information as soon as possible.
1.3. We may ask you to provide proof of identity, residency, and age, to confirm that you are eligible to participate.
1.4. You may only enter once and in your own name.
1.5. If you (or your immediate family or housemates) are employees or contractors of the Promoter, or its subsidiaries or parent or affiliated companies, then you’re not eligible to participate.
1.6. The laws in some places may not allow the Promoter to run such promotions, so this competition and these Terms of Participation are void in those places.
2. Registration
2.1. Registration in the competition constitutes acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. The Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition (HCGEC) Team reserves the right to amend these Terms and Conditions without notice and at its sole discretion.
2.2. The registration fee must be paid by credit card at the time of registration individually.
2.2.1. The Early Bird registration fee is US $15 per student. Individual registration stage dates:
October 1 - December 15, 2024, 23:59 (GMT+0)
2.2.2. The Regular registration fee is US $20 per student. Individual registration stage dates:
December 16, 2024 - January 31, 2025, 23:59 (GMT+0)
2.2.3. The registration form closes automatically on January 31, 2025, 23:59 (GMT+0). No registrations will be accepted after this time.
2.2.4. Students may reduce the registration fee by using a promo code (not accessible upon request).
2.3. All correspondence regarding the HCGEC 2025 Competition will be made through the nominated contact details provided when registering. These emails must NOT be school emails.
2.4. HCGEC 2025 is not responsible for updating incorrect email addresses.
3. Cancellation policy.
3.1. Registration fees are non-refundable.
3.2. By paying the registration fee and submitting your registration form, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to the Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition no refund policy.
4. Competition Rules
4.1. HCGEC provides three (3) streams and three (3) prompts per stream: creative, argumentative, and journalism. Each participant selects ONE prompt at the beginning of the competition.
4.2. The Timeline of the competition is
4.2.1. Prompts announcement by February 10, 2025, 23:59 (GMT+0)
4.2.2. Regional Round
● Regional Essay Submission deadline February 17, 2025, 23:59 (GMT+0)
● Regional Winners announcement February 28, 2025, 23:59 (GMT+0)
4.2.3. Global Round
● Global Essay submission deadline March 5, 2025, 23:59 (GMT+0)
● Global Winners announcement March 15, 2025, 23:59 (GMT+0)
4.2.4. All changes will be published on the competition website, www.essaycomp.org.
4.2.5. Individuals must submit their work before the specified deadlines - no late submissions will be accepted.
4.2.6. By submitting your work, you confirm that the entirety of your entry is your own work. It’s your responsibility to make sure that your entry doesn’t infringe on any third-party rights.
5. Regional Round
5.1. Regional round submissions are to be no less than 400 words and no more than 500 words.
5.2. During the regional rounds, all participants compete with each other based on the region team represents:
5.2.1. APAC (East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania)
5.2.2. Europe, Russia, and Central Asia
5.2.3. Middle East, North Africa, Central and South Africa
5.2.4. LATAM (South America, Central America, Mexico, and the islands of the
Caribbean)
5.2.5. North America
5.3. The top five (5) essays from each stream (3) per region (5) will be invited to compete in the global final representing their region.
5.4. Note that no scores, comments, or marked judging rubrics will be provided to participants for first-round submissions due to the high volume of submissions.
6. Global Round
6.1. Global round submissions are to be no less than 1,250 and no more than 1,500 words
6.2. The top (9) global winners will have their work endorsed by The Harvard Crimson, featured on the Official HCGEC Website, and win global awards.
6.3. Plagiarism: Each participant is responsible for creating their own individual work for the competition. Each submission will be submitted through plagiarism software and any works deemed plagiarized will automatically be disqualified.
6.4. Publishing consent: If you wish your writing to NOT be published, you must contact the organisers during the registration period.
7. Prizes
7.1. Global prizes for all three (3) streams
7.1.1. 1st Place: $1,000 cash, $1000 in Crimson credit & a FREE participation for the Summer Journalism Course by the Harvard Crimson.
7.1.2. 2nd Place: $750 cash, $750 in Crimson credit, & a FREE participation for the Summer Journalism Course by the Harvard Crimson.
7.1.3. 3rd Place: $500 cash, $500 in Crimson credit, & a FREE participation for the Summer Journalism Course by the Harvard Crimson.
7.2. Special prizes for all three (3) streams
7.2.1. Best English Language Learner (ELL) Essay Award: US$100 cash and a unique certificate
7.2.2. Participants may be classified as ELL if they each meet all of the following requirements:
Do not come from a First Language English speaking family; Social interactions are not primarily in English with individuals who speak English as their first language; and, Have not spent more than one period of primary or secondary schooling in an education system where English is the language of command.
7.3. All twelve (9) winners will have their essays published on the Official Harvard Crimson Essay Competition Website.
7.4. Prizes must be claimed by March 31, 2025 latest.
7.5. The prizes are not transferable or refundable.
8. Competition Management
8.1. If this Competition is interfered with in any way or is not capable of being conducted as reasonably anticipated due to any reason beyond the reasonable control of the HCGEC Team, HCGEC Team reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to the fullest extent permitted by law (a) to disqualify any participant; or (b) subject to any written directions from a regulatory authority, to modify, suspend, terminate or cancel the Competition, as appropriate.
8.2. By registering for this competition, you consent to your personal data being shared with the organising partners of the competition. For the avoidance of doubt, this includes The Harvard Crimson and Crimson Education.
8.3. Except for any liability that cannot be excluded by law, the HCGEC Team (including its officers, employees, and agents) excludes all liability (including negligence), for any personal injury; or any loss or damage (including loss of opportunity); whether direct, indirect, special or consequential, arising in any way out of the promotion, including, but not limited to, where arising out of the following: (a) any technical difficulties or equipment malfunction (whether or not under HCGEC Team’s control); (b) any theft, unauthorised access or third party interference; (c) any entry or prize claim that is late, lost, altered, damaged or misdirected (whether or not after their receipt by HCGEC Team) due to any reason beyond the reasonable control of HCGEC Team; (d) any variation in prize value to that stated in these Terms and Conditions; (e) any tax liability incurred by a winner or participant; or (f) use of the prizes.
8.4. Each participant indemnifies and keeps indemnified HCGEC Team against all claims, losses, damages and expenses suffered by HCGEC Team or any third parties arising out of the breach of these Terms and Conditions by the participant, the conduct of the participant in the Competition or the use of any components of the prizes.
9. Intellectual Property.
By submitting your entry, you understand that the Promoter, anyone acting on behalf of the Promoter, or its respective licensees, successors, and assignees will have the worldwide irrevocable right to review, print, publish, broadcast, distribute, and use, in any media, in perpetuity, your entry, including without limitation, the entry and your name, portrait, picture, voice, likeness, image or information for trade, advertising, public relations and promotional purposes, without any further compensation.
10. Personal data.
Any personal information or other information about you collected by the Promoter through, or in connection with, the competition is subject to our Privacy Policy. Your personal data, such as your name and your email address, will be processed by the Promoter for the purposes of your participation in this competition and to provide you with information and promotions about the Promoter and/or any of its affiliates that we deem could be of interest to you. We may share your personal data with our corporate affiliates, claims handlers, and other business partners both within and outside New Zealand. The Promoter and its affiliates may also use your personal data, combined with information about you obtained from third-party sources, to market our products and services, including special promotions based on your interests. You have the right to, at any time, withdraw your consent or object to us using your personal data for direct marketing purposes by contacting us at the address set out below. We will only keep your personal data for as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which it has been collected or in accordance with time limits stipulated by law and good market practice, unless further retention is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the competition and website, please contact us at info@essaycomp.com.