The Platt Family Scholarship Essay Contest is designed for students who are undergraduate students in an accredited American college or university during the Spring 2024 semester (or equivalent semester that takes place and concludes between January 1, 2024, and June 30, 2024). The deadline is designed to give these students time to finish their essays, if need be, after final exams. Applicants do not have to be an American citizen, but they need to be attending an American college or university during the eligibility period. The contest is not open to high school students. Entries must contain a minimum of 1,500 and a maximum of 5,000 words. Applicants must include the name of their college or university with their entry and all contact information (regular and email address) must be put on the essay proper. To be fair to all applicants, the use of any artificial intelligence writing software, including but not limited to ChatGPT, Copilot, or Gemini, is strictly forbidden and will result in the essay being rejected. All essays that are forwarded to the judges will be scanned with AI-detecting software, and those essays that indicate the use of AI will be rejected at the sole discretion of The Lincoln Forum. Prizewinners will be required to attest in writing that they did not utilize AI in the creation of their winning essays before they will receive their award. The essay may be submitted through email or mail. Please visit the award's website for more information.