Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Is still possible to submit my essay through the mail?
A. No. Due to the high volume of essays submitted, all essays must be submitted electronically using the Official Entry Form.
Q. What are the most common reasons why students’ essays are disqualified?
A. A large number of student essays are disqualified for overlooking the following basic competition rules:
- The student’s name cannot appear on the essay.
- The student must include a word count at the end of the essay (but not include the bibliography in that count).
- Essays must be double-spaced.
- The essay must have a clear connection to science and/or technology.
- Students may not submit essays below 700 words or above 1000 words.
- In addition to writing about a noteworthy science and/or technology development, students should write their essays with care observing the standard rules of grammar and mechanics. That said, we very strongly encourage students to proofread their work a few times before submission.
Q. May I submit more than one essay?
A. No, only one essay may be submitted per student.
Q. Will I get a confirmation that my essay has been received?
A. Yes. As soon as you finish submitting your essay and bibliography, you will be given the option of printing a DuPont Challenge© Certificate of Participation that includes your essay title and personal entry code number.
Q. May non-U.S. students in other countries submit essays?
A. Only students from Canada, Puerto Rico, and Guam are able to submit essays.
Q. Can I submit a science report as my essay?
A. No, we make an important distinction between these two writing approaches for the purpose of this competition. Reports and essays are two very different things.
- A report’s purpose is to provide information. An effective report is clearly written and well organized, and it tells readers things that they did not know before about a topic that is worth knowing more about.
- An essay also provides information—but it does more. An essay not only gives facts about its subject but shows its writer’s enthusiasm for and intellectual involvement with that subject. In an essay, unlike a report, the writer lets his or her personality come through.
A science essays come is a journey. Think of it as being the record created by a person who has ventured out to the edge of scientific discovery and haback with a new understanding of a part of it—a new understanding that he or she is eager to share with others.
Q. What reference tools for writing would you recommend?
A. It’s a good idea to first discuss this with your science and/or English teacher.
One comprehensive resource on grammar and mechanics that has stood the test of time is
Strunk & White’s Elements of Style. (As Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has stated, “For writers of all kinds and sizes the world begins and ends with Strunk and White's Elements of Style.)
Also, the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook is another reliable resource that offers guidelines on specific style, usage.
For documenting sources in your bibliography, we recommend that you follow the MLA Guidelines, which can be easily found through an online search
