OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

Before You Read the long rules, we want to summarize some of the important points for you:

• By submitting your essay, you understand that it will be published for others to read and vote on (It will be searchable by Google, and our site is regularly indexed, so there is a good chance it will appear in Google search results).
• You are responsible for changing names in the essay to "protect the innocent" or keep yourself anonymous.
• You can only vote on each essay only one-time per day, and you can vote on your own essay.
• You need to manually click each essay to vote, no automated voting.
• If you win, you will let us use your name and picture for promotions. 

The following promotion is intended for participants in the United States only and shall be construed and evaluated according to the laws of the United States. Do not proceed in this promotion if you are not a legal resident of the United States. Further eligibility restrictions are contained in the official rules below. 

1. ELIGIBILITY: Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, who are at least 15 years of age, and either currently enrolled in an accredited college/university or will graduate from high school this Spring, 2012. Void in Puerto Rico, all U.S. territories and possessions and where prohibited by law. Entries must be from individuals only; groups, organizations and multiple-party entries are not eligible. This promotion is governed by US law and is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Employees of First Choice College Placement, LLC and AdmissionHook, (“Sponsors”), its parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies and members of the immediate family or household of each are not eligible. Immediate family members include parents, siblings or any person residing in the same household as employee. 

2. TWO WAYS TO ENTER: Contest begins on June 16, 2011 at 12:00:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EST) and ends on December 15, 2011 at 11:59:59 p.m. EST ("Promotion Period"). Essay entries and votes must be received by December 15, 2011 at 11:59:59 p.m. EST.

Prerequisite: Online Submission of Original Essay: To qualify for either scholarship, participant must submit an original essay between 250 and 500 words on an appropriate college application topic (as further described in FAQs). 

1. Top Essay (top vote geter) wins $1,000 scholarship:

There are no limitations on the number of essays a participant may submit, as long as each essay is an original work. Essays submitted will be posted on the web site, where site visitors can vote on who is most deserving. Each participant may vote for his own essay, only once per day. Limit one vote per person per essay per day. 

The determination of the Sponsor judges is final.  Sponsor reserves the right to post or not post any essays, and reject any essay entries, for any reason (i.e. suspicion of plagiarism or fraud), in its sole discretion. 
 

2. Top Voter wins $500 scholarship: Each registered user has the ability to vote for each essay submitted.  The user who enters the most votes, or evaluates the most number of essay submissions, will win a $500 scholarship. 

3. PRIZES/ODDS: One participant will win a $1,000 scholarship for the top essay. One scholarship prize winner will receive $500. Odds of winning the sweepstakes prize depends on the number of eligible entries received. Odds of winning the scholarship prize depends on the number of eligible entries received and the number of votes received. Scholarship winner will be selected by user voting, but Sponsor reserves the right to select a winner from among all eligible submissions received, regardless of the outcome of the vote. In the event of a tie, Sponsor reserves the right to select a winner. ALL FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL TAXES, AND ANY OTHER COSTS AND EXPENSES, ASSOCIATED WITH THE RECEIPT OR USE OF THE PRIZE ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNER. Prizes not transferable, except at discretion of Sponsor. Prizes awarded WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, express or implied, without limitation. Any prize won by an eligible minor will be awarded in the name of a parent or legal guardian. 

4. WINNER NOTIFICATION: The potential winners will be notified by e-mail, telephone, or regular mail within approximately three (3) days of identification. Return of any prize or prize notification as undeliverable, if Sponsor is unable to contact the potential winner after reasonable effort, or failure of potential winner to respond within three days of first attempted notification, will result in forfeiture of prize and selection of an alternate winner. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any potential winner who fails to comply with these official rules and Sponsor's requests, and award the prize to an alternate winner. 

5. INDIVIDUAL VOTING ONLY. Every vote must be manually keystroked and manually entered by the individual. Automated and/or repetitive electronic submission of votes (including but not limited to votes made using any script, macro, or bot) will be disqualified and transmissions from any related e-mail or IP addresses may be blocked. Sponsor may reject any vote it believes is the result of fraud or were submitted in violation of the official rules. 

6. GENERAL: The potential winner may be required to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility, a Liability Release, and, where legal, a Publicity Release, within ten (10) days of first attempted notification. If winner is a minor, minor's parent or legal guardian must execute these documents. In the event of noncompliance, the potential winner may be disqualified and an alternate winner selected, at Sponsor's sole discretion. By entering, participants (a) agree to be bound by the official rules and the decisions of the Sponsor which are final and binding in all respects; (b) agree to release Sponsor, and its employees and agents from any and all liability, loss, damage or injury resulting from participation in this Promotion or awarding, receipt, possession use and/or misuse of any prize awarded herein and acknowledge that Sponsor and its employees and agents have neither made nor are in any manner responsible or liable for any warranty, representation, or guarantee, express or implied, in fact or in law, relative to any prize including, but not limited to, its quality, mechanical condition or fitness for a particular purpose; and (c) consent to use of his/her name, photograph and/or likeness for advertising and promotional purposes in connection with this Promotion without additional compensation, unless prohibited by law. 

7. CERTIFICATION OF ORIGINAL WORK: By submitting an essay, each Participant represents and certifies under penalty of perjury, that the content of each essay is original and will not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of any third party.  By submitting an essay, each Participant irrevocably assigns to Sponsor all right, title, and interest in your submission in any and all media whether now known or hereafter devised, in perpetuity, anywhere in the world, with the right to make any and all uses thereof, including, without limitation, for purposes of advertising or trade. The rights granted under this paragraph shall extend to all submissions and all other submitted materials related to the Contest, including those submitted by non-winners and winners. By submitting a submission, you grant to Sponsor and its affiliated companies, the right, except where prohibited by law, to use your name, likeness, picture, address (city and state), e-mail address, voice, biographical information and written or oral statements, for advertising and promotional purposes in promoting or publicizing Sponsor and its products or services, without compensation unless required by law. You shall have no right of approval, no claim to compensation, and no claim (including, without limitation, claims based on invasion of privacy, defamation, or right of publicity) arising out of any use, blurring, alteration, or use in composite form of your name, picture, likeness, address (city and state), email address, biographical information, or entry. The rights granted under this paragraph shall extend to Sponsor and its affiliated companies with respect to all entrants in the Contest, including non-winners and winners. 

Participants are solely responsible for modifying their own Contents making them anonymous prior to the listing if they include any identifiable information. In addition, Sellers take full responsibility for proving that contents uploaded by themselves are indeed their own in case any dispute arises. 

All submissions must be original works. By submitting an entry, you represent and agree that your submission  

8. Sponsors’ Limitation of Liabilities and Reservation of Rights: Sponsors reserve the right to modify, alter, suspend the terms and conditions of the Promotion at any time and is not responsible for notifying Participants.  Sponsor also reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify, suspend or terminate the Promotion should a virus, bugs or other causes beyond the control of the Sponsor corrupt the administration, security or proper play of the Promotion. In such event, the prize will be awarded by Sponsor from among eligible entries received up to the date/time of corruption or modification, to the extent feasible. Sponsor is not responsible for late, lost, incomplete, or misdirected entries; computer system, phone line, electronic equipment, computer hardware, software or program malfunctions, or other errors; failures or delays in computer transmissions or network connections; problems downloading entries from the web site; or for any other technical problems related to web site entries. Sponsor is not responsible for incorrect or inaccurate entry information, whether caused by Internet users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Promotion, or by any technical or human error which may occur in the processing of the entries in the Promotion. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY A PERSON TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS SWEEPSTAKES IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. In the event of a dispute, entries will be declared made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at time of entry. "Authorized account holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, on-line service provider or other organization (e.g., business, educational, institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. 

9. DISPUTES: This Promotion is governed by the laws of the United States and the State of Connecticut, without respect to conflict of law doctrines.  

Binding arbitration clause 

As a condition of participating in this Promotion, participants agree that any and all disputes which cannot be resolved between the parties, and causes of action arising out of or in connection with this Promotion, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, exclusively before a court located in Connecticut having jurisdiction. Further, in any such dispute, under no circumstances will participants be permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waive all rights to claim punitive, incidental or consequential damages, including attorneys' fees, other than participant's actual out-of-pocket expenses (e.g. costs associated with entering), and participant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased. 

10. WINNER INFORMATION: For a copy of the winners list, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope by December 31, 2011. 

11. SPONSOR: The sponsor of this promotion is First Choice College Placement LLC