Frequently Asked Questions & Answers

Q. Is your pageant coming to my city?
A. You do not have to wait for a pageant to come to you and you do not need to travel to a pageant! Since we are a mail-in competition all you need to do is send in your entry at your convenience. We do the judging here and mail your prizes to you!

Q. When is the pageant for my city?
A. To find out if a pageant for your city has been held yet this year, you may to write us and ask. If you are the first contestant from your city for this year, we will set a pageant date when your entry arrives, usually 30 - 45 days later. We will e-mail you with your pageant date when your entry arrives.

Q. What is the difference between a City Princess and a City Queen?
A. The City Princess is chosen based on the score of her application and essay. The City Queen is chosen by the score on her application/essay combined with the scores of two optional competitions. If she enters more than two optionals, her two highest scores will be used. The City Queen has a higher title, larger tiara, larger trophy, and is eligible to run for State Queen.

Q. How much documentation and information should I include with my entry?
A. At the local level you don't need a lot of information. You will probably want to include more information than there is room for on the application. Feel free to retype the application and use as much room as you need to answer the questions. However, the judges do not want to read through pages, and pages, and pages of information. Only include important information if it is more than 5 to 10 years old. If you are 25 years old, you don't need to include the spelling bee you won in second grade. :) You don't need to send us a copy of every certificate you have ever received. Just choose the ones most important to you. When you receive your score sheet from your local competition, the judges will let you know if you need to include more information for the state competition.

Q. Do I need to send a videotape if I enter the talent competition?
A. Feel free to send one if you have one available. However, videotapes for the talent competition are not usually necessary at the local level. You will probably want to send one in for the state level.

Q. Is the photogenic fee per picture?
A. No. You may send up to five pictures for the one optional fee.

Q. Can you give me referrals from past contestants?
A. First, read the comments in our guestbook. A lot of our past contestants have left their comments for you to read. If you still want more referrals, you may write us and we will ask some of our contestants to e-mail you.

Q. What are my chances? How many girls/women will I be running against?
A. Although we are America's largest mail-in pageant system, we are not a huge pageant. We usually don't receive more than one entry per age division per city. It is likely that you will win your local title. At the state level, there are usually only about two contestants per age division per state. Some states may have larger competitions ( up to 12 contestants), but there still probably won't be more than five contestants per age division. Even at the National level you won't be competing against 50 other contestants.  

Q. I am about to have a birthday, what age division do I enter?
A. Your age division is determined by your age at the time you send your application in. If you will be old enough for the next age division within 30 days of sending your application in, you may enter under the next age division.

Q. Can a run for the title of a city I don't live in?
A. You may run for the title of a city if  you live, work, go to school, do volunteer work there, etc. Or if you live in a very small city and wish to represent a larger nearby city, that is fine also. If you are not sure, contact the director. Also, if there are two siblings from the same family competing in the same age division, we suggest you run for two different cities.

Q. What is my entry fee used for?
A. Prizes (including shipping) 78%,  Web site maintenance 9%,  Fees (business licenses, banking, etc)  4%,  Judges  3%,  Office supplies  1%,  Advertising  1%,  Charitable contributions  1%,  Misc. 2%. We are not here to make a lot money. Our main goal is to recognize and reward you for your accomplishments!

Q. After the local competition, can I make changes to my entry before the state competition?
A. Yes. Your local competition, state competition, and national competition are three separate competitions. You may make any changes to your entry that you wish. It is to your benefit to read the judges' comments on your score sheet and make changes accordingly if you wish to continue on in competition.|

Q. Can I get sponsors to pay my entry fees?
A. Yes. You may pay your entry fee yourself, ask friends or family to help you, or find local businesses to sponsor you. 

Q. Do you give a discount if other members of my family enter?
A. Yes. You may take $5 off every Miss American Rose entry after the first.

Q. May I enter even if I am married?
A. Yes. Marital status does not matter.

Q. My friend/sister and I want to enter, but we don't want to compete against each other. What can we do?
A. One of you may enter for a nearby city. Perhaps one of you attends school, church, works, or has some connection with another city you can represent.