“Is it wrong to talk about your major in your common app essay?” (Reddit Post)
Each week, The Ivy Institute receives many questions from students and parents on platforms like Reddit and Quora. These inquiries span a wide range of topics related to college admissions, covering everything from standardized test advice and essay writing tips to scholarship opportunities and extracurricular guidance. After careful evaluation, we select a handful of these questions each week to feature on our website. These chosen questions are deemed particularly insightful, informative, or representative of common concerns shared by students embarking on their college journey. By highlighting these questions, along with our expert responses, we aim to create a valuable resource for all individuals navigating the college application process.
The subject of whether or not you should describe your major in the essay you submit with your Common Application is a complex one, and the answer depends on a variety of elements that are specific to both your academic and personal path. At The Ivy Institute, we subscribe to a rule that states that your Common Application essay should possess the strength and depth to stand get the student accepted on its own, irrespective of any mention of your resume or academic record (which should be just bonuses for why they should accept you!). This means that your essay should be able to convey everything that is important about you as an applicant.
In general, essays that focus only on a student's major or academic interests have a tendency to be classified as mundane because of their narrow focus. Such essays run the risk of becoming overly focused on technical details, which may cause the admissions officer to lose interest in you and divert attention away from the distinctive aspects of your personality and experiences that you wish to highlight.
Having said that, there are several notable departures from the norm. It is imperative that students address their majors in their essays if the academic interests of certain students are inextricably linked to their identities and the experiences they have had. In these circumstances, if it is carried out with imagination and dexterity, it has the potential to reveal priceless insights into the core of who you are and how your chosen subject has shaped the way you view the world.
Your Common Application essay should, in the end, operate as a preamble to your complete application, providing admissions officers with a comprehensive view of your history, life experiences, and the factors that have influenced your character and goals in life (and essentially the lens for which to review your entire application). It ought to be a window into the framework that you bring to your college experience and should hint at the possible majors and interests that you have. Discussing your major becomes essential and ought to be addressed if colleges specifically inquire about academic interests in the extra essays that applicants are required to submit.
In essence, while there is no answer that is applicable to everyone's situation, the most important thing is to find a happy medium that makes your essay interesting to read, reflects your specific experiences, and conveys something about your individual path. It ought to provide the admissions personnel with the opportunity to obtain insights into your personality and motives while also leaving them with a feeling of how you might contribute to the academic community and your potential future profession.
