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Emerson  /  Essays  /  Prompt 1

Emerson: Why Major / Why Emerson

100-200 words

As you know, the academic programs at Emerson College are focused on communication and the arts. Please tell us what influenced you to select your major. If you're undecided about your major, what attracted you to Emerson's programs? Please be brief (100-200 words).
What it’s really asking

Emerson wants to know what pulled you toward your specific major (or toward its arts-and-communication programs if you are undecided), and what about Emerson in particular fits. If you are applying to a program that requires a creative sample, you will submit that separately in the Admission Portal after applying; this essay is still expected. Treat this as part origin story, part fit statement.

Why they ask it

As a small school built entirely around communication and the arts, Emerson is checking that you understand what you are choosing and that you already practice it in some form. They are screening for makers who will thrive in a hands-on, collaborative, production-heavy environment, not students who like the idea of media from a distance.

Three ways in
Start mid-craft

Open on a specific moment you were making something in your field, then trace how that pulled you toward the major.

Find the throughline if undecided

Name what connects the Emerson programs that attract you (storytelling, audience, craft) and give one concrete experience that proves the pull.

Anchor in one Emerson specific

Pick one or two named Emerson specifics (a track, course, the EVVYs, WERS, the LA program) and show how they extend what you already do.

✕  Weak opening

“Ever since I was a little kid, I have been passionate about film and its power to tell stories that move people.”

✓  Strong opening

“My documentary about the closing diner ran four minutes and took me eleven weekends, mostly because I refused to cut the part where the cook cried.”

✦ Annotated example · Why Major: Audio Documentary. Written by EssayLens to teach, not a real applicant’s essay. Tap a highlighted line →
The first thing I ever produced was an accident. I left a voice recorder running during my grandfather's eightieth birthday, and when I played it back I heard the part nobody performs for a camera: the long pauses, the way his Tagalog softened when he talked about the farm he left. 1I started carrying that recorder everywhere. I cut a four-minute piece about the night-shift workers at our local bakery and posted it to a podcast feed almost nobody followed. 2Editing taught me that meaning lives in what you cut. A breath left in or taken out changes whether a sentence sounds like grief or relief. 3After a while I stopped asking people for stories and started just listening for them, which turned out to be the harder skill. 4I want to study Audio Documentary at Emerson because the program treats sound as reporting, not just decoration, and because workshops here ship finished work into the world instead of leaving it on a hard drive. 5I already have the recorder. I want the discipline to use it well.6
  1. 1Opens on a concrete object and a specific made thing (a recording), signaling 'maker, not just admirer' from the first line, exactly what Emerson rewards.
  2. 2Shows initiative and actual production with specifics (length, subject, distribution), not vague 'passion for media.'
  3. 3A genuine craft insight earned from doing the work, which reads as authentic rather than borrowed.
  4. 4Adds a reflective beat that deepens the voice and shows growth without inflating accomplishments.
  5. 5Names the specific program and a real feature of Emerson's culture (making and publishing), proving fit.
  6. 6Closes with a tight, voice-forward line that echoes the opening object and avoids cliche.
Stuck? Start here
  • What is one thing you actually made or did in your field, and what did you learn in the moment it almost did not work?
  • Which one Emerson specific (program, track, course, club, the LA semester, an award show like the EVVYs) genuinely matches what you already do?
  • What is the throughline that connects your past making to the future you want at Emerson?
Before you submit
  • Does most of the essay focus on you and your making, with only a little space spent praising the field?
  • Did you name at least one real, accurate Emerson specific rather than a generic line that fits any film or comm school?
  • Is the essay between 100 and 200 words with no filler sentences?

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