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Maryland  /  Essays  /  Prompt 1

Maryland: Academic interests beyond your major

650 characters (about 100 words)

In addition to my major, my academic interests include…
What it’s really asking

This is the closest thing Maryland has to a "why us / academic fit" prompt. They want to see that your mind does not stop at your intended major and that you will use the breadth of a large research university. Note that Maryland asks you to select an intended major elsewhere in the application, so this prompt is your chance to show what else pulls at you.

Why they ask it

Maryland is a sprawling public flagship with strong programs far outside any single department. Readers use this to picture you wandering into a class or lab you were not required to take. It signals intellectual curiosity, which predicts who actually thrives there.

Three ways in
Name a surprising second field

Pick one field that genuinely tugs at you and give one concrete reason it does, ideally one that connects in an unexpected way to your major.

Point to self-directed reading

Describe a specific question or topic you keep reading about on your own, with no assignment attached, which proves the interest is real.

Cite an actual Maryland path

Reference a real UMD course, minor, or living-learning program that lets you chase the side interest, to show you have looked rather than guessed.

✕  Weak opening

“In addition to my major, I have always had a wide range of academic interests and love learning about many different subjects.”

✓  Strong opening

“In addition to computer science, I want to keep taking linguistics classes. I started after I tried, and failed, to teach my code to rhyme.”

✦ Annotated example · Beyond the major: linguistics. Written by EssayLens to teach, not a real applicant’s essay. Tap a highlighted line →
In addition to my major, computer science, my academic interests include the strange engineering of human language. 1I keep a notebook of "untranslatables," like the Georgian word for the day after tomorrow, 2and the German Treppenwitz, the perfect comeback you only think of on the stairs. I have spent a regrettable number of evenings arguing about whether emoji count as grammar. 3Syntax trees, I have decided, are just functions for sentences, 4which is why I want to keep studying both at Maryland.5
  1. 1Names the major and pivots immediately to a second, genuinely different field. Maryland rewards range across interests, and this signals a wide mind without padding.
  2. 2A concrete, oddly specific detail. This is exactly the over-polish-free specificity the prompt rewards, and it shows curiosity rather than just claiming it.
  3. 3Self-aware humor in a believable teenage voice. The wink keeps the tone genuine instead of resume-stiff.
  4. 4Quietly links the second interest back to the major, showing the mind connecting fields rather than listing them.
  5. 5Lands the through-line, names the school, and closes tight against the 650-character limit without filler.
Stuck? Start here
  • Outside your intended major, what topic do you read about with zero assignment forcing you to?
  • Is there a surprising bridge between your major and a totally different field that you find satisfying?
  • What Maryland minor, course, or program would let you keep chasing that second interest?
Before you submit
  • Did I name a specific second field, not just "lots of subjects"?
  • Did I give a concrete reason or moment, not a generic claim about loving to learn?
  • Does this answer avoid repeating what I already say about my major elsewhere?

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