How To Write The "Why This Major" College Essay

The example below establishes in the first paragraph a thematic thread: storytelling. The second paragraph then explains how her particular major would take her storytelling to the next level. Take a look:

Why Literary Arts or Modern Culture and Media?

My whole life, storytelling has shaped me. When I lived in London, my parents would read me The Lion King every night until I’d memorized the whole book. In elementary school, I would curl up in my bed, warm lamplight making my room golden, listening to my dad bring to life classics like Wilderness Champion and Tom Sawyer. Later, I found audio storytelling, laughing hysterically at Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me on the car ride to school and connecting to a radio network of humanity through This American Life. It wasn’t long before I got hooked on visual narratives, mesmerized by the cinematic intensity of Whiplash and the whimsical world of Moonrise Kingdom, alternate realities I could explore as if they were my own. By high school, I was creating my own array of stories through satirical school newspaper articles, analysis of mise-en-scene in film class, podcasting, and my own locally-broadcasted radio series.

A concentration in the Literary Arts or Modern Culture and Media is the next step in my life of storytelling. The dynamic world of connection and vulnerability a well-told story can create is what continues to fascinate me. At Brown, I would explore how engaging narratives have been told in the past and can be innovated in the future through new digital platforms. Whether researching radio’s historical impact on public opinion during World War II or the Vietnam War, developing screenplays, producing my own documentary or learning from Writers-In-Residence, I hope to pioneer networks of connection. (250 words)

Outline:

Part 1: Establish “storytelling” as thematic thread

• Mom and dad reading me The Lion King before bed

• Dad reading me Wilderness Champion and Tom Sawyer

• Audio storytelling: Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, This American Life

• Visual storytelling: Whiplash, Moonrise Kingdom

• Creating my own stories: school newspaper articles, film class analysis, podcasting, local radio series

Part 2: Why Literary Arts or Modern Culture and Media

• Next step in my journey

• Values: connection and vulnerability

• Explore history of storytelling (past) + digital platforms (future)

• Ways I might do this: studying impact of radio during wars, writing screenplays, producing a documentary, or learning from Writers-In-Residence

• End on the theme of “connection,” to tie things together