Essay topic not matching up with major

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Hi CC, I'm applying to ChemE in Cornell Engineering. </p>

<p>College of Engineering: Tell us about an engineering idea you have, or
about your interest in engineering. Describe how your ideas and interests
may be realized by—and linked to—specific resources within the College
of Engineering. Finally, explain what a Cornell Engineering education will
enable you to accomplish. </p>

<p>I'm trying to clarify if I'm making mistakes while writing the supplemental essay because I'm thinking about including several topics outside of chemistry in my essay. My initial interest in engineering was due to math and physics, at least to a greater extent than chemistry. In high school, I became very interested in chemistry: became an officer of chemistry team, participated in chemistry olympiad/other contests, and took 3 consecutive years of chemistry classes (up to organic). On the other hand, I worked at a tech startup over the summer and continue to work part-time over the year (My school has a special program for that.). I've worked in both research and development (CS/Mobile apps) and sales (actually interacting with others). So this has sparked my desire to become cofounder of a startup on the side of my day job, which I expect to be ChemE. I also have some community service oriented goals, based around 400 hrs of tutoring/teaching.</p>

<p>Am I overthinking this? Would a college like Cornell care that I have all these interests or should I be a little more conservative and focused in my essay towards chemistry? I've heard most colleges are fairly flexible about changing majors as long as they are within the same college. Would this be the case with Cornell?</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>Cornell is very big on “fit” and they say on their website how important it is to answer the prompt. You need to have researched the CoE and all the resources within the college, different classes available, seminars, research opportunities etc. in order to answer this. As long as you can tie your other interests into your love of engineering, then you should be fine. </p>

3

<p>I think that the supplement essay is just a way for the admissions committee to get to know you a little better and think of you as more than just a bunch of numbers. I would recommend that you write an essay that is genuine even if the entire thing doesn’t focus on ChemE. If you talk about your experience at the start-up and community service you are more likely to stand out than if you just write what you think they want to hear about ChemE. Keep in mind that the undergraduate admissions process brings you into the College of Engineering without a departmental affiliation no matter what you specify as your intended major, so your candidacy will be considered in that broader context rather than just Chemical Engineering. Regardless of what you decide to do, I would highly recommend doing some research on the department website and mentioning some specific professors and research groups that particularly interest you, as I think that can get you some extra points when it counts. Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Thank you annwank. </p>

<p>Thank you very much Billium, exactly the answer I was looking for.</p>