<p>I've been reading on CC about passion and how that looks good for college admissions. Does it matter if the passion is not the intended area of study?</p>
<p>Junior S is very passionate about playing bass guitar. He is in 3 bands at church, 2 jazz bands at high school, plays for the summer community musicals, has his own band in which he writes the lyrics and music and they play around town and at benefits, etc. Definitely passionate about music in general and loves playing bass. </p>
<p>I don't know yet what his intended major will be but does the passion only count if it is in your intended major?</p>
<p>He's been like this almost all of his life where he throws himself into whatever the current area of interest is.</p>
<p>Colleges don’t expect teenagers to know what they’re going to do their entire life, let alone for all of college.</p>
<p>But they do want to know that candidates have the <em>potential</em> to be passionate about something, as demonstrated by their passion in HS.</p>
<p>Adcomms want passionate people, not necessarily people passionate about the major. (Though it does help to be passionate about the major, especially at certain schools.)</p>
<p>No, it doesn’t matter. My d was a dancer in high school - that was her life. She’s now at a top school that doesn’t even have a dance major. She dances recreationally now. But her passion certainly helped her admissions results.</p>
<p>One of the reasons that admissions officers look at the applicant’s passion is to see what he can bring to the college community. It looks like your son would bring a lot to a college community (as my daughter does dancing), so I think he’s fine.</p>
<p>Well, indeed it does help to mention your passions, I’m sure adcoms want to see that you have a life goal and aren’t just going to college to waste your time…</p>
<p>However, I do believe it’s best to RELATE your passion with YOUR CAREER, LIFE AT COLLEge/AFTER COLLEGE, COMMUNITY SERVICE, maybe even, CLUBS AND VOLUNTEER.</p>
<p>Think about it…you can write about “how much you love to play music” but if u only write about that, where’s the college-oriented point? Sure, u love to play music but what do u want to do with it?</p>
<p>Even if it’s not your major, if u can relate your passion to something important in your life such as a hardship, perhaps a dream, something u had to fight for, etc.
then it is MUCH more appealing than just saying how much u love your passion.</p>
<p>My advise, Write about your passion and make sure to relate it to your future, to your life, make it personal and without any generalizations.</p>