Why Wellesley: College Admission Essay Sample

Our Socratic reading group is the ultimate unconventional cult, nine curious high schoolers and a college professor gathering every weekend to discuss the practicality of anarchy, the life of the mind, and the cosmological divine. Here, I learned things my school curriculum couldn’t teach me: how to break down an independent film philosophically, how to make the perfect latte, how scan a second-hand bookstore and spot that dust-covered Greek tragedy. Soon, I knew I didn’t just want any liberal-arts college, but one with specifically designed interdisciplinary programs fusing literature and art. I’m constantly intrigued by mediums of story-telling: graphic novels, films, musicals. Equally fascinated with form, with the infinite architecture of human visual art, I want to construct dialogues between people and places. Through Wellesley’s art department and English major’s creative writing concentration, I hope to thoroughly explore cinematographic screenwriting and illustration, a world where I can bridge the gap between literature and design.

And my vision of art does not stop there. As a student, I’ve traveled extensively, deeply fascinated by hotel décor, the spiraling bird installations, cubist-inspired couches under dim light. Design engulfs us, unconsciously altering our existence. When did kitsch trends begin to dominate the aesthetics of my generation? I was passionately discussing this with a Wellesley alumnus when she told me, that with the intensity in which I like to observe contemporary patterns, I’d enjoy Wellesley’s interdepartmental program that combines media studies and studio art.

After two campus visits and extensive research, I found that many of the cutting-edge courses in Wellesley’s studio arts major resonated with my current interests. I began to dream that, as a freshman, I could take Professor Berman’s Persuasive Images course and look into how the artist’s role has changed in the context of globalized art circulation. At Wellesley, I’ll be constantly inspired by the on-campus Davis Museum, the expansive workspaces, and Boston’s myriad art galleries. The flexible structure of Wellesley’s concentrations would not only allow me to combine my interests in Eastern poetics with media-design, but also explore literary traditions to elevate the depth of my work. Besides academics, I look forward to initiating Wellesley’s very first Poetry Slam, ultimately performing in the Jewett Arts Center and interning at Counterpoint or national Slate Magazine. Immersed in the creative, professional atmosphere here at Wellesley, I’ll be able to fully express my ideas, to connect with an audience which has yet to take its seat and, perhaps, to embolden and affect them someday.