How to Write the Emerson College Essays 2025-2026
Emerson College, located in Boston, draws students from around the world to its highly regarded academic programs in communication, the arts, and the liberal arts.
For this application cycle, Emerson College has two essays all applicants are required to respond to, one on why they’ve chosen their major and another with two options to choose from. Additionally, applicants to the Honors College and the Creative Circle Program will have to submit another essay for each of those programs.
Keep reading to find out our best tips, tricks, and advice for approaching and writing your Emerson essays!
Emerson College Supplemental Essay Prompts
All Applicants
Prompt 1: As you know, the academic programs at Emerson College are focused on communication and the arts. Please tell us what influenced you to select your major. If you’re undecided about your major, what attracted you to Emerson’s programs? Please be brief (100-200 words).
Prompt 2: Please respond, briefly in 100-200 words, to one of the following:
Option A: Much of the work that students do at Emerson College is a form of storytelling. If you were to write the story of your life until now, what would you title it and why? (100-200 words)
Option B: At its best, how does community benefit the individual, the whole, or both? (100-200 words)
Honors Program Applicants
Prompt: We often use metaphors to help us understand our world and persuade others. Write about a metaphor that you think is powerful, and explore its potential to be helpful and/or harmful in your thinking. (400-600 words)
Creative Circle Program Applicants
Prompt: What Does Community Mean to You? The Creative Scholars Program is rooted in the belief that strong communities empower individuals and inspire change. In 250 words or fewer, describe what community means to you. Share a story or personal reflection that shows how your understanding of community has shaped who you are. (250 words)
Prompt 1
As you know, the academic programs at Emerson College are focused on communication and the arts. Please tell us what influenced you to select your major. If you’re undecided about your major, what attracted you to Emerson’s programs? Please be brief (100-200 words).
This is a classic ”Why This Major” essay prompt. Since the word limit is brief, you should focus on a specific story or inspiration that ties into Emerson’s emphasis on communication and the arts. You need to show passion for the academic area you’ve chosen and demonstrate why Emerson is the perfect place for you to pursue it.
Keep in mind, it’s okay to not know exactly what you want to study in college. You can still respond to this prompt by talking about your interest in communication and the arts more generally, rather than honing in on a specific discipline.
However, for the purpose of this breakdown, we will assume you have a specific major in mind and go from there.
Brainstorming Your Essay
As you begin the writing process, you want to think about the specific moment that triggered an interest in your prospective major. Was there a moment in a class or extracurricular that stuck with you? Is there a specific piece of media (movie, musical, concert, etc.) that had a deep impact on you?
There might be multiple things that come to mind. For example, maybe a student who wants to major in Creative Writing was originally excited by the world of fantasy novels when their mom read the Harry Potter books to them when they were little. Writing their first short story in middle school was one of the most exhilarating things they have done, but they also knew creative writing was right for them when they realize they spend their morning bus rides coming up with character arcs.
While it would be great if this student could share all of that, for the sake of this essay, we recommend just choosing one of those moments—whichever one feels the most poignant—and expanding on it.
Tips for Writing Your Essay
Once you’ve figured out your field of study and gotten an idea of what you think you should write about, it’s time to plan out how you intend to tackle the prompt. For a prompt like this, a narrative approach is generally quite effective. Let’s take a look at one way you could structure this narrative essay.
Start with a vivid moment or snapshot showing your interest in action. Instead of something like “I have always considered myself a cinephile,” say something more like, “I can’t walk past a diner without framing it in my head as if it were the opening shot of a Scorsese film—neon reflections, coffee steam, and the clink of spoons all setting the mood.”
Evocative sensory details can serve as an immediate hook, drawing the reader into your unique personal background and story. From here, you’ll want to establish your personal connection to your field of choice. You don’t want to just tell a riveting story; you want to connect your narrative to the field, showcasing why it’s the field for you.
Make it clear you didn’t pick your major randomly. To do this, you should connect the dots among a few things:
- Why this area of study is meaningful to you.
- How that subject will prepare you for your goals.
- Why Emerson is the best place for you to pursue your major.
Let’s compare what a good and a bad example might look like for a student who is pursuing Emerson’s Acting major:
Bad Example: “When the lights go down and the curtain comes up, I come alive. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of performing on a stage for a full audience. I’ve done seven shows at my high school and five shows through a local community theater program, and I’ve loved every second of it. It doesn’t matter if I’m in the ensemble or if I’m playing Elle in Legally Blonde, I still find it just as exciting to create art on a stage. I dream of being on Broadway one day, which is why I’m so excited to study acting at Emerson. I think the education I get at Emerson will prepare me to be successful after graduation and hopefully set me on the path to Broadway.”
While this response does hit all the points your essay should include, it does it in a very formulaic and generic manner. It lacks the excitement that vivid details and imagery bring. The essay is just telling us this student loves to act, but the reader doesn’t get to see that with their own eyes.
Additionally, the admissions committee will find out how many shows you’ve done and where you did them through the activities section of your essay—listing them here as accomplishments is a waste of precious space and makes the response feel more like a rehashing of the student’s essay.
Finally, while they reference Emerson, this response lacks the specifics of why and how Emerson will help the student reach their goal of acting on Broadway. They need to include more details to show that there are specific programs or opportunities at Emerson that will make a tangible difference in their life trajectory.
Good Example: “There’s that blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, imperceptible to most, but treasured by me, right as the curtain lifts off the floor, a millisecond before the orchestration fills the room. The moment where there’s only an empty canvas, and the fate of the masterpiece lies in the hands of us, the artists. The exhilaration of knowing actors have the power to create empathy, humor, heartbreak, and inspiration has stuck with me from my first show, and I know it’ll power me all the way to the Great White Way.
But an artist is only as good as their tools and techniques, which is why I cannot wait to join the community of actors at Emerson, where I will learn how to turn a love for performing into a deeper appreciation of the craft behind stage acting. I cannot wait to bring the theory I learn in the classroom to life as part of the RareWorks Theater Company, and I hope I’ll join the Acting Studio as an upperclassman so I can immerse myself in an environment that is as close to Broadway as a college student can get.
My future is an empty canvas, and this is the moment I look forward to: seeing what I will create at Emerson.”
This essay is leaps and bounds better than the previous one because it really shows the reader what acting means to this student. The metaphor of being an artist bringing a masterpiece to life is not only great vivid imagery, but it also serves as a through-line throughout the entire essay. The student also elaborates on how Emerson will help them grow and achieve their dreams in more detail here. They include both an extracurricular and an academic opportunity that they are excited about that only Emerson could offer, but then they go the extra step to show what they will get out of those resources.
Prompt 2, Option A
Much of the work that students do at Emerson College is a form of storytelling. If you were to write the story of your life until now, what would you title it and why? (100-200 words)
This prompt asks you to reflect on your life and condense it into a meaningful title, while also explaining the reasoning behind your choice. It’s an opportunity to showcase your creativity, self-awareness, and storytelling ability—core values at Emerson College.
Brainstorming Your Essay
While brainstorming is always an important step, you should pay special attention to it for this essay since this is the type of question where you don’t want to run with the first idea that pops into your head.
Really sit down and reflect on your life up until this point. What stands out to you? We recommend working backwards for this prompt and focusing on what you want to convey about your life and picking a title from there. The following questions will be useful in guiding your brainstorming process:
- What are the most significant moments or experiences that have shaped who you are today?
- How would you describe your personality and approach to life?
- Are there recurring themes in your life, like overcoming challenges, seeking adventure, or finding your voice?
- What tone or mood would you want your story to convey—optimism, perseverance, humor, or something else?
- How does this title connect to who you are now, and who you hope to become?
Tips for Writing Your Essay
Your title will only be a few words, so you want to make sure you have a strong story (or stories) that exemplifies why you’ve chosen your title. These anecdotes will serve as the meat of your essay. The title is really only a vehicle for sharing your life story with the admissions officers.
Some students might want to open with their title upfront and others might want to share their story first and then conclude with their title. Both strategies are perfectly fine! You just want to make sure the title fits within the context of your story in a way that’s obvious, while still being creative and interesting.
Take a look at the following students and how they picked a title from their life stories:
- “Rewrites in Pencil”: Casey’s family has moved around three different times when she was a teenager, and this taught her how to adapt because she kept rewriting her personality and trying something new out when she moved. First, she was a quiet kid, then she became a class comedian, and then she found the school newspaper and her confidence. Each version of herself was like revising a draft of her personality. Not only does this title connect to Casey’s experiences of growing from place to place, but it also connects to her interest in journalism and writing.
- “Hyphenated”: Alex’s parents are Vietnamese and he feels like his life has been defined by being pulled between his Vietnamese family and his American friends. When he was at home he would lean into his Vietnamese heritage, and when he was at school he would try and fit in with his American friends. He came to appreciate that his identity doesn’t need to be a binary between Vietnamese or American. He now wears his hyphenated Vietnamese-American identity proudly.
- “Ctrl+Alt+Create”: Nikhil has two main passions: coding and working on the stage-crew for his school’s plays and musicals. Although most people see these as very different interests, to him they are connected by his love for creating something out of nothing. He has always come up with ideas for things and loves that coding and stage management allow him to actually turn those ideas into a reality, whether that’s through an app, web program, set pieces, or lighting.
- “The Ultimate Handbook to Becoming CJ Creigg”: Sasha’s favorite TV show is the West Wing and her favorite character is the president’s press secretary, CJ Creigg. Sasha takes inspiration for her life from this character that embodies wit, intellect, poise, and charm in her mind. She often asks herself, “What would CJ do?”. Since watching the West Wing, Sasha dreams of what it would be like to be a press secretary, and she looks forward to studying Political Communications.
Hopefully these examples show you how you can turn your life story into a snappy, memorable, funny, or endearing title.
Remember, Emerson places an emphasis on storytelling, so you want your response to be vivid and engaging. While coming up with a title is an act of self-reflection itself, don’t forget to show your reflections in your essay as well.
Prompt 2, Option B
At its best, how does community benefit the individual, the whole, or both? (100-200 words)
While this prompt is worded a bit differently from your usual Community essay, you should still approach it as you would any other essay that falls into this category.
Some students might make the mistake of approaching this question as they would an essay for their English class: being highly analytical. Don’t fall into this trap! You still want this essay to be about you. Use a community you are a member of to exemplify how community has benefitted you as an individual and/or the group as a whole.
Brainstorming Your Essay
Community can be defined in a multitude of ways, so when you are coming up with possible topics or examples for your essay, think big.
For example, all of the following could be communities students write about:
- A sports team
- A club or members of an extracurricular group
- A religious community
- A racial or ethnic community
- A neighborhood or apartment building
- People with similar hobbies
- An online group
Do keep in mind that, after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action, the way colleges evaluate race in admissions will be different this year. While schools can no longer factor race into their broader admissions strategies, they can still consider it on an individual level, through essays. So, if you would like to share how your racial background has shaped you and inspires you to become an agent of change, you might want to highlight that community.
As you brainstorm, think about more than just your communities you are part of—think about how being a member of the community helped you grow. What skills or traits have you developed as a result? Also consider the impact you had on others. Is the community better off because you were a part of it? How so?
Tips for Writing Your Essay
In terms of writing your essay, you want to make sure you address the prompt of how community is beneficial, however, you don’t want to start out by saying, “Community can benefit individuals and the larger group because…” Instead, you want to begin by sharing your experiences with your community.
Draw the reader in with an anecdote. For example, a student who writes about their online community of Andrew Lloyd Webber fans might start with a sentence like this: “We are separated by state lines, mountain ranges, and even oceans, yet we all understand the power the opening notes of Phantom of the Opera hold.” This is a more descriptive way to show us that this community is online and has to do with musical appreciation.
Since you don’t have a ton of space, you shouldn’t spend more than a sentence or two defining your community. You want a majority of your essay to be dedicated to your reflection on how community has played an important role in your life. Whether you choose to show that community benefits individuals or the whole group (we recommend showing both if you can!), you want to make sure you make it clear what the impact is specifically.
For example, consider a student who is writing about their Debate Club as their community. Here’s a good example of how they can show what the significance of the community is:
“Swallowing the lump in my throat, I gingerly walked to the front of the room. But when I glanced up from the paper crumbled in my trembling hands, all I saw were smiling faces and encouraging nods. My breath steadied out as I realized I could just talk to my friends Jack and Derek in the front row. Even projecting didn’t seem difficult—I was just making sure Robbie in the back was included in the conversation. After that, it was easy to talk to crowds and address entire auditoriums at tournaments; I just imagined I was talking to my friends and they were nodding along.”
This example provides a vivid image of how a student leaned on the support and presence of their community to conquer their fear of public speaking and go on to be quite successful, even competing in debate tournaments. It’s very clear how an individual can benefit from community because this student shows us exactly how they’ve benefitted.
A good way to conclude this example would be to also talk about how the student benefits the Debate Club community as well—maybe they go on to be a mentor for younger students or they use their new-found public speaking skills to advocate for the Debate Club when funding was going to be cut, etc. That way, there would be a nice balance between showing the benefits to individuals and groups, all the while keeping the student’s reasoning grounded in real examples from their own experiences.
Honors Program Prompt
We often use metaphors to help us understand our world and persuade others. Write about a metaphor that you think is powerful, and explore its potential to be helpful and/or harmful in your thinking. (400-600 words)
This prompt asks you to choose a metaphor that resonates with you and explore its effects on your thinking. Emerson’s Honors Program wants to see your critical thinking skills, creativity, and ability to engage with complex ideas. You should analyze both the positive and negative aspects of the metaphor, showing a nuanced understanding of how language shapes thought.
Brainstorming Your Essay
The metaphor you choose can come from anywhere—literature, pop culture, personal experience—but it should be one that you find personally meaningful and worth exploring in depth.
It might be helpful to start writing out as many metaphors that come to mind. Sift through the generic or overused ones like “Life is a journey”, “The world is a stage”, “The light at the end of the tunnel”, etc. While it’s possible to write strong essays with one of these more commonly-used metaphors, it’s a lot more difficult to stand out, and for the Honors College you want to demonstrate your ability to go above and beyond the low hanging fruit (hey, another metaphor!).
As you jot down your metaphors, ask yourself the following questions:
- Does the metaphor influence your mindset in a positive way, a negative way, or both? How?
- What are the limitations or potential pitfalls of this metaphor? Can it oversimplify things or mislead people?
- How does the metaphor apply to your life, experiences, or interests?
- Why do you find this metaphor compelling? How has it shaped your understanding of the world?
Tips for Writing Your Essay
This prompt isn’t just looking for a metaphor you find interesting; Emerson is using it to learn more about how you approach complex issues. They are looking to see your thought process around nuanced topics. For that reason, you want to make sure your essay highlights your way of thinking about a particular topic or the world as a whole.
You can accomplish this through anecdotes. For example, say you choose the metaphor “The world is a stage.” You might tell a story about how you were hanging out with friends when you got a call from your grandparents and you completely changed the pitch of your voice, the language you were using, and even highlighted different aspects of your day when you were talking to your grandparents. This experience highlights how we are constantly performing our personality depending on who our audience is. It makes you think more deeply about who we actually are when we aren’t performing for anyone, and if there is such a thing as “backstage” if the whole world is the stage.
Another student might choose “I’m walking on sunshine” as their metaphor because it’s their favorite song. They could write about the time they auditioned for all-county chorus and they jubilation they felt knowing they nailed the audition. That feeling of flying so high that you feel light and buoyant is perfectly encapsulated by the metaphor. However, while sunshine feels great in the moment, it can also burn you. They can explore the negative side of this metaphor by sharing how after joining all-county chorus, they didn’t have enough time to participate in their school’s chorus and they had to drop out to make time for their new commitment.
What’s important is that your essay goes beyond the surface-level analysis of what this metaphor means to explore the deeper implications. How does the metaphor help you make sense of the world? But at the same time, how is it a limited perspective? Or maybe you think it could be a potentially harmful way of thinking—explain how.
Example Essay
“When I think about life, the metaphor that resonates most with me is this: life is a mixtape. Every song is a memory, a turning point, a feeling that demands to be replayed or skipped. Unlike an album with a single theme, a mixtape is messy, eclectic, and deeply personal—just like the way we grow.
My first “track” might be the upbeat laughter of family karaoke nights, where my dad belted ‘80s ballads slightly off-key and I sang backup with my cousins. Those evenings weren’t polished, but they instilled in me a sense of belonging. Later, my mixtape gained more discordant notes—moving schools twice in three years meant awkward lunches where I sat quietly, unsure of the rhythm of my new classmates. At the time, I wanted to fast-forward. Yet looking back, those tracks taught me resilience; every silence in the cafeteria made me more determined to find my voice.
The power of this metaphor lies in how it highlights both harmony and contrast. A mixtape works because it has variety: the soaring chorus followed by a hushed ballad, the nostalgic track right after the bold experiment. In the same way, life’s contradictions—joy and disappointment, security and change—give it texture. When I joined the debate team, for example, it felt like adding an unexpected but energizing beat to my playlist. Standing in front of judges, speaking persuasively, and sometimes fumbling over words gave me confidence I didn’t know I had. Without the quiet, uncertain songs from earlier chapters, that bold track wouldn’t have meant as much.
But the mixtape metaphor also has limitations, which is why it’s powerful to interrogate it. A mixtape is curated; someone chooses the order of the songs. Real life, however, is more chaotic. You can’t always skip the track you don’t like or put your favorite one on repeat. I’ve learned this especially in moments of loss, when I wanted desperately to change the soundtrack but couldn’t. Those “unskippable” tracks reminded me that growth isn’t always about control—it’s about learning to sit with discomfort until the next beat begins.
Still, the mixtape metaphor helps me think about life in a way that feels hopeful. A mixtape is meant to be shared. When I make playlists for friends—carefully ordering songs to fit a mood—I realize how much of myself is reflected in what I give away. Life, too, is about what we contribute to others’ soundtracks: the encouragement offered to a struggling classmate, the inside joke that becomes someone else’s favorite refrain, the presence we bring when words fall short.
In the end, metaphors like “life is a race” or “life is a ladder” can feel rigid, built on winning or climbing. The mixtape metaphor is more forgiving. It makes space for experimentation, false starts, and surprising remixes. It allows me to see myself not as someone rushing to finish but as someone constantly recording, editing, and discovering new sounds. And just like a good mixtape, my life is far from finished—I’m still adding tracks, still figuring out how the songs fit together, and still excited to share the evolving playlist with others.”
Creative Circle Program Prompt
What Does Community Mean to You? The Creative Scholars Program is rooted in the belief that strong communities empower individuals and inspire change. In 250 words or fewer, describe what community means to you. Share a story or personal reflection that shows how your understanding of community has shaped who you are. (250 words)
This prompt is similar to Option B of the second prompt, so if you are applying to the Creative Circle Program you might want to choose Option A so your essays aren’t redundant. Like Option B, you need to share what community means to you through a story exploring one of the communities you are a part of.
Remember, you can define community in a multitude of ways, so don’t feel like you are limited to talking about an organized group. The following topics could all make for great responses to this question:
- A religious group you belong to
- A sports team
- Your family (nuclear or extended)
- An online community (i.e. BookTok, Reddit groups, etc.)
- A group of friends
- Racial or ethnic groups
- People who participate in a unique hobby
The key for this essay is to show that community—in whatever form it might take—is a central part of your life and has impacted your personal development. You will be joining a tight-knit community if you are accepted to the Creative Circle, so you need to demonstrate to the admissions officers that you already appreciate the benefits of being part of a community.
How do you do that effectively? With an anecdote! You don’t just want your anecdote to describe your community though (although you do need to provide context as to what your community is). You also need to demonstrate why this existing community is important to you by showing what you’ve gained or learned as a result of being part of it. Finally, you should also allude to how you are excited to continue benefiting from communities when you join the Creative Circle.
Let’s look at an example that does this effectively:
“‘Zip, zap, zop!’ The words bounced around the backstage like sparks, each of us passing the energy from one to another. It was the same ritual before every performance—an odd little theater game that, to an outsider, might seem silly. But for us, standing in a nervous circle moments before the curtain rose, it was a reminder that we weren’t stepping onto that stage alone. We were connected, our breaths and laughter syncing together until the anxiety melted into a collective rhythm.
That circle taught me what community really means: it’s not about one person shining, but about everyone lifting each other up. In theater, I’ve had nights where I’ve missed a line or stumbled onstage, but I always knew my castmates would be there to steady me. Being part of this community has shown me the power of trust, encouragement, and vulnerability. It’s a place where I’ve learned to give as much as I take, to cheer as loudly from the wings as I do when I’m center stage.
The warmth of those pre-show circles has shaped how I see community beyond the stage. It’s about creating spaces where people feel supported enough to take risks and bold enough to grow. At Emerson, I’m excited to find that same energy in the Creative Scholars Program—a circle of peers pushing one another to explore, to fail, to succeed, and most of all, to believe in the strength of doing it together.”
Where to Get Your Emerson College Essays Edited For Free
Do you want free, nearly-instantaneous feedback on your Emerson College essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. So meet Sage, our AI tutor and advisor, who will rate your essay, give you suggestions for improvement, and summarize what admissions officers would take away from your writing. Sage can improve your chances of acceptance to your dream school by helping you show what you have to offer beyond the numbers!
