As top universities launch more interdisciplinary programs, incorporating an “interdisciplinary” passion into our college essays has become a growing trend. The approach can strengthen our application, but only if the passion is genuine and the essay describes it effectively.

The word “interdisciplinary” literally means “involving two or more academic, scientific, or artistic disciplines.” The prefix “inter” means “between” or “among.” While words like “multidisciplinary” share a similar meaning, “interdisciplinary” carries the sense of merging ideas across boundaries.

The word is frequently used in academic and professional contexts. In business, for instance, Boeing has partnered with the University of Washington (UW) on the Boeing Advanced Research Collaboration (BARC), “an interdisciplinary Boeing-UW partnership for the future of flight.” According to its webpage, the program combines fields like “new materials, digital twins, data-driven engineering, robotics, and human-technology.”

At top universities, interdisciplinary programs, such as MIT’s B.S. program in Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science and Brown University’s Sc.B. program in Design Engineering, have been created to equip students with the skills to tackle real-world issues. These programs are fiercely competitive, with acceptance rates often falling below 3%.

However, not everyone is convinced by the idea of pursuing an interdisciplinary degree as an undergraduate. Critics argue that breadth can come at the expense of depth. They suggest that undergraduates might be better off choosing a major, with a minor in a different field, to build a solid foundation before deciding if they are interested in pursuing interdisciplinary studies in graduate school.

Agree or not, describing our interdisciplinary passions in college essays might give us a slight advantage if we hit the right note.

Here is a hypothetical example from a poorly-written college application essay: “I love music, and I play violin, piano, and drum since childhood. Music helps me relax. At the same time, I am interested in computer science. I enjoy creating my own digital world through coding. Due to my love of both areas, I want to pursue an interdisciplinary major in music technology.”

This version talks about the student’s interests in both music and computer science, but it does not explore what lies between them. The student’s love for music (Area A) and computer science (Area B) does not automatically translate into a passion for their intersection (Area C). This version stops short of explaining why that space between them matters.

The paragraph could be revised as follows, “Music has always been a huge part of my life. Since I was little, I’ve found joy in playing the violin, piano, and drum. When I started coding at the age of 10, I realized that creating my own digital world through coding gave me the same sense of fulfillment as playing music. For a long time, music and coding felt like two separate worlds until my AP CS Principles class, where I created a simple music app that generated melodies and helped kids learn music. I was fascinated by how algorithms could turn lines of code into melodies. I then began exploring digital audio workstations and music visualization, and I love using technology to bring music to life.”

This version works because it clearly shows a progression: why and how the student loves Area A (music), then why and how he loves Area B (CS), and finally, why and how he loves Area C (music technology). If we put it in math terms, Area C is not A + B, but A ∩ B. What makes the student’s passion unique is that Area C is not the sum of A and B. Instead, it is a distinct intersection between the two fields, full of creativity and possibilities. 

随着知名大学陆续推出跨学科项目，在大学申请文书中巧妙融入自己“跨学科”的兴趣，已经成为一种趋势。它能为申请文书助力，但前提是这样的兴趣真实真诚，而且表述得当。

“跨学科”(interdisciplinary)一词的字面意思是“涉及两种或更多的学术、科学、或艺术领域”。它的前缀是“inter”，表示“在……之间”或“在……之中”。虽然“多学科” (multidisciplinary)等词与它意思相近，但“跨学科”一词的内涵中，带有跨越边界的融合意味。

这个词常见于学术和职业领域。例如，在商界，波音公司与华盛顿大学合作开展波音先进研究合作项目，这是“两者之间的跨学科合作，旨在探索飞行的未来”。该项目融合了“新材料、数字孪生技术、数据驱动工程、机器人技术和人机技术”等领域。

在知名大学中，跨学科项目，譬如麻省理工学院的横跨计算机科学、经济学、数据科学的跨学科本科专业以及布朗大学名为“设计工程学”的跨学科本科专业，都旨在培养学生解决问题的多样化技能。这些项目的入学竞争非常激烈，录取率常低于3%。

然而，并非所有人都认同在大学本科阶段修习跨学科专业。批评者认为，广度可能会牺牲深度。他们建议，本科生不妨选择一个主修专业，同时可以辅修另一个领域，从而打下扎实的学业基础，然后再决定，是否有兴趣在研究生阶段攻读跨学科专业。

无论赞同与否，我们在大学申请文书中描述跨学科兴趣，有可能会为我们带来一点优势，但前提是描述得当。

以下是一篇写得不好的大学申请文书的示例：“我喜欢音乐，我从小就弹小提琴、钢琴和击鼓。音乐帮助我放松。同时，我对计算机科学也感兴趣。我喜欢通过编程创造我自己的数字世界。由于我热爱这两个领域，所以我想要选择一个跨学科的音乐科技专业。”

这个文书版本谈到了学生对音乐和计算机科学的兴趣，但没有探讨这两个领域之间的联系。学生同时热爱音乐（领域A）和计算机科学（领域B），但并不意味着学生对两者的交集（领域C）一定感兴趣。这个版本没有解释为什么两者之间的联系非常重要。

这个文书段落也许可以这样修改：“音乐一直是我生活的重要组成部分。从小我就喜欢弹小提琴、钢琴和打鼓。当10岁开始学习编程时，我发现以编程创造数字世界，带来同样的满足感。很长时间里，音乐和编程似乎是两个完全不同的世界，直到在我的AP计算机原理课上，我开发了一个简单的音乐应用程序，它能生成旋律，并教孩子们学音乐。看见算法能把编程代码转化为音乐旋律，我对此感到着迷。从那时起，我开始探索数字音频工作站和音乐可视化。我爱上了用科技将音乐赋予生命。”

改写后的版本中，可以比较清晰地看见这样一种曲径通幽、层层递进的关系：首先描述学生为何和如何喜欢领域A（音乐），接着描述学生为何和如何喜欢领域B（计算机科学），最后描述学生为何和如何喜欢领域C（音乐科技）。如果用数学术语表达，领域C不是A + B，而是A ∩ B。在申请文书中，学生的跨学科兴趣之所以独特，是因为领域C不是A和B的相加，而是A和B交叠之间的一片新天地，充满了创造性与可能性。