Every year we work with students who are trying to transfer. Every year we get many of these students into top schools, and every year we get the question, “how do you do that?” The long answer is, it’s not just one thing. There is a lot that needs to go into transferring. You need grades and scores and all of that, but when it comes to your essays, they have to be stellar. Writing transfer essays can be tricky, but we do have some processes we think everyone who is trying to transfer should do with or without our help. Again we do this every year, trust us, if you want to transfer there are two things you need to do before you even start writing.
The best transfer essays illustrate why you are the best fit for the college and why the college is the best fit for you but illustrating this overlap can be hard. Before you start drafting your essays, you will need to brainstorm. Our consults always start with a brainstorming session and deep dive. If you rush through or skip this step, it will be harder to write your essays. Not brainstorming will not save you time in the long run.
When brainstorming you need to distill the answer to the question, “why are you transferring?” It seems simple enough but it can be a really big question. There are many reasons for transferring, but usually, students’ first thought is “well, I just don’t like it here.” Technically, it’s an answer, but it is not a very good one. We push students to craft something specific and at least somewhat academic. Your reason for why you are transferring should feel authentic, thought out, and academic. We start our process by trying to break down why a student doesn't like their current school. “I just don’t like it” can turn into “I don’t find it challenging,” “I don’t fit socially,” or something completely different. However, once we have that, it’s much easier to get to the root of why they want to transfer.
It, however, can’t end there. Once you have a specific reason brainstormed, you need to build it into a reason a school would want to hear. There is no right answer to “why do you want to transfer,” but there certainly are some wrong ones. For example, if your reason is “there is nothing to do on campus,” we might push you to change it to “there are not enough opportunities both academically and extracurricularly for me to pursue my goals in getting a holistic education in my chosen field.” Then we would research points with the student that could be made to support the lack of academic and social opportunities. Having a robust rationale will help make writing essays much easier.
Once you have a specific and appropriate reason why you want to transfer our next step is crafting a list with our students. Not every school should make it on your list. At some point in your list crafting, you will have to ask yourself the not-so-fun question of “do I have a chance of getting in?” You shouldn’t waste your time applying to a bunch of schools that you don’t have a shot at getting into. We love a dream, we love a reach, but our consultants also do a lot of research into colleges to see what a viable score range is.
While scores and grades are the first things you should consider, the second is a little harder to figure out. Every school on your list should be able to make you happier than where you are. How do they do that? Well, that depends on the ‘why’ you brainstormed. If your why was about not having enough opportunities, every college on your list should have the social and academic opportunities that you have been lacking. The reason for this is twofold. 1) You deserve the college experience you want and 2) having a specific thing you need from a college experience will help you write your essays. Showing that the school will be a better fit for you than the one you are at is paramount to a good transfer essay.
Transfer essays need to make the case why the school is the right place for you and why you are a great fit for them. You can’t do that without first brainstorming your ‘why’ and then making a specific and strong list of schools that meet your need. Doing these steps before you start writing will help you write essays that clearly show the overlap between you and the colleges you want to go to. It isn’t easy, but it is something we do with every transfer student we work with. Our process makes sure our students are in the best possible position when it comes to the application process. If you are struggling to start or at any step of the transfer process, we would be happy to help.
It’s not easy! If you are struggling, reach out here.