There are many reasons you might choose to transfer to a different college. Funding might not be available to keep you in your current school, there might be better opportunities elsewhere, etc. When you take this step, you’re going to have to write a college transfer essay as part of your transfer application.
Today, we’re going to give you 5 tips for writing a college transfer application essay that gets you closer to your goals.
1: Edit Your Essay
One of the main issues that would-be transfers face is that they turn in their application, and the essay is essentially a rough draft. There are typos, grammatical errors, tidbits they meant to remove, etc.
Spend just as much time editing your essay as you do writing it. Look for things that you can cut, errors you need to fix, and areas that you can improve on.
This will go a long way toward naturally achieving the other goals we’re going to recommend, and it will lead to a better essay overall.
2: Authenticity is Important
You want to stand out. The college doesn’t want another cookie-cutter application that is designed to hit every checkmark. The person reading it wants to be engaged and truly sold on the idea of bringing you to their school.
The best way to do this is to be authentic. Of course, you also need to be appropriate and maximize your strengths, but don’t come off as robotic. Put your personality into it.
3: Specify Your Strengths
This isn’t the time to write general selling points such as how studious you are or how goal-oriented you can be. You need to specify exactly what makes you a good choice. What are your specific accomplishments? What are tangible things you can describe in detail to highlight your strengths?
These are the details that cause colleges to accept applicants or turn them down.
4: Avoid Unnecessary Information
While you need to be yourself and highlight your strengths, you don’t want to ramble on about things that don’t directly impact your chances.
You have to remember that you’re not the only one applying for a transfer, trying to get into the college in general, or otherwise adding to the workload of the team reading your essay. You want to respect their time and ensure that you’re giving them solid information with every word.
Don’t be afraid to explain various points, but try to minimize fluff and maximize selling points.
5: Write it Specifically for the College It Goes to
It’s very likely that you’ll be applying to transfer to multiple colleges. After all, it’s fair for you to have a backup plan when it’s possible that you’ll be turned down. Write an essay for each college, and custom-tailor your essay for that college.
Get Help Transferring Colleges with Opus College Prep
If you’re looking to transfer colleges for new opportunities, or you’re still in high school and looking to prepare yourself for the future, Opus College Prep can help.
Contact us today to speak to one of our experts.
