<p>I plan to write a lengthy (about 2 pages single spaced) and very flowery and hopefully well written piece . i will be sure to address all my reasons for wanting to attend that school but i will not present it just straight of the bat , but rather through a well written piece. </p>
<p>I heard through a grapevine that transfer essays are not like freshman essays</p>
<p>so i was just wondering if this was reasonable.</p>
<p>Your essay better be well written, however a flowery essay may come across as naive. You are a college student, therefore you are expect to know what you are in for. This is not a freshmen essay, its time to prove you have a solid head on your shoulders. If you don’t want write a serious essay, go for fun - not flowery.</p>
<p>Have you checked out the common app? The main essay asks “why transfer?” and the supplement usually asks “why this school?.” You don’t want the two essays to overlap. The main essay for the freshmen app has a 500 word limit, so I wouldn’t write too much more for the transfer app.</p>
<p>I’m not a college admissions person but I’ve had a couple of kids go through the process. I did discuss this once with an admissions person after the fact.</p>
<p>My opinion is that at most schools, they use your essay to see if you can think, organize, and communicate. Let’s say it’s 10% about the message and 90% about the above. Again, this is JMO. But think about the BS that the admissions people have to read. Everyone wants to save the world, and oh, ABC U is my dream school.</p>
<p>If you were an admissions officer, how much stock could you put in that, essay after essay after essay? Not very much. OTOH, in the few minutes allotted, the reader CAN get a good idea about the skills of the writer. I cannot see any reason why this would not hold true for transfers as well as freshmen apps. </p>
<p>I also think this is the case for schools that have you write on 2 or 3 assigned topics. They sound so important, so ominous. “Would you rather meet Lenin, or Marx? Why?” I say it’s baloney, they want to see how you think.</p>
<p>Relax. Follow the directions. Be real. Get editing help and review. You’ll be fine.</p>