<p>I just want to know how much the application essay is considered for transfer students. Is it as essential as it is for freshman applicants? Do they consider GPA more?</p>
<p>In my case: I have a 4.0 GPA, but i was kind of lazy in high school and didn't have spectacular grades or scores. I didn't have to apply to the school I'm currently at (a small HBCU), they basically tracked me down and gave me a full scholarship. Because of this I have never applied to college and I am completely lost when it comes to the essay. But now I want to transfer and I want to know if a weak application essay will be disregarded due to better grades.</p>
<p>my top school: Michigan State</p>
<p>Reaches: Vanderbilt, University of Michigan</p>
<p>Safeties: University of Central Florida, University of San Francisco</p>
<p>An out-of-state state school should never be used as a safety; your stats might be good enough based on their incoming profile, but the school will almost always judge out of state applicants much more harshly than in state applicants.</p>
<p>I forgot to include that I’m also an international student but I’m currently at a school in florida. Does this come into play with the out-of-state consideration?</p>
<p>Why do you want to transfer? Do you know how hard it is for an international student to get a full scholarship?</p>
<p>To asnwer your question, a weak essay will kill you at Umich or Vandy, or any top school for that matter. Lower ranked schools don’t obsess over essays; some schools don’t even require essays from transfers.</p>
<p>If I were you and wanted a more prestigious degree, I would stay at your school until I exhausted financial aid, and then would transfer out as a senior.</p>
<p>I’m not transferring for prestige, I honestly hate the school I’m at now and can’t stand to be there for another year. When I first Went to my current school, my family was in kind of a tight spot and although we could have afforded school, i was more practical for me to take the scholarship so I could at least be in the american system. </p>
<p>Now we can afford school and my parents fully support my decision to transfer and have absolutely no problem paying tuition.</p>
<p>Bottom line: I hate my school, I’m not happy, I want to transfer.</p>
<p>I think for most schools the essay is just as important as it was for freshman. Basically, you need to show them why the school you’re applying to is right for you. You should have a slightly different perspective from freshman applicants since you’ve now been to college and have a better understanding of what you’re looking for.</p>
<p>arcadefire is absolutely right. Additionally, you would benefit from having something more than an exceptional GPA to offer. Any extra-curricular activities, research, etc. that you have done that would enhance your profile? Transferring to the top schools is as much of a challenge or more so than applying to them as a freshman because they accept much smaller percentages of applicants and can be even choosier as they consider the pool. You need to stand out and your essay and personal involvements are the way to do this.</p>
<p>in terms of my EC’s they’re unfortunately lacking. Ever since high school I’ve had my time completely consumed by track & field, I was close to making the national team but missed it by a hair. I continue to do track in college so I still don’t have time for much EC’s.</p>
<p>The past 2 summers though I’ve done some interesting things. In '08 I shadowed a heart surgeon (my hopefully future career) and got to witness several surgeries up close. and in '09 I went on a Global youth leaders conference in Europe. Do these have any merit at all?</p>
<p>my essays are definitely what got me accepted. they’re your way of showing the admissions committee that you know why you want to be at their school and how you’ll be giving back to your new community. they show you put time and effort into picking your prospective schools and that you’re looking for more than just prestige.</p>
<p>I’d say Vandy is the only school on your list where the essays are very important. But I’d take the time to do strong ones for all, GPA is more important, but a good essay can make the difference between the acceptance and rejection pile.</p>
<p>thanks, I wasn’t really planning on slacking off on the essay per se. I’m a fairly good writer, I was just going to skip all the additional editing and previews by peers and professors, but now based on all of you guys advice I think I’ll just bite the bullet and go the whole nine yards. =) thanks for you input!</p>
<p>Here’s my story of why I think essays are important:</p>
<p>I applied for transfer last year, having a poor high school record (3.2 unweighted at the end of high school, not a rigorous course schedule at all or a high rank, and a 1900 on the SAT’s), and just one good quarter of college at UC Riverside (3.81). I applied to some very competitive schools like Brown, William and Mary, and the University of Michigan. I also applied to the University of Washington, which is not very competitive for transfers. I tailored my essays to William and Mary, because it was the first college I applied to. I made the essays to the other schools fit, but they weren’t half as specific. The only school I was waitlisted at was William and Mary, and I was straight rejected everywhere else. </p>
<p>So I’ve learned my lesson, and don’t even feel it’s worth applying unless I can put a lot of time into the essays and really tailor them to each school.</p>