is it a mistake to not mention the college by name in your essay?

College Essays
1

<p>The Common Application forces you to send the same essay to every school you apply to. There may be a way around this, but it seems tricky. I have completed my transfer essay, I am happy with it, but I can't help but wonder if it is a mistake to not mention the college by name in the essay. Do colleges want to see their name in your transfer essay? </p>

<p>There is no supplement where I can address this for most of the schools I'm applying to. I am currently attending a community college and hoping to transfer to a 4-year school.</p>

2

<p>Don’t name a college in the common application essay. It will go out to every school on the CA list, which will wreck your chances of being accepted into the schools that weren’t named. You don’t have to name any school at all in the essay. I wrote an essay about why I want to transfer schools at all, not why I want to transfer to a particular school. If they wanted to hear about why you want to go to specifically their school, they would have asked for a supplement.</p>

3

<p>Is this the process you found? <a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/commonapp/docs/alternateversiontechnologyfaq.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/commonapp/docs/alternateversiontechnologyfaq.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The decision is yours. Some like it when you tie your application to qualities about their school. Just don’t stress.</p>

4

<p>Thank you both. I’m just concerned it won’t feel personal if I don’t include why I want to go to their school. What if I just wrote a line in the additional comments box about how I visited the campus and read up on the programs they offer and feel it would be the right place for me?</p>

5

<p>It’s ok, but if you are trying to tailor it to school x or y, it needs to be a meaningful explanation. Need the right touch of nitty-gritty. Good luck.</p>