<p>I noticed that RIT says the personal statement is optional for transfer students. Has anyone tried applying without one?</p>
<p>I don’t know; I think RIT has a lower number of transfer-ins than most state schools, although I would assume that the difficulty of getting in as a transfer would be similar to the difficulty of getting in as a freshmen.</p>
<p>If it is optional, you should still do it. If you are much more qualified than the average applicant, it may still help you because they may give you more merit as a transfer (again, not sure if they give merit to transfers). Doing it will not do any harm and would likely help but not writing the personal statement may weaken your application.</p>
<p>Ditto what IPD said: You should still do it. The stakes are too high to have such a cavalier attitude toward optional components, especially in a game as tough as transfer admissions.</p>
<p>Optional essay is simply a vehicle to cram more information about yourself into your app. Be like everybody elsel and use it as a marketing and self-promotion tool.</p>