<p>Essay: In an essay of 300 words or less, explain your motivation to transfer from your current/previous institution and how your academic interests and/or professional goals will be fulfilled in your intended program of study. </p>
<p>Do you think it is a good idea to mention specific professors within the school i am applying too? Or does it seem too desperate? I know i cant listen to everyone who gives me advice, so i just want a outside opinion. My friend says to keep it as general as possible, while others say being specific can help you look like you researched enough about the institution. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Intuitively, I want to say that mentioning specific professors makes you look like a bit of a creeper. But that opinion’s not based on experience, so if someone wants to answer this question who’s actually been through the process, that would be helpful.</p>
<p>I would say no you can mention a professor, but I think it might be to far to mention a name, you don’t want to rub them the wrong way. when i was talking about a professor in my essays I stated the class and referred to the instructor as my professor.</p>
<p>The way I think about it is if you mention a professor from the institution you want to transfer to, speak about what they are researching and how you’re intrigued by that. Don’t speak about their character or write their biography because that’s just creepy but there is nothing wrong with talking about how you are interested in what they are researching as that is public information and it shows you did your research about your school. That’s what I was told about mentioning specific professors. </p>
<p>I personally think your friend is wrong about keeping it general. Schools appreciate it if you show serious interest in them and show that they are your first choice. Keep it too general and they feel that they are just one of many. Writing a very specific essays helps display that interest. That’s what I did for my essays to Michigan. I made it all tailor-made of them and I got in. Of course I also had the grades and they were the only school I applied to but still, it worked for me.</p>
<p>totally read this post wrong. You can totally mention professors that intrigue you but make sure they did something awesome. Like for example in my Rutgers essay I mentioned Selman Waksman the man that is pretty much responsible for curing TB. Don’t just mention any random professor. From a PhDs mouth: they like it when you do your research so you know what you are really getting into.</p>
<p>If you are going to mention a specific professor, make sure you are knowledgable about their work. Don’t just read one or two papers and drop a name, and ideally contact that professor (or at least the department) and get as much information about the research and projects they are doing as possible. </p>
<p>Mentioning a name in passing without having details to demonstrate why that specific professor has an influence on your transfer decision is going to be worse for you than saying too much.</p>
<p>This is what i mean by mentioning specific professors…</p>
<p>(From my essay)</p>
<p>It is obvious the school of Molecular and Cellular biology at UIUC can offer what no other school can. The wide variety of research fields and types of research offered at UIUC reassures me that there is no other university better than UIUC for me to begin my fight against cancer. The research of Molecular Immunology perfectly matches my academic and professional goals of deepening my knowledge of cells and molecules. My learning interests are directly connected with Professor David M. Kranz, a Biochemistry professor at UIUC who specializes with Molecular Immunology. The idea that Professor Kranz delivers on how mammals can eliminate foreign antigens like tumors and viruses, without destroying self antigens like our own body tissues matches my interests perfectly.</p>
<p>Your paragraph isn’t bad, at any rate. I’d like to know if they’re asking for goals, though, rather than the specifics, and by goals, I mean graduate school pathways, if any.</p>
<p>Essay: In an essay of 300 words or less, explain your motivation to transfer from your current/previous institution and how your academic interests and/or professional goals will be fulfilled in your intended program of study.</p>
<p>I think it’s fine the way it is. One of the supplemental essays for Michigan was similar to this one and I mentioned a professor kind of like you did as well. The only thing is I kind of don’t like how you wrote directly connected. It gives me the feeling that you’re going to UIUC strictly for that professor. </p>
<p>Unrelated to this, I thought that antigens are foreign molecules that cause the immune system to respond. I’m not a Bio major so I’m probably wrong but from my understanding, self antigens can’t exist.</p>
<p>@anthonyxy21: you’re correct, for the most part, in the sense that one’s autosomal antigens should be identical. But the fact remains that there will be cases when autoimmune diseases occur, that is, when the human body somehow perceives itself in a given location as foreign. Take arthritis, for example. The inflammatory response is due to the human body mistakenly recognizing the skeleton as foreign because of an antigen/antigen receptor mismatch (keep in mind that antigens are simply protein particles). It’s more of the fact that one’s antigen receptors are perceiving one’s somatic tissues as foreign. </p>
<p>But that’s just me being a nerd. I’m still worried about actually writing down, say, a career path in response to such a prompt rather than a specific goal or feature of the university. But I guess adcoms want to see that you’re interested in what they can offer you in the short term…?</p>
<p>I can talk from personal experience. I wrote about a specific professor’s work in a specific field, and talked about how fascinating it was, and etc. </p>
<p>I was accepted to the school, so it obviously didn’t rub them the wrong way.</p>