<p>To those who got in,</p>
<p>How much did you mention your current institution's inabilities to meet your needs? Is it that important, or can you stay 100% positive and focus only on what the institution you want to transfer to has to offer?</p>
<p>I dont think they'd care about how miserable you are in your current institution they want to know more about what you did to make your experience enjoyable. If anything writing a sob story is a kiss of death.</p>
<p>I definately mentioned the institution I hoped to transfer from, but still kept a tone of respect for the school. I made it clear that the school was a good school that I respected a lot, but was simply not a good match for my interests and academic needs. For example, I mentioned that my old school did not have the more fast-paced/intense environment that I felt would enable me to do better. Just to lighten the mood, I put in a little humor of some of the experiences I had (like the karaoke and salsa dancing in the study rooms a few days before finals).</p>
<p>I would just advise to not dwell on the downfalls of the school you are trying to transfer from. Mention the problems, but focus primarily on how these problems would be resolved or how your education would be better complemented at the school you wish to transfer to.</p>
<p>The school I was transferring from was my local state uni, so I mentioned in the light that it couldn't offer me anything close to whatever such and such university could.</p>
<p>I completely agree with Miami. If you say you're miserable, or even too many bad things about your current institution, they could easily intrepret it as you having a hard time making the most of your situation and chances are you're going to bring the bad attitude with you. Say you enjoy it and take advantage of all it's 'limited' opportunites and you'd like to have more, etc.</p>
<p>i mentioned it rather indirectly i spent the first half of my essay discussing why i wanted to go the school being applied to, and then the second half explaining all the things ive done to try to make my experience at my current school better.</p>