onlyone194

I wrote a college essay during my senior year to many schools. I want to transfer to one of the schools I applied then. Can I revise it and reuse it again to apply to the same college I applied?

mfd3q

Did you get into the schools you want to apply as a transfer for but had already applied to? If you didn't I would consider not re-using that essay just because you never know if that was the reason you didn't get in. That's just my two cents though.

If you did get in, I would re-use it, although of course revise it if you can

dufflebagjesus

you could, but remember, on the whole the transfer essays are probably better than the freshman ones...couple years of college under your belt and the level of writing goes up...something to think about

onlyone194

well i did get accepted into the college i want to transfer, but i chose to go to another school. Now, I want to reapply to the college i was accepted...

entomom

My D ran into the same thing last year, she decided to error on the side of caution and not use the old essay. However, she'll never know whether or not it would have mattered.

mfd3q

soooooo did she get in as a transfer!?!?!!?!?!??!?!? the suspense is killing me. your daughter that is.

entomom

Yes. 10 char.

mfd3q

your crazy lingo goes over head. just out of curiosity, where did you daughter go as a transfer, and why didn't she choose to go their as a freshman? I'm interested because I'm in the same scenario, only it wasn't my choice etc etc

onlyone194

so i should just write another essay right?

wayward_trojan

It is fine to reuse a well-written essay, but only if you put some legitimate time and effort into revising it. I would advise against copying and pasting it verbatim.

entomom

Ha, yes I see what you mean! There is a minimum number of characters for a post; so for short answers, people often add "10 char (for characters)" or some other kind of nonsense to make their answer long enough.

She transferred to Yale this fall. She had some very difficult decisions to make last year, including attending a selective private school with relatively little FA vs. attending UMichigan on a full tuition, R&B scholarship. Partially because she's planning on going to med school, she decided on the latter. However, for various reasons, she decided to apply for a transfer and was fortunate enough to be accepted again.

mfd3q

It's funny how similar your daughter and my own situations are. I had some very difficult decisions to make last year, essentially between going instate to UVA or going to Northwestern. My parents essentially chose UVA, but now we've realized Northwestern is the better option, in terms of what I want to major in. So now I'm going to apply to Northwestern, and hopefully be fortunate enough to get accepted again.

Just wondering, how was your daughters college GPA? Just so I can get a gauge of how much they consider high school record vs. college record.

entomom

Her college gpa was just under a 4.0, she had A-'s in a studio art class and in her orgo lab. She had an A+, which don't count in the gpa, but which I think does help with transferring as it indicates being at the tip top of the class.

One other thing that I think helped was that she took a freshman seminar the first semester and got to know the prof well and he wrote an excellent LOR, not easy for sop transfers.

I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but from what I've read here on CC, NU seems to be relatively transfer friendly. Work hard and get involved this year at UVA. Show them that you will make the best of any situation, but that NU is a better place for you.

I appreciate the situation you were in last year, and I feel for you, it's such a hard decision for an 18 yo to make.

mfd3q

I know Northwestern is alot easier to transfer into than Yale, the main thing I'm worried about is those LOR's. An admission counselor for northwestern said they don't require them, but I guess I'm going to try and get one anyway.

Thanks alot yo, this was very helpful