If you’ve decided that you want to transfer, and think that NYU is the ideal school for you, you’ve come to the right place. This blog post will detail how to answer the two mandatory writing supplements, which at first glance seem slightly redundant and therefore confusing.
But before you start writing, be sure to check out NYU’s website that details the materials that you’ll need to send in. Request them soon (as in, now) so that you have time to follow up with your schools and professors to make sure that everything is submitted on time. Be sure to check the additional program requirements as well – we’ll go through the essays with you but please read through the requirements and restrictions before you start the process.
The two essays that you’ll need to write can be found under the “questions” tab of the common app transfer website. Make sure that you’re not using your regular common app account! There is another website for transfer students, linked here. Let’s start by looking at both prompts.
We would like to know more about your interest in NYU. We are particularly interested in knowing what motivated you to apply to NYU and more specifically, why you have applied or expressed interest in a particular campus, school, college, program, and/or area of study? You may be focused or undecided, or simply open to the options within NYU's global network; regardless, we want to understand - Why NYU? (2500 character maximum)
Please provide a statement that addresses your reasons for transferring and the objectives you hope to achieve. (3,000 character maximum)
*Please note that you are not given a word limit, but a finicky character limit. Make sure that you’re keeping track of the limits as you write.
When we’ve worked with students in the past, they have all commented on the slight overlap between the questions. It’s crucial that you’re not repeating information, so read through both questions carefully and make a list of everything that you want to cover. We like to think of it like this: the first question is asking you why you want to transfer specifically to NYU, and the second question gives you room to expand on your more general reasons for embarking on the transfer process.
A Breakdown of Question 1:
Your response to this question should address why transferring to NYU is your only possible step forward, and you need to get hyper specific. This answer should look a lot like a “Why X School” supplement, and it should include the following:
Your intended major: You absolutely must declare a major. NYU requires it, and so do we.
Two upper-level classes that you want to take: Next, do a deep dive into the course catalog and look for two upper-level classes that you want to take. In addition to writing which classes you want to take, include a reason why. These reasons should relate to past or current school work, online classes that you’ve taken, job or internship experience, or research that you’ve done.
A professor you would like to work with: Research the expertise’s of the professors at NYU and find someone with interests that align with yours. Ideally, you’d pitch yourself as a researcher on their team or mention how what you’re currently doing is related to their classes, interests, and résumé. For example, if you’re transferring to NYU for a specific track within the English department, you might mention that your thesis topic is in the field of Irish literature and there’s a professor there who takes trips to Ireland to read original works of James Joyce.
Anything else that’s specific to NYU. This is where you have room to delve into something that is truly specific to NYU, and you should research the school until you find something. Look for research labs, student groups, interesting projects, etc.
Short conclusion: Conclusions can often be the hardest part of an essay to write, but you really shouldn’t have much room left over. Simply put a bow on it and move onto the next slightly longer prompt.
A Breakdown of Question 2:
The goal of this essay is to give the admissions team a chance to get to know you, your reasons for wanting to transfer, and your eventual goals. It’s best to start with an origin story that explains your academic interests. It’s totally fair if not ALL of your reasons for wanting to transfer are academic, but you are applying to college after all, and they need to know why you want to study what you want to study.
Your story does not need to be huge. In fact, it should be small and zoomed-in. Maybe you used to write books as a child, have always loved reading and writing, and did an internship at a local magazine one summer– and you’re applying to NYU’s creative writing program. Whatever your story looks like, tell them. It’s important to start with academics because it is the anchor from which you’ll write the rest of the essay.
Next, you should answer this part of the question: “address your reasons for transferring.” This is important: under no circumstance should you talk poorly about your current school. Explain why it doesn’t work for you, but don’t be extra about it. Sticking with the example from above, you might say that you’re currently studying English, which you thought would suffice, but you’ve realized writing is actually what you want to study. You should clearly state that your current school does not have the specific offerings that you’re looking for, which is one of the “requirements” for wanting to transfer. And here’s something that can be hard to digest for students who are trying to position themselves in a certain light to transfer colleges: it is okay to admit that you thought you wanted something, and then changed your mind, as long as you’ve made the best of the resources that you currently have access to. This means that if you thought you wanted to major in Chemistry, and after a year of classes you now want to major in Biochemistry, it’s okay to write that. If you thought you want to major in Econ, but you actually want to study business, you need to let them know in plain terms. Your essay will not make sense if you don’t explain why you’re currently studying Psychology but now want to be a Biopsychology major. When we work with transfer students they’re often too reluctant to admit that they initially chose the wrong major because they don’t want to seem unfocused. But a little bit of humility goes a long way.
After you’ve explained why your current school isn’t working for you, you can start writing about the “objectives you hope to achieve.” This is usually related to things that NYU can offer you that your current school can’t. Perhaps it’s location based, proximity to jobs and internships, or other reasons that you haven’t have the space to address yet. For example, it might be the case that one of your objectives is to obtain a summer research position at a hospital, and you currently go to a school that isn’t affiliated with any hospitals and doesn’t have any nearby. Whatever your goals are, explain how NYU will help get you there.
While you write, keep the goal of the essay in mind! Make sure that you’ve told them a story about yourself, and included all of the pertinent transfer related information.
If you want help with your transfer applications and aren’t sure where to start, contact us here.