Each year, our team helps students craft compelling transfer applications that articulate why their next institution will be a great match for their academic, career and personal goals. Students that work with us go on to amazing colleges around the US.
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Lasya • Former Student
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Cindy R • Parent
transfer narrative and overall essay strategy
John • Parent
Up to 3 SCHOOLS & PROGRAMS
- Common App main transfer statement (Usually 650 words)
- Supplemental essays for up to THREE schools (Typically 6-10+ essays)
- Common App Experiences List (AKA Resume)
- Common App Additional Information statement (650 words)
- Internal committee Team Reviews of Your Essays
- Dedicated Family Liaison
- Bonus: Access to our signature college essay courses for students
Up to 6 Schools & Programs
- Common App main transfer statement (Usually 650 words)
- Supplemental essays for up to SIX schools (Typically 8-10+ essays)
- Common App Experiences List (AKA Resume)
- Common App Additional Information statement (650 words)
- Internal committee Team Reviews of Your Essays
- Dedicated Family Liaison
- Bonus: Access to our signature college essay courses for students
Up to 10 Schools & Programs
- Common App main transfer statement (Usually 650 words)
- Supplemental essays for up to TEN schools (Typically 15-20+ essays)
- Common App Experiences List (AKA Resume)
- Common App Additional Information statement (650 words)
- Internal committee Team Reviews of Your Essays
- Dedicated Family Liaison
- Bonus: Access to our signature college essay courses for students
Applying to more than 10 colleges? Adding schools after getting started? Additional schools can be added on for an additional fee of $600 per college.
The University of California application system requires extensive essay and activities list requirements, so is counted as two schools/programs in essay packages, but may be used to apply to all 9 UC campuses
If students are applying to specialized programs that require additional essays beyond the required essays for their undergraduate admissions application, we may often consider those as two colleges. These programs may include but are not limited to honors colleges, BS/MD programs, specialized business programs, the US service academies, film, theater, arts, or other creative programs. Inquire for more details about your specific programs. See below in the FAQ for a longer list of programs. Please note that most scholarships and honors colleges do not require additional essays.
The packages above include assistance with the college essay components noted in the packages above and do not include college admissions counseling or college list development guidance, which is a separate service provided by our veteran college counselors. See more below about these options, or ask us to learn more.
Intake & Review
Your transfer college counselor will review your background, including high school and college transcripts, school profile, resume, college preferences, and more.
Four
One-on-One Meetings
You'll work with your counselor over several 1:1 meetings to cover topics from finalizing a college list to strategic help around major selection, getting strong recommendations, and more.
Comprehensive Follow-Up Report
We'll follow-up from your meetings with a comprehensive report that summarizes our recommendations and outlines next steps for you.
Transfer Counseling Add-On Service
- Transfer application strategy including intended major selection, securing strong academic evaluations, academic record review & more.
- Comprehensive & actionable follow-up report
- Custom college list development
- Support on other transfer admissions topics of your choice
Longer-Term Transfer
Counseling Support
- More regular meetings & longer-term planning and support
- Transfer application strategy including intended major selection, securing strong academic evaluations, academic record review & more.
- Comprehensive & actionable follow-up report
- Custom college list development Support on waitlists, letters of continued interest, admissions decisions, financial aid & appeals
- Other transfer admissions topics of your choice
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Donna J. • Parent
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How is the process different as a transfer student when compared with freshmen applicants?
The transfer application process is different for every student and at every college.
While many aspects are the same as those applying as freshmen, it also differs in several important ways:
- Acceptance rates as a transfer student could be substantially higher or substantially lower, as colleges can vary widely and from year-to-year in the number of transfer students they admit.
- Rather than writing a more open-ended personal statement, students are asked to specifically address their reasons for transferring in the longer Common Application essay.
- The college list development process can change. Many students may be OK staying at their current school, but are simply aiming for different programs that might be a better fit, or perhaps hoping to receive substantial scholarships at their new school. As a result, the college list may be a bit more aggressive and not necessitate as many safety options.
- The application requirements usually differ for transfer applicants, and admissions departments may rely more heavily on a college GPA and less on high school SAT or ACT testing.
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Do you cover all aspects of the college application process (not just essays)?
Yes. Though the company is called College Essay Guy (because that's what Ethan has become known for in the industry), we have a good deal of expertise on the whole admissions process. Our counselors average 15-20+ years of experience counseling students through the process. In short: we can do it all.
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Where do sessions take place?
Online via Zoom, email and Google docs.
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Where have your students been accepted?
All the Ivies, as well as many other amazing schools. See links at the top of this page our most recent acceptances. It's important to note that our services are advisory in nature and we can't (of course) guarantee admission to a highly selective school. But we can put together the best application and essays to demonstrate your gifts, skills and values.
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Are there any colleges or programs that might be considered as two colleges in your package?
Most scholarships, honors colleges, or specialized programs and majors don't have additional essay requirements beyond those required by the undergraduate application. But some programs do require additional essays or materials and are considered by our team as an additional college given the time required to help you develop strong applications and essays. Here's a non-exhaustive list of some of these programs that may be considered as an additional college in your package:
- Honors programs (Penn State Schreyer Honors College, UPitt Honors College)
- BS/MD programs (Brown University's PLME program, etc.)
- Theater, fine arts, and film school supplemental applications or essays
- Business programs or specialized business/technology programs (UPenn’s M&T program, University of Michigan’s Ross School and portfolio application)
- Specialized medical programs (UPenn’s Bio-Dental or Nursing and Healthcare Management Programs
- Scholarship programs with essays beyond the requirements for the undergraduate application (UNC's Morehead Cain scholarship, etc.)
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Do you write essays for students?
No. Beyond being unethical, that would be doing you a great disservice to you and also undermine the transformative element of this process. The essays submitted will be the original work of the student.
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Do you offer hourly packages?
We work with students through a tried-and-true process of brainstorming topics to polishing the final drafts. We find it super important that the college essay and application be grounded in an in-depth brainstorming process and some discussion to help you get to the point where you’ve found your deepest stories and are comfortable tackling your first draft. And that sometimes takes a session or two or three.
As a result of this, we don’t offer hourly help and prefer to avoid giving essay feedback without the context of all of the other things that you’ve accomplished or experienced in your rich and colorful life. We’ve also found that it’s so important to have the flexibility to meet as many times as necessary to help you have great essays. It gives you (the student) and our specialist the freedom to spend time getting to know each other, to experiment and get creative, and to try things out without concern for how much time you’ve spent so far, or have left.
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What if I (student) am not a good writer?
The process may take a bit longer. That’s okay with us.
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What advice do you have as I begin the process?
We highly recommend developing a balanced college list. Most students, for example, fixate on 1 or 2 highly selective (usually Ivy League) schools, but we find the students who are most happy with the process are those who have developed a wide range (usually 8 - 12 schools) with around 3 reach, 4 maybe, and 3 likely.
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Can I see some essays from past students?
In terms of sample essays, here are a few essays written by past students.
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Can I start with a smaller package and upgrade later in the process?
Pending your coach’s availability at the time of upgrade, we’d be happy to help you with additional colleges! Just pay the difference in your current and the desired package, and we’ll dive into brainstorming the new topics. We request that families let us know as soon as they are able, as it typically helps to strategize topic selection on supplemental essays as early in the process as possible.
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Can my son/daughter meet with your team to get an idea of how the whole process works?
Absolutely. Email us and we’ll be happy to set up a call to walk you through the process and answer any questions you have.