It's What We Do
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.
“Please go with CEG. The experience with this company is far more authentic, more reliable, and simply better than with anyone else. (Trust me, I tried other companies.) Nothing even comes close to the attention and vast support that your child will receive with CEG. I was terrified of college apps before. Working with CEG didn’t just help me get them done—it taught me that I can tackle even the things I’m scared of, and that’s a valuable lesson that you won’t get from another company.”
Lasya • Former Student
How we work with transfer students
For more than a decade, we've been refining our transfer application coaching process, identifying five key steps that help students create outstanding transfer applications.
STEP 1
Discovery (Pre-work)
This is arguably the most important part of the writing process. To make sure we get to know you really well and your reasons for transferring, you'll complete 1-2 hours of pre-work and intake questions, including a series of our most effective brainstorming exercises, a first draft of the Common Experiences List (aka resume) and the Additional Info section.
STEP 2
Brainstorming, Draft Review & Strategizing Topics
Once your pre-work is completed, we’ll review any initial drafts alongside your brainstorming activities, an optional parent questionnaire, and gather a few other details (your schedule, specialized programs you might be targeting, your writing/working style) and pair you with one of our amazing transfer essay coaches, hand picked for you.
Your coach will help you develop a big picture strategy, including deciding or finalizing potential topics for your main personal statement and supplemental essays. You’ll also collaborate on crafting initial outlines, so you have a solid framework to use as you write.
STEP 3
Topic Check
Before you get too deep into the drafting process, another experienced transfer essay specialist on our team will review your topics to help make sure colleges are getting a variety of values/skills/qualities across your application.
The goal: Make sure your main transfer statement is clear and coherent, and you're focusing on topics that help you stand out.
STEP 4
Bringing Your Stories to Life: Outlining, Drafting
& Revising
SPOILER: MOST OF THE MAGIC HAPPENS HERE
You'll meet with your transfer essay coach regularly, as many times as needed to draft, revise and polish your essays, activities list, and Additional Information section.
Most students write between 8-10 drafts of each of their essays, but the number of sessions depends on a student's writing abilities, the number of essays they’re tackling, and (honestly) their appetite for re-drafting.
STEP 5
Polishing & Team Review
Our mission is to ensure you feel really good about everything you're submitting.
When you and your coach feel the essays are getting close, you’ll create what we like to call your “Almost Done” doc (the finalized essays and application components for your colleges).
As part of our internal review process, another transfer application and essay coach on the team will do a deep review of your nearly finalized essays one more time, offering final feedback before you submit. If necessary, you'll meet with your coach for a session or two to make final tweaks.
Complete your essays well before deadlines
We recommend planning to submit your applications a few weeks before deadlines. With this in mind, the goal completion date for transfer applications is March 15th so that your applications are done well ahead of deadlines in case any delays arise. However, you will have access to your essay coach for revisions until April 15th of your application year.
Note: Access to your essay coach beyond that date may be available for an additional fee, pending coach availability.
“College Essay Guy is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! We could not be pleased more with how Kate worked with our son. They took away the stress of the application process and writing essays from us and made our son a better, more confident writer in the process. Could not have asked for anything more!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! He became a better, more confident writer. Period!”
Cindy R • Parent
We hate to brag...
But we know parents are often curious about the numbers.
300+
Acceptances each year to top colleges around the US, including multiple students going on to each of the Ivy+ schools yearly.
Over 80%
Of the students we work with gain acceptance into one of their top five schools
98%
Of students we work with have been accepted to top 50 schools (if rankings are your jam).
While essays are just one piece of a holistic admissions process, the students we work with craft outstanding college applications, and go on to great colleges around the US and world.
