[Guest Post] An Overthinker’s Guide to Finishing Your Transfer Application by Jeremy W.

The fall transfer application deadline is coming up. I tried to remember how I was feeling last year when the deadline was coming up…and then I remembered that I submitted my application in January. Last spring I was both working in the Navy full-time and attending college full-time, so I had to budget my time carefully. I made the plan to do most of my application work during winter break so I could devote my full attention to it. In early January, I realized that even though I could return to and edit my application endlessly (at least until March), the edits I was making weren’t a good use of my time and weren’t making my application any better. I got some good advice from a friend and they helped me understand that I had already spent the right amount of time working on it.

Since I started at MIT, I’ve had a bunch of folks ask me for application advice. There is already a bunch of great advice on this blog, but with the deadline nearing I thought I’d add my two cents. Disclaimer: I do not work in admissions or read applications for a living (though I did ask someone who does to look at this before publishing *cough cough* Jeremy 👀).

Without further ado, and in no particular order, here’s some advice and resources that I found helpful while applying:

• Don’t over-edit your application or ask too many people (especially strangers) to read through your essays. Before you know it, your friend Susie is changing all of your essays to passive voice. The most important part is your distinctive voice, and if you edit the essay into the ground you’ll lose that. This will also be true if you use AI to write your essays.
• Give yourself time (after writing) to step away from your essays. You can’t do this if you procrastinate until the last minute. Doing this gives your brain a chance to subconsciously process whatever you’re writing about. This can help you be more introspective, which is ultimately the most important part of this process.
• There is such a thing as a bad essay. In my case, my bad essays came from a place of not having fully processed some of the things I was trying to write about. It’s okay to completely scrap that idea and go back to the drawing board. Even if a story or experience is compelling on its face, it might not be the best thing to write about.
• Introspection can be pretty hard to do. One of the things that helped me think about my values, experiences, and what was important to me was listening to other people talk about what’s important to them. One of the best places to listen to others’ stories is on NPR’s “This I Believe” series and NPR’s StoryCorps. Do not take the ideas or stories of others. Rather, imagine NPR invited you to either write an essay about what you believe or imagine what story you would tell to StoryCorps.
• Don’t exaggerate on your activities. Another way to say this is: what you have done is enough. There are only so many hours in a week. Everyone needs down time. Don’t compromise all the effort you’ve put into your application (and your integrity) by being disingenuous.
• If you’re applying to transfer, chances are you’re applying to more than one school. Don’t fall into the trap of the “dream school.” There are many places you could be happy studying (if you’d only let yourself).
• Don’t trash your current school in your application. You’ve probably got important reasons for wanting to transfer. My biggest reason was that, having been stationed in Hawaii and Guam for the past 8 years in the Navy, I wanted to be closer to my family while I finished my education. But while studying at Kapi’olani Community College, Leeward Community College, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, I had excellent professors that were giving me a world-class education. I formed friendships there that’ll last a lifetime. I was active in my community on and off campus. If you’re not doing that at your current school, you’re probably not making the best use of your time there.
• The essay I struggled with the most during the application was the “Why MIT?” essay:

  “Please discuss why you are considering transferring from your current college or university, and how MIT aligns with your goals.”

  The best advice I got about how to answer this came from the Yale Admissions Podcast, which is an excellent resource for essay writing. To paraphrase Episode 6: How did your journey lead you to apply here? What specific experiences did you have that made you decide to put all this effort into a transfer application? Don’t write a list of information about MIT. The admissions officers already know all that stuff! Try to center the story on you. Looking back and being introspective tends to be more insightful than looking forward and saying “This is what I’m gonna do when I go to MIT!” Frankly, a lot of the folks here will be a little disappointed if you stick too closely to one path when you get here. College is about exploring! So give the admissions office a window into your curious mind. Show them some of the things that excite you and how transferring to MIT can continue the journey you’re on.

• At this point in the application cycle, most of what you’ve done to transfer to MIT has been completed. Standardized tests are taken. Course grades are on your transcript. Don’t shortchange yourself by having an incomplete or late application. It’s understandable if a recommendation letter or college report doesn’t get submitted right on time. There’s a grace period for that. But at some point, if a lot of your application is missing or late, it says something about your desire to transfer to a school (or your organizational skills).

Good luck, y’all! Transferring is a stressful process, and you’re showing a lot of grit and resilience just by applying. To all the folks who are working full-time, military veterans, my fellow public university and community college students—I’ve been where you’re at. Transferring to MIT is possible, and I look forward to meeting y’all this fall. Godspeed.