USC, the Trojans. The school of competitive sports and fantastic programs all around. Whatever you call it, it’s one of the most coveted schools in California. That’s why we’re providing what we believe is the ultimate guide to the USC transfer essay.

If you want more USC sample essays that were accepted, you can find them here.

Table of Contents

1. USC Sample Transfer Essay That Worked
2. How Important is the USC Essay?
3. USC Transfer Prompt
4. USC Transfer Essay Tips
5. Provide a Statement That Addresses Your Reasons for Transferring
6. The Objectives You Hope to Achieve
7. How to Write the USC Transfer Essay: Tying it Together.
8. Conclusion

USC Sample Transfer Essay That Worked

“While I was a senior in high school, I was filled with excitement and nervousness as I applied to my dream college, the University of Southern California. Upon the news that I had not been admitted, I was saddened; however, I realized that it simply was not meant to be at the time. It was a blessing in disguise. I am grateful for the extra two years I was given in order to spend time with my parents and having the luxury of being near other close relatives. Having grown up in the same town my whole life, I also enjoyed the company of my childhood friends and re-visited my past schools to keep the connections with my grade school teachers that have shaped me into who I am today. I have been humbled by the experience of attending a community college and have built life-long relationships.

In addition to all this, the extra two years has done everything to prepare me for the adventure of transferring. Not everyone is given a second chance to achieve their dreams and I have spent the last two years investing my best effort into school in order to make my goal of transferring to the University of Southern California a reality.

In the Chinese calendar, I was born the year of the dragon. Dragons are a symbol of strength and I have reflected this trait in my life by overcoming discouragement and striving with increased determination.

My perspective shifted from being focused on what I felt I was missing out on until I decided to enjoy what was in front of me. Becoming involved with the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society as an officer and committee leader has helped me tremendously by providing friendships and being proactive with my greatest interest, using my love of art to benefit others.

One of my objectives after I transfer is to continue being involved with school organizations that strive to leave a positive impact on others. I accomplished a vast amount of personal growth that has prepared me to branch out and discover what awaits. Dragons are also a thematic element incorporated in my artwork. As an artist, I am transferring because I am determined to achieve a Bachelor of Fine Arts in order to pursue my artistic interests. While attending a junior college, my yearn to learn has only grown. I have a passion for creating works of art that inspire thought, understanding, and exploration. I will use the opportunities available at USC to push my talent beyond my imagination. Attending the University of Southern California is an unsurpassable opportunity due to the expertise, connections, and location. I am grateful to have the opportunity to take advantage of the great resources and exposure available at USC to set the tone for my artistic career.

In my future, I plan to find success as an artist prior to becoming an art professor. This career choice requires what USC offers: a strong foundation of art skills and knowledge that will allow me to further develop and flourish as well as successful faculty that I will learn from to guide my future endeavors.” 

Anonymous –Accepted Into USC.

How Important is the USC Essay?

“But aren’t scores like GPA more important for the USC application process?” “Hasn’t it always been this way for every school?” 

Well, that only applies to certain schools. Schools that are highly competitive follow what is called “holistic admissions” this means that they run through applications with a fine-tooth comb in order to pick out the best candidates. The reason competitive schools do this is that most if not all applicants applying are, well, competitive. When there’s no other variable of differentiation because every student is the quintessential “straight-A student”, then the importance of the admissions essay expands.

Think of it as inflation of grades: if everyone has perfect grades, the value decreases and the admissions essay takes over as the paramount value structure in accepting students. 

Afraid that your transfer admissions essay won’t be good enough to beat the competition? Well, here’s our advice on how to approach the essay properly. 

USC Transfer Prompt

“Please provide a statement that addresses your reasons for transferring and the objectives you hope to achieve.” (650 WORD)

— University of Southern California, Transfer Admissions

This prompt is separated into two different categories. Therefore, you will be in some ways writing two different essays in one. One, there are the reasons for transferring; and two, there are the objectives. 

The next two sections will be dedicated to showing you how to tackle these parts of the USC transfer essay question as well as possible. But before we get to that, here are a few key things to keep in mind while writing your transfer essay. 

USC Transfer Essay Tips

1. Use a Grammar Checker so your essay doesn’t look sloppy. 
2. Demonstrate that you care for the school you’re transferring to
3. Avoid sounding boring by using strong imagery
4. Keep the admissions officer’s attention with a strong introduction and hook. (more on this in our sister article)
5. Avoid Cliches
6. Follow the quintessential versatility rule (more on this in our sister article)
7. Keep your words concise by removing filler words to fit the maximum 650 words.

If you’ve any other burning questions about how to write essays college essays well in general, check out our other articles. (Or, if you don’t want to sift through all of them, simply give us a call or contact us through email! We’ll respond as soon as we can)

Provide a Statement That Addresses Your Reasons for Transferring

The key to answering this section is to make sure that you actually have a good reason for transferring. You’re no longer a lost high school student anymore; you’re about two years away from being a true adult! That means taking care of yourself, and, most of all, aware of what it is you really want for your future. 

“But wait a minute, doesn’t everyone have a hard time knowing what they want out of life in the future?”

Not everyone, but many. Many people have yet to form their dreams even after university and after getting their first job. You’re not everyone, though. You’re you: an applicant to one of the greatest schools in California and arguably the nation. You need to show that you are mature enough to have your plans mapped out; this will help you stand out. 

“Okay, but knowing the reasons for transferring can be hard. How do I know what those reasons are exactly?”

Well, that’s the beauty of persuasive writing. You don’t have to say everything. In fact, you don’t have to have many reasons for transferring. You just need one or two reasons that are sufficient enough to justify your application. 

Ask yourself: “What reasons make it worth it for me to apply to USC as a transfer from my original school?” Typically this means that USC has something that can provide for either your personal development or your career, or both. 

Here’s an example. 

• Reason 1: Transferring because you want to expand on a business idea or existing business by learning from USC’s strong business program. 
• Reason 2: Knowing that you can connect well with the community in USC because you’ve fallen in love with the Southern California culture after having seen how unenthusiastic and slow the rest of the world seemed. 
  

These reasons are good reasons that justify your application to a prestigious school. You don’t have to have a story about how both your mother and sister died from a lightning bolt to have an interesting story to talk about.  

It’s very common for applicants to get stuck in thinking about their reasons for applying to a school other than, “getting good grades and making good money.” Chances are, if you can’t think past that level then you simply haven’t given it enough thought yet. 

Of course, you could also just have a hard time fabricating reasons for goals, which is understandable! If you have a hard time coming up with information, don’t just start writing about something random. You MUST have good reasons that are meaningful because that’s what makes a fitting applicant. Please speak to us if you can’t think of anything; we’d be happy to help in any way we can!  

The Objectives You Hope to Achieve

As for the objectives that you hope to achieve, this connects with the previous question in the USC transfer essay prompt. Once you have a reason for applying, you should have a good idea of what the objectives are. 

In fact, we would say that it actually makes more sense to work this backward. First, think about what objectives you hope to achieve, then your reasons for applying as a transfer to USC. 

This is typically the natural stream of thought that would take place when answering this question, or simply planning for the future. “What do you really want for your future and how does applying for USC make this work?”

If your objectives don’t at least in some ways correlate with the reasons why you want to apply for USC as a transfer student, your application can sound a bit awkward. Saying that your reasons are to challenge yourself in a field you’re passionate about won’t help if you claim that your future goals involve doing something in a completely different field. It won’t really make much sense to admissions officers. 

You need your reasons and your objectives to correlate with each other in order for admissions officers to not only understand you but also to not think you’re “wishy-washy” or apathetic about your future. 

You could also think of it like this: You have a set of dreams and goals that you would like to achieve. Achieving this dream is easier if you apply for USC and capitalize on their benefits.

Here’s an example of how this would play out. 

• Objective 1: You want to learn how to expand your small business in selling affiliate products online through a string of websites. You’ve always had a passion for this and it made sense to go to a great school that can show you how to expand on said business. 
• Objective 2: You find that you don’t know very many like-minded people with the same passion and drive for business growth in your area. You find the 9-5 grind boring and, as such, you seek more entrepreneur-friendly places like Southern California to feel a sense of community and belonging. 

How to Write the USC Transfer Essay: Tying it Together.

Great. You’ve got your objectives for the future sorted out as much as you can and you have a few good reasons to apply for UC as a transfer student to achieve said objectives. Now it’s time to merge them together. The formula for the essay may therefore look a bit something like this: 

Intro paragraph

• Start with a good hook. You may talk about your dreams / objectives you would like to achieve. 
• Make sure not to start the hook about how much you want to attend USC, though. This is a cliche and, more importantly, does not highlight what makes YOU special and only highlights what makes USC special. (which the admissions officers already know.)
• You can make the introduction paragraph about anything in general, but it just needs to be interesting and transition into the body paragraphs without losing the admissions officer’s attention. This is best done by writing about the dreams and objectives. We recommend also to do the intro paragraph last, as it is the most difficult part to come up with ideas for. 
  

Body paragraph 1

• Talk about your objectives that you would like to achieve. 
• A good way of manifesting your dreams in your mind is to simply be more thoughtful about what you really want. More often than not, a better response than “I want to be a doctor” is something more wide and open such as “I aspire to dedicate what time I have left of my years doing what is most fulfilling to me: to save lives that are at risk.”

Body paragraph 2

• Talk a little bit more in depth about said objectives. 
• You may elaborate with how you came about this objective and why it means so much to you. What was the spark that made you want to commit to this objective? Why do you care so much that it would speak to your very being? 

Body paragraph 3

• Talk about your reason for applying to USC. 
• It is paramount that in this section onward that you don’t allow for your writing to fall flat. Many writers tend to use all their abilities of good imagery in the intro and first few paragraphs only for them to run out of steam at the last parts. Don’t do that. 

Body paragraph 4

• Talk about your next reason for applying to USC.
• If you only have one reason, you may disregard this. You may also use this paragraph to talk about the ways in which applying to USC will help fulfill your objectives and use that as a reason. 

Conclusion 

There you have it! A better approach to the USC transfer admissions essay. You’re at least more prepared now to tackle your dreams of becoming a trojan! Remember: the competition of entering USC as an undergraduate is fierce, and as a transfer even more so. 

Your GPA, extracurriculars, awards, and work experience are not the only vital thing being reviewed. You’re facing holistic admissions, so remember to keep your pen (or keyboard) sharp and your brain sharper. 

Have further questions about our essay guide? Concerned whether your essay-writing abilities will save you from low grades and test scores? You might want to consider talking to a college admissions counselor for advice and help. Here at PenningPapers, we provide you with free consultations to ensure that you don’t regret pressing that “submit” button.