So, you’re looking for the best advice on how to write the NYU transfer essays.
Transferring to NYU is going to be an uphill battle. It doesn’t matter how strong your GPA is. If you have the same academic achievement as the average transfer applicant, you have a 24.63% chance of getting accepted.
As for the other 75.37%, you can…
- get rejected
- lose research opportunities
- have a smaller network to collaborate with
- minimize your chances of career success
- lose out on meaningful NYU friendships
NYU’s holistic admissions policy makes the essays very, very important. Although a strong essay doesn’t guarantee acceptance, it certainly helps you stand out.
Additionally, a good essay determines whether you get accepted or “waste 2 years of hard work.” Yikes. Thus, knowing how to write the NYU transfer essays is crucial.
This guide will cover how to do exactly that. By following this guide carefully, you can write a compelling essay that cuts through the rest of the admissions pool.
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Table of Contents
- How to Write the NYU Transfer Essays: The “Why NYU” Prompt.
- How to Write the NYU Transfer Essays: The “Reasons + Objectives” Prompt.
How to Write the NYU Transfer Essays: The “Why NYU” Prompt.
“Please provide a statement that addresses your reason(s) for seeking transfer and the objectives you hope to achieve. How can NYU and the particular school, college, program, and/or area of study you are applying to support those goals?”
(2500 character maximum)
NYU “Why Us” Transfer Essay Prompt 2023
Standing Out.
To stand out in the NYU transfer essay, you’ll need to distinguish yourself from the rest of the application pool. Many students applying to NYU are in the upper percentile of their school. You won’t be the only one with high marks.
If you have low grades, writing a unique NYU “Why Us” essay is doubly important.
To do this, estimate what the median applicant is like.
- What exactly do you think they’ll be doing to maximize their admissions chances?
- Will they read tutorial guides online?
- How can you differentiate yourself when everyone follows NYU college advice from Reddit, TikTok, and their counselors?
- How about when they get help from their teachers?
- What kind of topics do top-performing students cover?
- And, how can you stand out from that?
Here’s an example of something that won’t stand out:
“NYU contains all the resources I would need to be properly prepared for a career in business and finance. I would like to learn under its world-class professors to one day work as a financial analyst.”
Example Bad NYU Why Us Essay Description
In the NYU “Why Us” essay prompt, practically everyone will be saying something like this. So, be specific if you’re going to talk about how it’s going to help with your future career. Don’t be vague!
Now, you may be thinking…
“What if I talk about the buildings and coffee shops in my “Why Us” essays?”
While that technically is fine, you shouldn’t make it the focus of your essay. NYU is a paragon of knowledge and culture. So, go deeper than that!
Does your pursuit of entrepreneurial growth parallel NYU’s business and artistic creativity? Or, perhaps NYU has resources and professors conducting research that may greatly benefit your major. Connect NYU’s background with your aspiring future, and capitalize on that!
Let’s take a look at what a good NYU Why Us essay would look like. Here’s a sample of a description that works well.
“To create a bottom-up based AI startup would be the start of a fantastic business journey for me. I always aspired to create software that would help ease the pain of work, especially for those who struggle with 9-5 desk jobs. Easing that pain would allow the powers of AI to take the load off hard-working employees, and promote a healthier lifestyle for a modern time.
Thus, I would like to attend NYU to use its vast resources for springboarding my AI software startup. To attend NYU and optimize my chances for startup success would mean securing the chances of making a real world change on modern work-life blanace patterns.”
Example Good NYU Why Us Essay Description
What sets this one apart is that it digs deeper into the unique reasons the applicant wants to attend NYU. Unlike other essays glossing over NYU’s resources, the applicant goes further by connecting deeper moral reasons to their career.
The HYPMS Technique.
This is a technique we like to use for a lot of our clients.
For those who don’t know, HYPMS is short for Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, and Stanford. These schools are regarded as some of the most valuable universities to obtain a degree from. So, what does the HYPMS format entail?
Essentially, it goes like this:
Imagine you were accepted into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, and Stanford for any major of your choice. You also have no financial restrictions, and paying off the student loans is no concern to you.
Why, at the end of the day, will you reject all of these schools for NYU?
This isn’t exactly an easy question to ask yourself. Besides, a degree from any of those schools will set you up for life quite well. We ask this so you’ll push yourself to find reasons for NYU.
You need a reason to attend NYU that’s so important that no other elite institution could compare. Now, realistically, that’s not possible. Most institutions will be capable of providing you with an education better than you can ever imagine. But, you can still use this mental exercise to make a statement close to that.
Think deeply about what advantages NYU will provide you. Better yet, think about the advantages you’ll get and how they benefit your future research, startups, or projects.
The Calamities of Rejection.
Standing out in the NYU transfer essay sometimes demands some imagination. Specifically, you’ll need to scare yourself a bit. What’s the cost of getting rejected? We don’t mean this in a superficial surface-level sort of manner. Everyone thinks about what happens if they get rejected!
Instead, think of the deeper impacts getting rejected from NYU has on you and your future.
Here are a couple of examples:
- You want to transfer to NYU because it makes the most sense for both fashion design and business. NYU would maximize your success in starting a new fashion line. Not attending as a transfer means settling with the current state school you’re in with its limited resources.
- You need to escape the limitations of your small town in Alabama. You live in a small community, and it’s a city quite limited in creativity and industry. You feel strangled by your background, and you need a place to escape to like the city. NYU provides the exciting worldly experience needed to actualize your “next life.”
- You live in a majority Asian-American community that is actively conservative. Despite your resentment for your community, you wish to make a change for your hometown. But, you don’t want to do it at your current state school. The professors are unmotivated and dismissive. Attending NYU means having all the resources and networking opportunities to yield the best results. And, you may even become a political leader in your hometown.
These ideas can help you shape your ideas when writing the NYU transfer essays. The advantage of considering the downfall of getting rejected is that there are motivations from both directions. You get motivation to get accepted, and motivation to avoid whatever comes with getting rejected by NYU.
Most students apply to prestigious schools like NYU due to its notoriety. However, you also want to have the possibility of rejection also motivating you. This will prove to admissions officers how much you’re taking your application seriously.
How to Write the NYU Transfer Essays: The “Reasons + Objectives” Prompt.
“Please provide a statement that addresses your reasons for transferring and the objectives you hope to achieve.”
(3,000 character maximum)
NYU Transfer Essay Prompt 2
Standing Out.
This goes with all the NYU transfer essays. Just like the first, you’ll want to stand out amongst the rest when answering this question.
When you think about it, of the two NYU transfer essays, the second one isn’t that different from the first. The first asks, “Why NYU?” The second asks for your “reasons for transferring and the objectives you hope to achieve.”
So, what’s the difference?
Well, the latter provides more opportunities for you to elaborate on your objectives. They’re insinuating your reasons for transferring to NYU are tied to your specific goals in mind.
We like to think that there are 2 forms of objectives that you should demonstrate: short-term, and long-term.
Your short-term goals should involve improving academic performance and narrowing your major into an industry niche. This shows the readers you’ve done your homework and have a good idea of what you want to do. You should also specify what exactly your long-term goals are going to be. You don’t have to have it accurate at a microscopic level. However, it helps to show the admissions officers that you have a clear path. That will help them better understand that you’re clear about why you need to attend NYU to achieve said path.
Why Transfer out of Your Current Institution?
In the second NYU transfer essay prompt, demonstrate why your current institution is not sufficient for your goals.
Most students can achieve what they need at practically any university. They don’t need a prestigious school with vast resources to start a business or become a high school teacher. Thus, most students applying as transfers to NYU don’t really have a strong reason for transferring, to begin with.
Remember: most people transferring to NYU will also be transferring out of state. There are plenty of students from California and even across the globe who would like to attend.
Think about what you have to gain through transferring to NYU.
Additionally, think of the benefits you’ll take and how they differ from others. Perhaps someone wants to attend NYU because they have plans to attend for business and management purposes. However, you may have a better reason to attend. Maybe you already have a plan to execute a startup focusing on young activism among college students. And, what better place to start that than in the heart of activism and business startups?
Also, think about why you need to escape your current institution. Is there something about attending your current institution that made actualizing your goals impossible?
We had a client a few years back who talked about her issues attending Cal Poly Pomona. She was more interested in the tech startup world as well as business. But, Cal Poly’s business program was absurdly irrational. She learned nothing there, was surrounded by racism, and had to deal with troubling individuals. Hence, she left there for better pastures.
Having a Future Goal In Mind.
In the second NYU transfer essay, have a future goal in mind.
Let’s say you’re an applicant for NYU as a transfer student.
You made a goal to attend and learn more about business. Your long-term goal is to break into the business and administration software industry. NYU’s professors may mentor you to create a product that companies can use that is both affordable and useful. To expand on the future objectives, you may discuss moral and personal reasons. Look at the previous example again. Why would someone want to provide cheaper alternatives to admin software for businesses? Your potential business may help provide competition in an otherwise monopolized industry, helping the economy. Attending NYU would help you achieve that; thus, your admission to NYU also puts a moral value at stake here.
Think about the larger-scale reasons for your goals. They can be personal, moral, rational, or any other reason you may possibly have.
If you’re still concerned about your NYU transfer essays, consider free college admissions essay revisions and advising services. Schedule a free consultation with us today! We’ll provide free revisions and advice within 24 hours.