When you’re ‘transferring’ you’re (usually) choosing to go from a place to a different place. Usually it’s because you’re looking for an important upgrade along one or more dimensions; sometimes it’s pure circumstance. Regardless, there’s a reason underlying the need for change. Let’s start there.

Before we dig in, let’s get some stuff out of the way. While the cause of your transfer need may be entirely circumstantial, there still needs to be some compelling reason for hoping to land a spot at “Target Program Y” beyond “because what other choice do I have?”

For our purposes here, what’s more interesting is the reason for ending up at “Starting Point X.” You either chose this (and ended up choosing wrong), or, you were left with an undesirable choice, and needed to suck it up for a year and try again. Before we develop a compelling argument for why you’re now seeking a change, it will be very helpful to come to terms with how you ended up at Program #1 to begin with. Here are some possibilities:

• Option 1 - You truly deserved––and may have even earned––a seat at a different (higher-ranked, more competitive, etc.) institution, but circumstances were such that you had to make a difficult choice, and essentially trade something more preferable for something less preferable, knowing that you’d regain the opportunity to apply again in a year or two.
• Option 2 - You missed the cut for the more competitive/more desirable programs initially, but then dedicated yourself to retooling aspects of your profile that would make up that difference on a future attempt.
• Option 3 - You aimed at your original choice school, nailed it, felt like you’d hit the jackpot (or even just ‘did well enough’), only to discover that your destiny actually may exist somewhere else, likely as a result of feeling stagnated, or disappointed, or developing in ways you hadn’t anticipated which unlocked a new option set you originally weren’t aware of when you’d initially contemplated your potential. But things changed, and now you want more.

It’s usually one of these three. Find the one that resonates the most, or if it’s different, using these as examples, articulate precisely what your version was. This gets us to ‘the why are you transferring’ part of the question. The next thing we want to understand is this: we get that you want to ‘leave’ your current place. But why do you want to come ‘here’ in particular? What is it about ‘our place’ that convinces you your current issues will be solved, your newfound hopes answered? You have countless options available to you that would ostensibly improve your situation. Why this place? 

Before you answer those, there’s a *crucial* and sneaky additional question you need to wrap your mind around. Your new target school may be thinking this (and if they’re smart, they have to wonder this): regardless of how sound your reasoning may be, the fact that you’re leaving Place #1 at all means that you are capable of ‘leaving a place in search for something else.’ While it is true that this is exactly what would happen to someone who sincerely found themselves at Starting Point X, needed to make a change, and then Settled at Landing Point Y, it is also exactly how this would look for someone who:

• Is a quitter
• Will always be unhappy, wherever they go
• Doesn’t actually know what they want, and will always question it, all of the time, lurching from A to B to C to D to…
• Can’t hack it for inexplicable reasons, wildcard, unpredictable

That’s the last person a school wants to take a chance on. ‘Stickiness’ matters a lot for making a school look good; that is, when people choose your school and then never leave because your school is so good. The stated reasons for wanting to change will appear to be the same for (1) the sincere guy who deserves it, as well as (2) the flighty guy who may be a drifter. That question of “‘well which guy are YOU?” needs to be extinguished. Hard. This is where sober, well-thought-through reasoning, with solid supporting arguments will help your cause.

So, when articulating why you believe School Y will fit you better, you need to make a case not just for how this program fits you better, but we need to see evidence that when you fit well, you have a well-established pattern of follow-through. If you can demonstrate that You + Good Fitting Program is destined for follow-through, now we have something. Now we’re not so concerned that the first marriage didn’t work out. You’re human. This happens to the best of us.

Let’s put it together:

1. Let’s start with what it is you were looking for, and where you ended up.
2. Now, let’s get a sense of what transpired that led you to realize something was not working, or caused a realization that you needed more to realize your full potential, or to achieve a better version of fulfillment.
3. Define what that renewed sense of ‘what you need’ is: This includes your goals, what you need from a program/environment, newfound realizations for what your own strengths and capabilities are, and what will support/feed those.
4. Now explain why you have set your sights on Target School Y, specifically. Here you’ll map specific features of Target School Y that meet your needs far better than not only Original School X, but Most Alternatives In General. Take us through several examples, convince us through specifics that demonstrate a deep engagement with this program, and even a sense that you’ve ‘trialed’ it enough to develop a high level of confidence that ‘this’ is the place for you.
5. Show us how you flourish under the right circumstances, and have a proven track record here. And reiterate how your needs have changed, and how determined you are realize your truer potential at this other program.

If you think through all the ‘stuff’ above, and follow this general road map, you should touch on most of the key points that will give us a very strong first draft.