16 Similarities and Differences Between Transfer and HS senior UT-Austin Admissions
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In this post, I want to compare and contrast the transfer application process from applying as a high school senior.
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1. Transfer has a less predictable number of spaces available.
Students transfer out of majors, leave UT, or graduate early. Some years certain programs are much more difficult than others, but it isn’t possible to know which ones are in a given year. In 2019, advertising/PR was unexpectedly very competitive. Some like CS, ECE, biomedical Engineering, Nursing, and Architecture are always competitive.
2. Many majors have prerequisites for transfer
Contrast this with first-time freshmen, where almost any high school senior is eligible for almost any major. Epecially for STEM and business check your major to see if there are prerequisites.
3. There is a smaller rate of change in the number of transfer applications from year to year
In most years going back two decades, UT received between 7,000 and 10,000 applications for around 2,500 spaces. Those spaces are split into approximately one-third of community colleges, one-third of four-year universities, and a third for CAP. Whichever college you attend doesn’t matter, only your college GPA. For fall 2024, UT received a record number of 10,000 applications, but consider that the number of first-time freshmen applications has almost quadrupled since 2007, while transfer numbers remain relatively static.
4. Transfer admission does not consider HS rank or SAT, only the college GPA
There is ambiguity on the Common App about how “previous apps” might be considered for admission, but applicants who have spoken with UT receive conflicting answers. “Previous apps” does not appear on UT’s official admissions page. So, unless there is a formal announcement about previous apps somehow factoring in, I will assume HS credentials don’t matter, or that multiple transfer attempts are reviewed within the context of previous applications.
5. The transfer resume is required and can go back five years
If you’re a recent high school graduate, for sure include activities from high school and feel free to discuss them in the essay if they’re relevant to your first choice major. The expanded resume is also required, but the Common App allows for unlimited activities and longer descriptions compared to first time freshmen, so the best practice is to duplicate the expanded resume into the Common App inputs.
6. There is a wider range of potential applicants (two-year, four-year, veterans, mid-year professionals, etc)
Competitive high school senior applicants tend to look the same. They have strong grades in APs, a high SAT, they come from the suburbs or attend private schools, have college-educated parents, and similar resumes. Transfers come from much more diverse populations. Many are recent high school graduates, but many are also military veterans, mid-career professionals, parents, first-generation college students, and even retirees. They also come from more varied educational settings, like two or four-year colleges or public and private universities.
7. Transfers usually have a clearer idea of expectations and reasons for enrolling
Since every transfer has at least a semester of studies after high school, there is a somewhat higher standard for why you want to transfer and what you want from your UT education.
8. Admissions reviewers have a lower expectation for high-flying ECs
Since many transfers are recent HS graduates with little time to pursue university opportunities, don’t stress if you don’t have many university activities. Non-traditional adult students or veterans also don’t need to go complete random volunteering or certificates to try and look like a recent typical high school graduate.
9. Rec letters make even less of a difference for transfers
I argue in my second book, Surviving the College Admissions Madness, that rec letters are a waste of time. They’re poorly written, rarely provide new information, and are impersonal. I estimate that a rec letter makes a difference in perhaps one in fifty applications.
For transfers, rec letters are even less important, partly because they’re challenging to get if you’ve been in college for only a semester or feel awkward asking a professor at your four-year university to help you leave it. Most transfers don’t submit letters; when they do, they tend to be from work or internship supervisors or some other non-academic reference.
10. Transfer requires only one essay rather than many
HS seniors to UT have one common app essay, two regular admissions supplements, and potentially honors program essays, amounting to around 1,500 words. Transfer allows only a single essay. That constraint produces many consequences for the content, style, and approach to the transfer essay, which I discuss in other videos.
11. The transfer essay style requires “sticking to the facts” versus a storytelling essay
Since transfer only allows one essay, and you must answer many specific questions about your reasons for transferring, you must have a literal, analytical approach.
12. Transfer essays rarely benefit from conventional introductions, conclusions, or rhetorical devices
Transfer essays do not benefit from attention-getting introductions or the sorts of creative writing you did in English class.
13. There are also fewer approaches to the transfer essay versus nearly infinite for HS seniors
Transfer essays tend to present the accumulation of many small facts and experiences rather than focusing deeply on one or two themes, like band or robotics.
14. Transfer essays must answer a variety of particular questions
The Common App essay for high school is very open-ended. Transfers need to answer how they ended up at their current institution, pros/cons about their current situation, why their experiences and perspectives make them a good fit for their desired UT major, and how you can benefit UT classrooms and campus communities.
15. It is essential that transfer applicants identify specific UT resources/courses
Research and incorporate into your essay specific UT courses, professors, student orgs, study abroads, minors/certifications, and internship opportunities.
For applicants at four-year universities, it helps, but it isn’t necessary to identify UT opportunities that aren’t present at your current school. For example, one transfer client applying for math wanted to focus on topology, which UT has a lot of professors and resources, and their current institution did not.
16. Transfer applicants have a compressed timeframe to apply and enroll
The high school senior application process spreads out over a year from the end of junior year until the May 1 enrollment deadline. HS applicants have four to five months to apply, another few months to wait for the decision, and many weeks to decide their enrollment. For transfers, they begin and submit their applications in January and February and receive their decisions by the end of June. It’s a very quick turnaround time to unenroll from your current institution, move cities, find accommodation in Austin, register for summer orientation, and enroll in classes.