Columbia University and Columbia Engineering consciously seek out strong transfer candidates to welcome to campus each year. The number who get accepted isn’t massive, though — a little over 125. That wouldn’t necessarily be intimidating except that there are over 4,000 candidates for those few spots. The transfer acceptance rate fluctuates based on available spaces in the class, but has stayed between 5% and 10% in recent years.
Before you decide to apply to Columbia as a transfer, you do need to make sure that you check some boxes. There are the usual things, like recommendations, transcripts, and standardized test scores, and some less standard ones. You must have completed the equivalent of a full year of college study before you would show up on Columbia’s campus, and you can’t have left school for more than one full year (if you have left school for more than a year, you are eligible for the School of General Studies). Strong candidates are also expected to have a minimum GPA of 3.5 — although getting into Columbia with a 3.5 is near impossible. For Columbia Engineering, they also expect two semesters of Calculus, two semesters of Physics, and one semester of Chemistry.
And if you are unsure of whether Columbia College or Columbia Engineering would be best for you, it is possible to transfer internally. Possibility does not mean probability, though, as internal transfers are approached on a case-by-case basis.
In this post, we’re going to break down the essays for each college, Columbia College and Columbia Engineering. When it comes to applying for transfer, positioning is everything, so outstanding essays are critical to achieving admissions success.
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Columbia uses the Scoir x Coalition application for transfer admissions, and only accepts transfer students for fall admission. The application is due on March 1st.
THE TRANSFER ESSAY
Columbia does not require the Coalition Essay, the main college essay, but we recommend all applicants submit one. If you want to go to Columbia, you need to use every tool that they offer you — and the essay is a crucial one.
The Coalition transfer essay for Columbia is sort of like the essay you did when applying as a first year but also quite different. Whereas for first-year college admissions the essay was all about showing who you are, the transfer essay is more clearly asking “why transfer?” Here is the prompt:
Please explain why you are interested in transferring from your current institution. (The personal essay does not need to be specific to Columbia, but it should inform the committee why you wish to leave your current institution.) (400-600 words)
Yes, Columbia really does not expect your essay to be specific to them, as this essay is often used for multiple transfer applications. What they do expect, however, is a compelling reason for leaving your current school. But what should one say?
First, don’t tell them everything. Sure, you may have personal issues with your current institution, but that really isn’t relevant to a future institution. More urgently, you definitely don’t want Columbia imagining what frustrations or drama you may bring to their campus. They aren’t looking to welcome students who will cause problems for administration onto campus, so you don’t want to look like one.
Instead, you need to focus on academics. But you also don’t want to insinuate that all the professors at your current school are idiots, or that the students aren’t all that bright. Suggesting that you are driven and brilliant, but they are holding your back isn’t a compelling sales pitch for your candidacy for admission. So, when we say, “focus on academics,” what we mean is to pinpoint the mismatch between where you are now and what you want to be doing — both academically while in college and into the future. The key emphasis should be on “academically,” of course. That’s what college is, at its core, for.
We recommend breaking your essay for Columbia into three interwoven parts. First, the essay must communicate passion for the academic subject you are pursuing, or you hope to pursue. Next, the essay must convey the challenges you are facing in pursuing your academic goals at your current school. This could be a lack of resources, a change in program, or a shift in your focus compared to when you applied to college, or anything else that is structural, not personal.
Finally, the essay needs to look towards your future. What can you see yourself doing at the right college, Columbia in particular, and where you do see it taking you next?
That’s a lot to fit into the compact, 400-600 word package. It’s crucial, though, that you don’t prioritize technical language over storytelling. Connecting with the reader is your way into Columbia, and the only way to do that is to show yourself as a real human with true passion and big dreams.
Remember that transfers to Columbia are still required to complete the Core Curriculum to meet graduation requirements. Having less time on campus doesn’t exempt you from courses like Art Humanities and Music Humanities that all Columbia College undergraduates take, for example. This means that transfers to Columbia do have less time for exploration. Columbia wants to know that you are confident in your course of study and will be able to execute it efficiently while performing at the high level they expect.
Most importantly, though, you need to keep your grades up. The number one factor in your application decision from Columbia is your academics. That means grades, program of study, and standardized test scores — which are optional, but we highly recommend including them.
It is not possible to get into Columbia as a transfer without two things: a clear academic vision and an exceptional academic track record. If you can dial these both in, you’re on a great path towards a transfer to Columbia. The last step is to ask an expert for help.
Every year we help strong student transfer to exceptional colleges. Contact us.