The College Transfer Application

The Common Application will be rolling out a new application designed specifically for transfer students.

If you’re applying in the next few weeks as a transfer student to highly selective colleges, like the Ivy League colleges, you may have grown a bit frustrated with the application platform. Maybe you felt the prompts were intended for high school seniors to complete and, well, you’re not a high school senior. Maybe you’re not even a college freshman. Maybe you’re a military veteran who attended high school ten years ago. Maybe you’re a community college student. Or maybe you’re a working dad who last attended high school many moons ago. Well, you’re not alone. Many folks over the years hoping to transfer have grown frustrated that the Common App. is tailored more towards high schoolers than non-traditional students. But as Bob Dylan sang it, “The times they are a changin’.”

The Common Application For Transfer

The Common Application, the largest college application provider, formed a Transfer Advisory Committee. The committee is comprised of representatives from 29 institutions, including community colleges and highly selective colleges like Williams College and Tufts University. No Ivy League college is represented on this committee to date. Based on the discussions of this committee, a new transfer application will be rolled out. While 10-12 early adopter schools have already joined this new platform, the main release will take place in August 2018.

As Common App. has announced, “Through the new Common App for transfer, there will be one place for students to go to learn about and apply for transfer admission. The application will also be tailored to acknowledge their individual circumstances and experiences. For example, a student transferring directly from a community college might need to provide different information as part of their application than a military veteran or a returning adult learner…By streamlining the application process and presenting a dynamic interface that will adjust to each student’s background and academic goals, The Common App is working to remove many of the current roadblocks to transfer and enable more students to achieve their aspirations.”

Ivy Coach salutes Common App. for realizing that the current Common App. isn’t necessarily well-suited for non-traditional transfer students. We’re glad Common App. will be rolling out a new platform designed specifically for transfers. It’s long overdue. Don’t our readers agree? What do you folks think about the new college transfer application? Let us know your thoughts by posting a Comment below. We look forward to hearing from you!