This assignment is for students who are planning to transfer to a four-year college, whether or not you are getting a degree from Northampton Community College.  If you are planning to enter the job market after you leave Northampton and not transfer to another college, please click here for your assignment:  Job Application Cover Letter.

 

Your assignment is to write a cover letter to send along with your application to transfer to a specific four-year college. 

You are writing this letter as if this were a time period in the future: specifically, early in your last semester at Northampton.  For example, the date would be in January or February 2010 if you are planning to transfer after this semester.  If you are planning to transfer after next semester, the date would be in September or October 2010.  On the other hand, the year could be 2011 or later, depending on when you expect to transfer to the other college.

 

Please try to use the College Navigator or  CollegeTransfer.net website to locate a good college to transfer to, or you can use a college that you already know you would like to attend.  If you are unsuccessful in finding a college to transfer to, please let your professor know.  (Don't forget that you are not actually applying to transfer -- this is a writing assignment!)

 

Before you begin writing the cover letter, read pages 193-202 in your textbook for guidelines on writing business letters and cover letters.

 

Also, print out a copy of the requirements for your major here at NCC.  You can find these requirements by going to the Programs & Majors webpage on the college website. You will then be able to include details in the letter about the courses you will have taken in your major.  

 

Your letter should be at least four paragraphs in length, although two of them (the introductory and concluding paragraphs) can be relatively short.

 

Here are some basic guidelines for you to consider as you write your rough draft of the letter:  Cover Letter Basic Guidelines.

 

Follow the full-block letter format on page 195.  Use Microsoft Word for this assignment, and submit a rough draft that you have saved on a disk, a flash drive, or as an email attachment.

 

Here are some good webpages with more information on writing cover letters:

About Cover Letters

Cover Letter Success is All About Specifics

The Basics of a Dynamic Cover Letter