Common application: why tranfer? Desire to study in the US

The last three years of my life have been really tough for me and in a way enlightening. In the summer of 2007 my family and along with them I moved to Turkey, my motherland. When I started school here it felt like someone had dumped a freezing bucket of water over my head, for the first time in my life I was having problems in school both socially and academically. The curriculum was much harder here and although I was supposed to start my sophomore year I was placed in the junior class because all my classes were honors in my freshman year. Somehow by the end of year I had made some really good friends and academically I had started to catch up to my peers but I still had some work to do. In my senior year I had to take the University Entrance Exam, which is very competitive. At the beginning of the year my teachers were telling me that I didn't have a very good chance at getting into a good university. By the end of the year I had really progressed in my studies. I took the exam and contrarily to what my teachers had said I got into the bioengineering program in Istanbul technical University (ITU).

I had wanted to study biomedical/bioengineering since middle school and I was really excited that I was finally going to get the chance to do so. However I still had a longing in me to study in the US, the country where I was born and raised. Also I soon realized that the bioengineering program at ITU wasn't for me. The main reason being that the bioengineering program is very new here, at ITU. So the program is not very well established yet. I'm sure it will be great in the future, but that doesn't really help me now. Since bioengineering is a relatively new field it is hard to find a well-established program to study in, especially in Turkey. Also the field of work here is also pretty small and limited, this will be important in the highly probable event that I will want to do an internship or get some job training during my studies. I want to study bioengineering in the best places possible and excel in my area. I want to challenge myself, force my limits it makes me feel serene and at the same time excited.

Although experiencing new traditions and culture was great, adjusting to a new country was a hard task. It involves too many parameters like language, culture, types of people and so on. It can be very frustrating and overwhelming. After I moved to Turkey I lost my sense of familiarity and belonging. I felt as though I was left out, as if people were looking at me differently. I want to regain those feelings of belonging and familiarity because I believe that psychological tranquility is very important to be successful and happy.

A good education is important not only just career wise but in all parts of life. It gives us the opportunity to look at the world in a broader manner and to think in different points of view. I saw this very clearly in my family, because my father is a Caltech alumni and my mother is a doctor. It allows us to better ourselves in all aspects of life. This is why I would like to change my school so that I can obtain this in a place where I feel that I belong to.

The last three years of my life have been tough as well as enlightened . In the summer of 2007, my family and I moved to Turkey.

It sounds better for me.

thanks :)

Sometimes you should try to find ways to take out unnecessary phrases:
The last three years of my life have been really tough for me and, in a way, enlightening.
I got rid of for me and put a comma on each side of in a way.

And in this sentence you do not need "along with them":
In the summer of 2007 my family and along with them I moved to Turkey, my motherland.---- sometimes, even though a phrase adds a little to the sentence, it is not worth the extra words you make the reader have to read.

If you use "the reason being," it has to be a continuation of the previous sentence, the reason being that it will form an incomplete sentence if you use it on its own. So, use a comma:

Also I soon realized that the bioengineering program at ITU wasn't for me, the main reason being that the bioengineering program is very new here at ITU. So the program is not very well established yet...

Nice job! You are obviously very intelligent. I bet they will accept you!