Applying for 2 & 4 Year College

What to look for when picking your top schools: 

Location

You are likely to get your first job and start building your life wherever you go 

Size

Small campuses have more 1:1 attention while larger colleges can afford other opportunities outside the classroom 

Degree and programs

How does it compare to other schools, do they offer internships after graduating? 

Price

How much can you afford, will the school offer you an additional financial aid package? 

Community

Who’s already attending this school? What clubs and groups already exist? What’s the campus culture? 

Support

Different schools offer more academic and mental health support than others.

Search databases 

WUE Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) offers discounted rates on out-of-state colleges in the Pacific Northwest.  Search among hundreds of undergraduate degrees offered at the WUE rate of 150% of resident tuition (or less) by 160+ public colleges and universities across the West. Find the school and program that fits your geographic and educational goals. 

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search 

https://www.niche.com/colleges/scholarships/ 

https://www.princetonreview.com/college-search 

College visits 

Try a Virtual Campus Visit. Online tours and info sessions help bridge the gap when students can’t check out a campus in person.   

• Explore and save colleges through https://www.youvisit.com/collegesearch/ 

• The Washington GEAR UP program has information about visiting campuses in person or virtually. There are several resources through the "Visit A Campus" link. https://gearup.wa.gov/students/visit-a-campus  

• GEAR UP also offers a series of virtual campus visits. These video presentations highlight colleges across the state, including a number of public and private four-year universities and two-year community and technical colleges.   

• For schools with no virtual tours available, consider doing an online scavenger hunt. Use the form to research, compare choices, and find a good fit. 

College Fairs 

Each year Lake Washington schools host multiple college fairs where you can meet and talk with college representatives, then compare various colleges based on those conversations. Come to the College and Career Center to learn about college fairs. We also invite representatives from various colleges to Juanita in to give individual presentations to our students. Request a school visit or sign up for a future visit!

The PSAT is a primer for the SAT that is used to identify National Merit Scholars and award merit scholarships. Practice booklets are available in the College and Career Center.

The ACT & SAT are standardized tests widely used for college admissions in the United States. Usually completed in your junior year, you will also have the chance to retake your test to improve your score. Here's a comparison of the SAT vs ACT .

Use the following links to register for the SAT and/or the ACT

Use College Board or Khan Academy for practice tests and study resources. We also have practice workbooks for pre-SAT, SAT, and ACT prep guides in the College and Career Center.

The Parent Teacher Association is working to reestablish the 'fear free SAT' workshop after our Covid-19 hiatus. More information will be available soon.

The Washington Guaranteed Admissions Program (WAGAP) supports a college-going culture and guaranteed admission efforts at Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, The Evergreen State College, University of Washington Tacoma, Washington State University and Western Washington University. Together, and in partnership with our communities, we are committed to meeting the college and career goals of Washington students to increase access and credential completion in Washington through WAGAP.

We partner with your high school to make sure the following criteria are met:

• You have a minimum GPA of 3.0 or higher
• You have completed or are on track to complete by fall 2025 all the College Academic Distribution Requirements (CADRs)
• Your school has an agreement with the participating universities and college to be part of the program

If all of these are true, we can guarantee you will be admitted to all six participating Washington four-year, public institutions.

Net Price Calculator

find out how much college is going to cost and resources that will help you get there. 

Please visit our dedicated site specifically for Financial Aid and Scholarship Resources

Personal Statement

A biography is a written account of a person's life, typically highlighting their achievements, experiences, and notable events. In a college essay, you will be highlighting just one aspect of your life. One passion, one event, or one unique perspective.

Your general essay shares how a student has grown or expanded their perspective. Angle to show them why you are ready for college or why you are pursuing this major. It doesn't have to be the worst thing that’s ever happened to you. Make sure to brainstorm many ideas before writing your first essay and don't write about COVID unless you have a very unique take on it!

Supplemental & Hidden Essays

Many colleges will ask for 1-3 additional essays on a variety of topics.

Why our school?

What diverse community are you a part of?

Find the most underutilized essay section at the bottom of the grades area- "Is there anything else the admissions officer should know?" This can be things that impacted your grades, life changes, or sharing about specific programs you have been a part of and how they have shaped your academics.

Make sure to get your essay edited and get feedback. Even if something is clear to you, it may not be to the middle-aged person who has already read 100 essays this week. Keep things simple and don't add large words just for the sake of them.

A letter of rec can come from anyone who isn't family.

Please note on the CommonApp a letter of recommendation is different than a Counselor Recommendation.  Many times a letter of recommendation is optional, but if required consider asking a teacher as they can speak directly to your educational performance.

We suggest that you request your letter in person since some people are better with faces than names. Then send a follow-up email that includes the following:

• a brag sheet (or other list of your accomplishments and goals)
• the due date
• the colleges or majors you plan to apply for

A few days before the deadline send a follow-up email that reminds the recommender of the deadline and asks about its status.

The common app allows students to list up to 10 activities that they competed during their high school years (UC schools get 15 activities). 

Each gets a title followed by a short 250-word description.
These can be anything from in-school activities like drama and photography to after-school activities like sports, any anything else you spend your free time on. This includes taking care of younger siblings, jobs, volunteering, hobbies- anything you do when not in class. This gives the admissions officer a fuller perspective of who you are and how you spend your time. If you're stuck between picking one thing over another choose activities that support your major and share your diverse perspective!

The PSAT is a primer for the SAT that is used to identify National Merit Scholars and award merit scholarships. Practice booklets are available in the College and Career Center.

The ACT & SAT are standardized tests widely used for college admissions in the United States. Usually completed in your junior year, you will also have the chance to retake your test to improve your score. Here's a comparison of the SAT vs ACT .

SAT and ACT Compared

Test Optional? Test Blind? What does it mean?

Test blind- meaning they won’t look at your scores even if you try to submit them.

Test-optional schools will only look at your score at the end of the application to approve you if your grades aren’t enough on their own.

Test-blind and test-optional schools often still use test scores for scholarships.

The common app will ask you to input your course load from 9th to 12th grade manually- meaning that you have to type each one out. This benefits you if you have any classes whose names have been abbreviated on your transcript. 

You must make sure that the college will be able to identify which class correlates to what on your transcript. That means that a highly abbreviated class name may need to be put in parenthesis to tie it to the transcript. Cambridge students may want to add the word Cambridge to their class name.

Quick tips:
-Juanita High School operates on a semester schedule
-You don't need to put in the final grade for your classes
-Running Start and WaNIC Students are enrolled in Dual Credit classes

During the application stage, a college does not need the official version of your transcript. Instead, feel free to download your transcript through Skyward/Xello.  Also if you are applying through CommonApp transcripts will be uploaded by your counselor.

Xello Unofficial Transcript Directions

After you have accepted your invitation to enroll at one school you will be prompted to send an official transcript. 

Request Office Transcripts Here

Please read the form carefully and only request what you need. Be sure to check your LWSD email for notifications that they're complete. 

Some schools might offer you conditional acceptance.

This means that you will be accepted to the school if your senior year grades reflect well upon you. Students are encouraged to do their best in their senior year as proof that they are college-ready!

Schools like to see rigor not only throughout your high school career but also throughout your senior year.  If you are thinking about taking an off period or TA position, it might be good to double-check with your admissions office to see if that is appropriate.