It can be a major challenge applying for a college with so many factors to consider: you have to decide which college to apply for, you don’t know whether you will get accepted until possible months after you fill out the application, and will likely have to apply to several colleges before one accepts you.

If you are struggling with these problems, this article is here to help by explaining getting into a college, all the way from picking one, to getting an acceptance letter.

Picking a College/University

The first step is to choose what type of college you want to get into, whether it is a college, a community college, or a university.

Community colleges, like Everett Community College or Edmonds Community College accept anyone that meets simple requirements, such as age and previous education.

Colleges and Universities, however, have much stricter acceptance policies. For example, Evergreen State College has an acceptance rate is 98.9%, whereas Harvard University has a 6% acceptance rate.

Beside acceptance rates, there are many other differences in these types of schools. They have different classes, different degrees, and many other differences.

Once you have chosen whether to apply to a community college, standard college, or a university, you need to choose what specific school you want to apply to. Some close schools to Arlington are Everett Community College, Skagit Valley College, Evergreen State College, and the University of Washington. Now that you have chosen a school, you need to apply for it.

Writing an Application

Mario Orallo-Molinaro, the regional admissions counselor at Western Washington University, says that a general rule to follow when writing your application is the “three Hs: Honesty, Humble and Humor. Your voice is your voice.” Although every school is different in what they want and expect of you, make sure to follow this when writing.

If you are applying for a community college, they probably don’t have a lengthy application process, but most colleges and universities will. They will usually have you write an essay based on a prompt they give you.

When writing this, try to follow these tips to write the best essay you can:

-Make sure to pre-write beforehand and plan ahead

-Tell what distinguishes you from others. Remember, these Admissions Officers have to go through a lot of essays.

-Follow what your English teachers have taught you (Although it may be boring, it will make your essay better)

-It’s fine to be bold and take a stand in your essay, as long as you have a reason to do so.

-Make sure to have people proofread it when you feel you are done.

Waiting For Your Results

Since you’ve given them your application, your next step is to prepare for being a possible student there. One of the best ways to do this is to tour at their campus.

Many schools have official tours, but you should tour even if they don’t have an official one. Just ask for permission, and away you go!

Here are tips on touring:

Getting Your Results

When getting your results, don’t expect to be accepted, especially at a school with a low acceptance rate. A good way to get accepted is to apply for multiple colleges instead of just one.

If you do get accepted, however, congratulations!

Since a college has accepted you, tour it if you haven’t already. Make plans on where you will live, how you will get to school, and other mundane, but necessary, tasks.

Good luck! And if you remember anything from this article, it is that you should start to plan now.