Students completing a “transfer degree” at Peninsula College and continuing to a 4-year college need to begin planning early. The process starts out with exploration and ends with submitting applications to chosen transfer institutions.
Academic advisors can go over the early process with you and give you some great guidance during the first year at Peninsula College. When ready to apply to colleges, make an appointment with the Career and Transfer Center to resolve questions or gain assistance with the process of applying and the steps that come after.
Transfer Checklist
This overview introduces the key steps for transferring from Peninsula College to a four-year college or university.
Writing A Personal Statement
Most transfer applicants are required to submit a personal statement with their application. This essay should clearly and thoughtfully describe key aspects of your academic and personal background that help explain your achievements and educational decisions. Strong writing and meaningful content are important.
All application writing must be your own original work. Others—including parents, counselors, friends, or AI tools—may review your writing ethically, but the content must remain yours. Address the suggested topics—listed under Academic History and Major & Career Goals—as they apply to your experiences. You do not need to answer every question—use the topics as a guide to share what is most meaningful about your story and perspective.
- Academic History
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- Tell us about your college career to date, describing your performance, educational path, and choices.
- Explain any situations that may have had a significant positive or negative impact on your academic progress or curricular choices. If you transferred multiple times, had a significant break in your education, or changed career paths, explain.
- What are the specific reasons you wish to leave your most recent college/university or program of study?
- Major & Career Goals
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- Tell us about your intended major and career aspirations.
- Explain your plans to prepare for the major. What prerequisite courses do you expect to complete before transferring? What led you to choose this major? If you are still undecided, why? What type of career are you most likely to pursue after finishing your education?
- How will the university help you attain your academic, career, and personal goals?
- If you selected a competitive major, you have the option of selecting a second-choice major in the event you are not admitted to your first-choice major. Please address major or career goals for your second-choice major, if applicable.
- Optional Topics
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- Educational Challenges/Personal Hardships
- Describe any personal or imposed challenges or hardships you have overcome in pursuing your education. For example: serious illness; disability; first generation in your family to attend college; significant financial hardship, or responsibilities associated with balancing work, family, and school.
- Experiential Learning
- Describe your involvement in research, artistic endeavors, internships, and work (paid or volunteer) as it has contributed to your academic, career, or personal goals.
- Community or Volunteer Service
- Describe your community or volunteer service, including leadership, awards, or increased levels of responsibility.
- Additional Comments
- Do you have a compelling academic or personal need to attend this particular campus at this time? Is there anything else you would like them to know?
- Educational Challenges/Personal Hardships
- Additional Writing Tips
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- Utilize the Writing Center or Get Help From a Tutor
- The Peninsula College Writing Center is always happy to help with writing for transfer applications. They can help you with getting started, organizing your ideas, proofreading, and formatting.
Peninsula College Writing Center
- Writing Format
- Content, as well as form, spelling, grammar, and punctuation, will be considered. It is always a good idea to have your statement proofread. Pay close attention to the suggested length.
- Submitting via Online Application: Write your statement first in a word processing program (such as Word) or a text editor, and then copy/paste it into the text box provided on the application. All line breaks remain. However, some formatting may be be lost, such as bold, italics and underlines. This will not affect the evaluation of your application.
- Tell Them Who You Are
- Share aspects of your life that are not apparent from your transcripts. In providing the context for your academic achievements and choices, describe your passions and commitments, your goals, a personal challenge faced, or a hardship overcome. Tell your story. Be concise, but tell the whole story.
- Be Specific
- Personal statements too often include sentences such as “I’ve always wanted to be a Wildcat, Bruin, Husky, etc.” or “My whole family attended the University of...” Although this may be important to you personally, such reasons are not particularly valuable to the Admissions staff because they do not tell them anything distinctive about your experiences and ultimate goals.
- Write Like a College Student
- Your personal statement should reflect the experience and maturity of someone who has already attended college. It should reflect your understanding of the components of an undergraduate education, such as general education and the major. Admission staff want to read how, specifically, your academic and personal experiences fit into your academic, career, and personal goals.
- Additional Details to Keep In Mind
- 4-year institutions want to know about your intended major and career aspirations, and they want to know your plan to get there.
- You have the option of selecting a second-choice major. If you do have a second-choice, be sure to address it in your personal statement.
- 4-year institutions strive to create a community of students with a variety of backgrounds, experiences, values, and viewpoints.
- Utilize the Writing Center or Get Help From a Tutor
Resources
Many of the following resources will provide you with information about university majors, the process of transferring from Peninsula College to a 4-year, transfer institutions in Washington, and how to find a college.
Washington State Transfer Institutional Contacts: The following list is transfer contacts at 4-year institutions in Washington State that accept transfer students from Washington State Community Colleges. It is not an exhaustive list, there are more.
Washington State Transfer Institute Contacts
What Can I Do With This Major?: What Can I Do With This Major is a resource from University of Tennesee—Knoxville that provides 100 major profiles with information on common career paths, types of employers that hire in the field, and strategies to maximize opportunities. Look up your major of interest and learn a lot. It can help point you in a direction to explore further.
What Can I do With This Major?
MyMajor College Search: The MyMajors College Search connects you to over 7,500 Colleges, Universities and Career Schools.