As a current college freshman, with many friends in their senior year of high school, I wanted to write a guide to help them out and not become overwhelmed with everything that will soon be thrown their way.
1. Make sure you take the SATs or ACTs. Many colleges do not have a preference and will take either one. Some however will require that you send SAT scores, so make sure that you take that exam at least once.
2. Think about where you want to go. This is often the first time a student is away from home, some choose to go far away and some choose to stay local. Both options are perfectly valid. Some people want to go and be on their own, but others may want to stay at home and not have to worry too much about forming or out-of-state tuition (if you go to a state school).
3. Consider your majors. What do you want to do with your life? Once you can figure out a few of those details, start to research schools where your major may be offered.
4. Come up with a fallback plan. Think of a minor. No one wants to hear that their major may not work out, and as a theatre major, that's what I hear every time I tell someone what my major is. Consider your options and try to pick a minor. It looks good and will help you in the long run be a more well-rounded person.
5. Figure out when application deadlines are. Make sure you stay on top of those. They're very important. If you need a letter of recommendation, make sure you ask for that early. If your transcripts need to be sent by your guidance counselor, make sure to follow-up with them to guarantee that they will be sent on time. This could be the difference between admission or denial from your dream school.
6. Once you've sent in everything, congratulations. Now you just have to wait for your response letters.
7. Now that applications are done, start looking at scholarships. Are there any offered from your school? Make sure to apply. If you find scholarships elsewhere, make sure you get on those. The price of room and board, meal plans, fees, and textbooks will definitely make up for scholarship money.
8. A few weeks have passed and you're probably starting to get acceptance and denial letters. So congratulations if you got into your top school. Now you just have to start sending in deposits. It's no big deal, just some paperwork you have to do.
9. Let's say that now we're up to May 1 and it's the day you officially declared your school. This is super exciting. I remember that day that I sent everything in and I was super excited to say that I was officially going to college.
10. Orientation and class registration is super casual. Just make sure that you don't necessarily sign up for 8ams, because they're brutal to wake up to. Just because you did it every day in high school does not mean that you can do it again in college. It's awful and exhausting. Try to avoid Friday classes. It's super nice to have off on Fridays because who doesn't love a three-day weekend?
11. Moving in. An exhausting, overwhelming, anxiety-filled day. It's also ridiculously emotional. Parents are saying goodbye to their kids and kids are realizing that they're on their own now. I'm not gonna lie, a few days after I was dropped off here, I started missing my dog and my bed like crazy and I had a minor breakdown. It happens to all new students. But you'll get through it.
I hope all seniors have a great last year of high school and don't stress out too much. It'll be a great experience and college will be even better.
