My main pieces of advice for all those students starting their senior year of high school this fall. Of course, these won’t all apply to everyone, but take what you want from it. Here’s some advice from someone who just graduated.
- By the time you get to senior year you either have 3 close friends. or you’ll be friends with everyone. Either way, cherish them all.
- Do not slack off. If you do, at least wait until the second semester.
- Take easy classes. Unless you don’t mind lower grades in hard classes due to senioritis then I suggest you keep your senior schedule pretty simple.
- Take off periods. You will LOVE them. You will be surprised with how much longer your days feel.
- Definitely start driving to school, or carpooling with someone who does.
- Go to the football games. Even if your team sucks. They’re just good experiences.
- Actually, go to as many school events as possible. Senior year was my first time going to volleyball games, or the dance shows. This is your last chance to experience them.
- You do not need to go off campus for lunch everyday. You do not want to earn your freshmen fifteen as a senior.
- Your senior year group of friends will be the group of friends that you wish you’d had all throughout high school.
- You will meet new people, and become friends and wish that you met them sooner. Because some of them will be juniors and you probably won’t see them for a very long time.
- Start applying to colleges as early as you can. Preferably once you start senior year, or the summer before.
- If you haven’t already taken your SAT/ACT you definitely need to get started on that your first semester.
- Go to prom if you can. It won’t be the BEST night of your life, but it’s a good one.
- Start thinking about what you want to major in. This is definitely subject to change, but you’re going to want to know a couple options once you start applying to colleges.
- Once you do accept your offer for a college, and it becomes definite, high school becomes so much harder to get through because you just want to leave.
- You’re going to be waiting for graduation THE WHOLE YEAR.
- If you’re in a relationship and are going your separate ways after graduating now would be a good time to either end it, or figure out ways to be long distance.
- Long distance very rarely works.
- At prom, it is a very good idea to invest in some comfortable shoes.
- Take lots of pictures.
- Go on college visits to as many colleges as you can.
- Save your absences for the last weeks of school because that’s when you are REALLY not going to want to go.
- Be one good terms with some of your teachers, because you’re going to want letters of recommendation.
- If you want to take pictures with your friends after graduation, be ready to pick a place to meet up beforehand because it will be very hard to find them afterwards.
- Do your homework. Please.
- Stop talking to the people that you realize you’re only nice to because you have classes with them.
- Now is just not a good time to develop a crush.
- AP tests are suddenly very hard to study for considering that you’ve been taking it easy all year.
- Your SAT score does not define you and getting a bad one is not the end of the world.
- However, do as well as you can because colleges often give assured scholarships to students who meet certain SAT/ACT scores.
- Your GPA is either going to drop, or raise A LOT.
- GPA doesn’t really matter at this point though. Junior year grades matter the most.
- Spend a lot of time with your family. You’ll be off to college before you know it.
- High school parties are honestly overhyped.
- Now would be a good time to acquire a taste for coffee.
- If you oversleep, I honestly recommend just staying home that day unless you have a test.
- T-shirts will become your clothing of choice.
- If you love makeup, like me, by the last 2 months of school you just won’t have the energy to wake up 20 minutes earlier to apply it. So learn to be okay with how you look without makeup.
- Please eat breakfast.
- No one cares if you eat in the cafeteria.
- The freshman look SO tiny and it makes you wonder if you looked that small 3 years ago.
- Go to all the pep rallies.
- Have fun during spirit week. Some colleges don’t have them, so take advantage of it now.
- It is totally okay to not have a date for prom.
- One of the happiest moments you will have all year is being able to walk across the stage. Also, one of the shortest.
- Despite what everyone says, there is a very good chance that you WON’T cry at graduation.
- The senior year teachers are always the best.
- Be nice to the freshman.
- Be nice to any underclassmen actually.
- But also, take pride in being a senior. This is your last year. Own it.
