Advice for Graduating High School Seniors

The transition from being a high school student to being a college student is most likely one of the most radical changes you will go through in your lifetime. You transition from being a kid living at home with your parents to being an adult living with roommates; from having no (or very few) responsibilities to being completely accountable for yourself.

It’s an exciting and terrifying time, and it can be hard to know how to deal with it as it’s happening. Here are some useful things to keep in mind as you prepare to graduate high school and enter adulthood:

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Apply Early

It will benefit you immensely to be ahead of the game when it comes to college applications. If possible, start working on them the summer before you graduate. Colleges will be impressed by your forethought, you’ll have a better chance of getting in by applying early to certain schools, and you won’t have to worry about it as much as graduation comes nearer and your life gets busier.

Colleges also often allow priority access to financial aid, housing, and class registration for students who complete the enrollment process soonest. Having your applications ready early will save you a lot of stress, improve your chances of getting into the schools you want, and give you priority access at the start of your college life. (Click here to apply early to The King’s College)

Seek Out All the Scholarships You Can

There is an enormous amount of scholarships available to those who take the time to apply for them. If you spend a significant portion of your senior year looking and applying for even the smallest scholarships, you will likely have a significant amount of your tuition taken care of when it’s time to head to school.

The truth is, most people don’t take the time to apply for smaller scholarships, since they don’t see how they could make a dent on the huge tuition bill—but if you get enough so-called “small” scholarships, they add up to make a huge difference. So apply for any scholarships you can, big or small, and keep in mind that your final college decision shouldn’t be based on cost alone, as not all schools are equal. Consider your overall ROI (Return on Investment) when you’re calculating school costs and scholarships and deciding where to go.

Prepare for Interviews

Chances are, you’ll have to go through a couple of rounds of admissions interviews to get into the colleges you want. Senior year is a good time to begin preparing your interview style—a skill that will serve you throughout your life. Be prepared to share accurately and succinctly who you are, what you care about, and what you bring to the table. Work on communicating clearly and professionally. At the same time, be authentic and bring your personality—college recruiters and future employers want people who are qualified and interesting.

Visit (Often) and Seek Advice From Others

You can do all the research you want on what college life will be like, but the only way to get a truly accurate portrait of the future is through seeing schools yourself and talking to current students and graduates who have already experienced the transition. Make the investment to experience the colleges you’re interested in firsthand–twice, if you need to.

It may cost time and money to get there, but even the best websites fall short of a perfect representation of the atmosphere you will experience when you are physically on-campus. If possible, meet with some students from your prospective schools to get a more accurate picture of what day-to-day life will look like. Nothing will prepare you for college as much as first-hand visits and conversations with students will. (Visit King’s for a personalized visit and/or an Inviso weekend event)

Think About Money

Up until now, you’ve most likely been able to rely on your parents for most of your financial needs, but now that will change. For one thing, you’ll have to prepare to live on a budget; for another, you’ll have to figure out where the money to go to school is coming from at all. Sit down with your parents a few times during your senior year to get their advice and wisdom on financial matters as you begin to figure your own fiscal situations out. College too expensive? Consider some cost-effective loopholes, such as online programs that allow you to study from home for part of the time. Work issues like these through with your parents—it’s part of being a responsible adult.

Don’t Expect People to Recognize You for Who You Were in High School

Maybe you were popular in high school or maybe you were a nerd, but once you get to college, it simply doesn’t matter. No one will care about your high school social status once you graduate, so be prepared to have an identity outside of who you were in high school. Senior year can be a good time to begin to figure out who you really are, independent of friends and school activities, and if you start that work now, the transition to college (where you will have to have a separate identity) will be much easier.

Don’t Be Afraid to Fail

This is a huge transition, and a lot of things are going to change. Be prepared for the fact that there will probably be things in your new life that you’re not very good at right away—and that’s all right. Athletes have to train, actors have to rehearse, and you need time to get used to your non-high school life, too. When things happen that you didn’t plan for—when you get a bad grade or lose your wallet—don’t lose hope. It happens to everyone, and it’s just a part of growing up. Don’t let the possibility of failure stop you from taking risks, but live your new life boldly and well.

Enjoy the Time You Have Left

It’s easy to look at the last year of high school as something to “get through” in order to make it out on the other side. We tend to focus on the future and what we want to accomplish with our lives—which is fine and even necessary, but not if it is done at the complete expense of the here-and-now. Once you leave for college, you’ll realize how much your family, friends, and home life really mean to you.

If you don’t intentionally focus on enjoying the time you have left, you’ll wish you did once you’ve left. Hang out with your friends, spend evenings with your family, and recognize that this is the last time in your life you’ll be at home as a “kid”—when you come back, you’ll be a visitor. Don’t view your senior year as something to “get through” in order to reach the real world—savor it, in all its bittersweet glory.