Congrats! You’ve been accepted to university, you’ve put down your deposit for the college of your choice and you are counting down the days to walk across that stage anticipating and waiting to say good-riddance to all things high school. It’s smooth sailing now! You can relax, kick your feet up, and look forward to the amazing summer of being lazy before living your best life at College – come August.
After working in the education industry in America, it still amazes me how this concept of “I’ve been accepted, I’m done with high school” transcends cultures, languages and borders.
So this article’s purpose is not only to give you a reality check (it has to happen sometimes), but also to give guidance on what you should be doing before going off to college.
You are not done yet
I know that graduation is less than 30 days away, but that’s just it, you are not a graduate, until the end of graduation. Your college acceptance, although it may not say it, is conditional. Being accepted, paying your enrollment fee, and even getting your I-20 means absolutely nothing at this point. The reality is there are still 30 days that the school has to evaluate you to determine whether or not you meet the criteria to graduate from their institution. So hold off on those senior pranks that may be against school policy.
I have seen far too many students get expelled the weeks leading up to, including the day before, graduation and just like that – they are out of a high school diploma. No final transcript that confirms graduation = no acceptance to college.
Grades Still Matter
This one is a tough one for me to talk about. I have been out of school for over two decades, but I still remember every year in high school struggling to stay focused from Spring Break, to the end of the school year. “Senioritis”, the term that describes a student in their last year of high school, who is exhausted, fed up, and burnt out, is a real thing! Let’s think about it. As a senior, your number one job is to use this final year to bring your grades up (if need be), get the best score in the ACT/SAT, and graduate from high school. But what a lot of people don’t tell you, is that applying to colleges/university, is also a full time job! You have every right to, and dare I say, you are entitled to have ‘senioritis’.
However, colleges really don’t care about your self-diagnosed “senioritis”. They want to see consistency and they want the same student that they accepted back in March/April. How you end the school year after being accepted into college is a reflection of your character and your tenacity!
Apply for Summer Jobs and Community Service
By the summer, after you graduate, you should have already built a relationship with organizations that you have been working with (paid or voluntary) over the past few summers. You may have even requested these organizations to write a college reference for you (good job!). However, this last summer before going to college is not the time to take a break! Ideally, you want to use this summer to work or volunteer in the field of your declared major. Why? Let’s be honest here, we have all heard how difficult it is to get a job after college as every company not only wants someone with a degree, but also with experience! Every summer for the next four years should be focused on building a resume that coincides with your declared major. It gives you the experience that you need to make you more employable after you earn your bachelors degree and can also be an open door for full time employment with that company after you complete college/university.
The count down to graduation and even college is not for the faint of heart. It takes making a decision to push through and end strong when your body and mind want to shut down on you. But life is full of choices – choices that need to be made from your brain, and not your emotions. Stay positive, stay focused, and be great!
