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Three years down and one to go…who is more excited than a high school senior! Even though you'll find plenty of self-help books on how to survive your college years, there isn't much written for the high school senior.

Sure, your senior year may sound easy, but it is important to recognize that there are things you will have to do to prepare for it.

Starting now

Now is the time to get organized, if you aren't already.  Don't think that you will just get through senior year, go to college, and magically be organized and neat.

Start With a Planner

If you haven't been doing this throughout your high school career, it's time to get a planner. And use it!

Don't try to remember everything. Use your planner to keep your lists and important dates.

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If you've gotten this far in school without learning how to listen well and take good notes, it's time to get off that slow train to nowhere. You will need to have these skills mastered when you start college.

New skills don't end in the classroom!
New Skills Don't End in the Classroom


Uh oh!

If you are going away to college now is a good time to get some good habits:

• Learn to do your own laundry.
• Get up on your own.
• Learn to budget your money.

When I went away to camp at a college campus last summer, I was basically on my own for three weeks.

My room started our really neat and decorated really cute with posters but ended up a mess.

I had no clean clothes at the end of my time there. Honestly, you do not want a room that looked like mine!

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Become as computer literate as you possibly can. Familiarize yourself with writing research papers and using computer programs such as Microsoft Word. Make your own blog or Web site to refine your skills.

College textbooks and overall class work are more difficult than in high school, so don't shortchange yourself by taking a lot of easy classes your senior year.

You will need certain college preparatory classes just to get into college. Be sure you know what they are, and take them.

It's easy and seems reasonable to want to relax your last year, but colleges are looking at your grades, especially ones from your senior year. In fact, if you take some AP (advanced placement) courses, you may actually earn some college credit in high school.

Interested in a half day of school?

Half Day of School Senior Year?

Some seniors have enough credits so that they only need to go to school half a day. Consider taking a college course the other half day.

Corey, a student who did this, said that this really helped him. "I was enrolled in a college course while I was a senior," says Corey. "While the freedom of leaving high school early is a major short term benefit, there is a huge payoff in the long term," he says.CloseSome high schools require senior projects and you don't want to wait until the last semester to get started. Senior Project


My senior project will be an art show.

I will have worked on my art show more than a year by the time of the show. I have to:

• Draw and paint what will be on display
• Design invitations
• Secure a location for the show

There are many other details. Ironically, if I do them well, everyone will probably take the hidden work for granted.CloseYou may also be required to shadow someone in the profession you are considering. Shadow Doesn't Mean Invisible

Amber, who wants to be a nurse, has taken a part-time job shadowing nurses at a nursing home to get an idea of the field.

She is also taking some vo-tech nursing classes at her local technical college. "I feel really confident that this is what I want to do and am lucky to have hands-on experience," she says.Close 

Hang In there!

Everyone gets senioritis.
Everyone gets senioritis. It's practically a rite of passage—just don't get it too early! Yes, it's fun to think about prom and get caught up in graduation or planning a senior trip, but if you start losing focus too early you're really going to cheat yourself. Don't Get Senioritis Too Early!

"A lot of kids tend to think of school as over once they come back from Christmas break," says Mrs. Rengers, a teacher from Morgantown High School, Cumberland, MD.

"They shouldn't let their guards down," she adds. At least wait til after spring break!"

Spring semester performance can make or break your admission to the college of your choice.
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Even though senior year might feel like a party, you really shouldn't treat it like one. Sure, there are times when you'll feel like going out with your friends. Who doesn't live for the weekend?

But when you do go out, always keep in the back of your mind that choices have consequences.

Think of the Consequences


See my enthusiasm for college?

When you take those crazy pictures, there's something to consider before you post them on your Facebook page: What seemed like fun at the time might not give the impression that you truly want to make on a respected college professor.

Interested in a senior prank? Think again. It could land you in jail.

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