By Explore Editor
Congratulations! Your hard work during the admissions process paid off and you’re going to college. Breathe easy and give yourself a pat on the back, but don’t coast through the rest of your senior year. Admissions officers at your new school will be checking your records at the end of the school year to make sure that you have been exhibiting the behavior and work ethic that attracted the school to you in the first place. Colleges revoke offers of admission every year, so make sure this doesn’t happen to you. College Preparation for High School Seniors! Here are three ways to stay on top of your final high school semester, and assure an easy arrival to college in the fall:
Keep Your Grades Up: Yes, colleges do receive a report of your second semester grades at the end of your senior year. This does not mean that you should lie awake at night worrying about a C+ in Physics, but getting a D in a class where you normally get an A will catch the attention of the admissions office. Colleges sometimes require explanations for a drastic slip in grades, and if there’s no legitimate excuse, the school may just end up closing their door to you.
Be On Your Best Behavior: The biggest red flag that could hinder your offer of acceptance is a disciplinary problem. Colleges often have a zero tolerance policy for plagiarism and any disciplinary instance that involves the safety of other students. Any criminal behavior could show up in the report your college receives at the end of the semester as well. As with academic integrity, your school is going to expect your moral integrity to remain intact during the final semester. To recap: don’t cheat, don’t get into a fight, and don’t get arrested, and you should be fine!
Clean Up Your Online Presence: Your Facebook page, Twitter account, and other online profiles are just a quick Google search away. Admissions officers often take a look at potential students’ online presence during the admissions process, and the same can happen when they’re going through your end of the year report. If you’re worried about what they might find, make sure to change your privacy settings so that you control who can see your profile. The safest measure though is to keep your online profiles clean. If you wouldn’t want your grandmother to see it, you probably shouldn’t have it on Facebook.
As always, Unigo is here to help you through every step of the process. Book a chat with one of our Admissions Experts to discuss any last-minute issues you have before completing senior year and heading off to college. You can also get a head start on freshman year by chatting with a student at your college. Ask about academics, the dorms, social life, or anything else you want to know about your school before arriving in the fall.
And if you have any questions, shoot us a line at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.