Grade 12: Senior Year + First Year of College
12th Grade: Staying Focused
Includes
- College Admissions Process
- Applying to College
- Complete Financial Aid Process/Supporting Documentation
Introduction
You made it through elementary school, when your child learned to read. Then middle school, when your child decided he/she reading. Then came high school, when you informed your child that he/she absolutely must read if he/she wanted to get into college and that, by the way, car keys would be held hostage pending good grades.
And now, it’s senior year.
Whether they love high school or hate it, kids tend to view senior year as a time that can’t come soon enough. Either it’s the last step before breaking free of high school or it’s the most fun year ever, when commencement celebrations start on the first day back.
The big decision looms large: college. And in the short term, parents may worry that their child will get burned out on academics and party too hard.
Parents need to help keep kids on track without putting too much pressure on them. If you find yourself pushing your child to excel in every aspect of life, you should be asking yourself “Why is this important to me? Is it my own adequacy issue?”
Preventing Senioritis
To find that middle ground, parents and students need to know exactly what the expectations are for senior year. Years ago, 12th grade was about two milestones: sending out college applications and receiving acceptance letters. Once your applications were mailed off, you did the bare minimum in your classes to pass. After you got your acceptance letter, you slacked off even more and assumed your teachers would turn a blind eye.
That was the past. These days, much of the college admissions process happens online. And there‘s also this thing called schoolwork, which still must get done even once you‘ve been accepted to your first-choice school. ―I want to paint a sign over my door that says ‗Senioritis is a fatal disease,‘ ‖ says Cass Wright, a College Coach with the Erie School District, and CEO of Pathways to Post Secondary Education.
Today‘s teachers are far more likely to issue grades that reflect the senior‘s work rather than wave them through just because they‘re graduating. Yes, colleges can rescind acceptance letters. Even more important, your child could slack off so much that he or she may not have enough credits to graduate. Poor grades can also cost a student a opportunity for a scholarship and affect college placement. Counselors note that students who coast through senior year have a hard time getting back into the academic groove once they do get to college. For those reasons its important for all students to work hard all year long.
To make sure your child avoids senioritis, ―stay on top of it, Cass advises. ―It‘s important for parents to stay involved....Those last six months, it‘s more important than ever to be aware of what your senior is doing.
Parents should closely monitor report cards and jump in fast if grades start to slip. ―Trust but verify‖ is the motto that all parents should use, rather you have sent kids to college in the pass or this is your first. Once parents have spelled out expectations for academic work, they must also make sure college applications are filed on time.
Some teens are self-directed, while others won‘t work on their admissions essays even when desperate parents offer to pay them by the word. ―You have to know your kid and know why they‘re not doing their applications,‖ Cass says. ―Is it something the kid wants, or is your child just [applying to certain schools] to please his/her parents?
Many seniors will expect to have more freedom socially. For parents, the goal is to give teens age-appropriate choices and to let them own the consequences of poor decisions. ―It‘s important for parents to stay involved even though their child is 17 or 18, Cass says. ―Senior year offers multiple roller coasters. You want to make sure the roller coasters are headed in the same direction and not headed for a collision.
Parents make sure to keep a close eye on your child‘s attendance and discipline history, students can be rejected admissions offers based on poor attendance and too many discipline referrals to the assistant principal office.