Four Things to do in Your Senior Year

Here are some things you will want to accomplish in your last year at college.

By Al Dickenson — January 4, 2023

Tags: advising, application materials, goal setting, good times, graduation, holistic wellness, networking, next chapter, post grad life, senior season

Senior year can be a scary time and place to be (but then again, wasn't most of college?). Graduation is looming, and the thought of entering the working world as a new, young professional in a full-time, permanent role can be daunting. Maybe you already have a job lined up. Maybe you only declared your major last month. Either way, here are some items you will want to accomplish in your last year at college.

Find your registrar.

You have spent four (or more) years attending an institution of higher learning, and now that you are feeling ready to enter the world of working, you first need to take your first step: graduating. The worst news you can hear as you approach the date in May or December is that you forgot to take your freshman communication course, and now you have to either fill out an overload form or, worse yet, stay another semester to complete your degree. You can avoid this disaster by approaching your registrar, advisors, or personally consulting your transcripts. Maybe you knew what your major would be from day one but hemmed and hawed about a minor, and now to graduate, you need these extra three credits in stem cell biology. Better to be prepared and have all of your ducks in a row for senior year. You may need the extra semester or two to fulfill your dreams of becoming a history major. Take the time to examine your degrees, required courses, and collaterals, and send in your graduation application. Oftentimes, this application will automatically trigger a "degree audit," where the registrar's office will examine your transcripts against what you need to graduate with your intended majors(s) and minor(s).

Get your application materials in order.

No matter what field you are headed into or planning on continuing education, gathering all of your materials from your college years is essential to finding your path after college. This could be compiling a portfolio of work samples, which includes updating your LinkedIn page from sophomore year and carving out some time to do this. Collect any outstanding homework assignments and be on your way. Update your resume, craft a general cover letter for reference and sampling, ask professors, advisors, classmates, coworkers, and supervisors to be referenced and provide letters of recommendation, and whatever else you feel you need to do to be prepared for the working world. The last thing you want is to leave college and not have a clue as to what is happening or how to function in the real working world.

Find ways to stay connected.

Are you close to any professors or other college employees? If you are, be sure to have some way to contact them down the line. You may need to use them as a reference for a job, a letter of recommendation, or lean on them for career advice, or maybe you will just want to chat over a coffee at some point. Either way, making sure you have some way to connect with them in the future is a good thing to do in your senior year. Many colleges have fairly active alum programs, especially for specific majors and schools, so you may need to find out what sort of events they may be able to tell you about to reconnect or network with other professors, administrators, or alums. Likewise, if you have friends who maybe live a considerable distance away, staying connected can still prove valuable as a community. Phone numbers, emails, and social media profiles are great ways to keep in contact, but consider setting up regular times to chat or reconnect. That could be a yearly vacation together, or a monthly Skype or Zoom call (turning that gathering into a book club is always a viable solution, at least for some friend groups). Regardless of the situation, keeping the connections, you made over your college career will be invaluable in the long haul.

Take time to enjoy the experience.

You will leave a lot about enjoying college. It is likely the freest period of your life and your life to come. While you still need to focus on academics, professionalism in work and school, jobs, family, and other responsibilities, you must take some time to enjoy the last first day of class. The last class you will have is on a Thursday, and the last time you will spend the entire night hanging out with friends, studying, or whatever else. It may be the last time eating in the cafeteria, and you will want to celebrate! Maybe it will be the last time you will hang out with your foreign-exchange student friend for the foreseeable future. No matter what your rituals were, or if you did not have any, take time to soak in the experience of walking through those classroom doors and into your future.

In all honesty, these are four of the many things college students should accomplish in their senior year. However, every situation is different, just like every college student. Before your senior year starts, take some time to step back and enjoy the moment. Then, with a clear head, feel free to dive back into your life preparation and start checking off all the things you think are important to you as a college student and your life after it is over.

Al Dickenson

Al Dickenson graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran College with bachelor’s degrees in history, communication, and English. He currently serves as an editor for an international equine practitioners’ magazine in and around Milwaukee, Wisconsin, his hometown, where he lives with his wife.

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