Graduation Preparation: A College Senior To-Do List
By Karen Treon, Senior Editor & College Parent
As your college senior approaches graduation, life can feel like a whirlwind for them. Exams, projects, graduate school applications, job searches, and good-byes can be overwhelming. Encourage them to take a beat and enjoy the wrap-up. Here are some suggestions you can try to work into a conversation with your soon to be college graduate student:
The Practical:
Write at LEAST three thank you notes to professors they have had and drop them off at their offices.
Forward mail through the US Postal Service! If they aren’t sure where they are landing or don’t have long-term plans, they can forward to a parent or a trusted person who is settled in one spot.
Do they currently have a job? Make sure that their employer has a permanent address on file to mail a W-2 or 1099 to. Your student will be glad they did this when they are not chasing down tax forms in eight months.
Check school-associated drives and portals and make sure to preserve access to or copy the things they may need in the future.
Review health insurance status. If your student is covered through school, they can investigate alternatives. If they are under 26, they may be able to go back on their parents’ health insurance. If that is not an option, visit Healthcare.gov to explore other options.
Update LinkedIn and spend an afternoon connecting to college friends, classmates, and professors.
Join their school’s Handshake or LinkedIn network and join the Alumni Association (a lifetime membership is a GREAT graduation gift!).
Go to a few workshops or job fairs at their school’s Career Center. Ask for a resumé review. Do some mock interviews. These skills are invaluable! (At most schools, students can access Career Services after graduation, but this is easier to do if they are already familiar with the Career Center.)
If they might need an academic letter of recommendation in the near future, they should ask a professor about that now. Many professors appreciate the opportunity to draft an LOR closer to the time when they taught a student, even if it is finalized and used later.
Follow the instructions on all of the graduation-related emails they are receiving. Getting stuck without tickets for family or without a cap and gown is no fun!
The Fun and Sentimental:
Every school has a well-known landmark or two. Gather some friends and snap some pictures of each other at some favorite campus spots.
Go to all the Senior Things . . . Senior Sunset, Senior Toast, etc. These don’t come back around.
Take a sunset walk around campus or their favorite off-campus areas.
Take the time to get some on-campus pictures in their cap and gown.
Knock on the door of their freshman residence hall room. Say hi to the current occupant and wish them well.
Bestow some excess college swag on some younger friends.
Write a few thank you notes to staff members who have helped them or made an impact on them - a nutritional services employee, an administrative assistant in their department, a crossing guard, etc. - and drop them off in person.
Get together with one of their “first friends” and reminisce about the early days.
