Make Sure Your High School Graduate Doesn’t Forget

Today I’m writing about things you should make sure your high school graduate doesn’t forget to do.  These aren’t the big obvious things like dorm shopping.  They are the little things that are easy brushed to the side and forgotten about with all the activities surrounding high school graduation.

My middle daughter graduates from high school tomorrow.  It has been a whirlwind year with college applications, scholarship applications, visits, decisions, and more.  Now there is the ceremony, parties, and other things to focus on.  I view it as my job to keep her organized and make sure she doesn’t forget to do the little, but important, things.

Things to Make Sure Your High School Graduate Doesn’t Forget

1. Thank You Notes – Beyond the obvious thank yous for graduation gifts, there are the thank you notes for private scholarships and for recommendation letters.  Help your student track down an address for any private scholarships that he or she received.  Also, any teachers and community members who wrote recommendation letters for college applications and/or scholarship applications should get a formal thank you note.
2. Placement Tests/Registration Paperwork – Many colleges require incoming freshmen to complete some “homework” before showing up at summer registration.  My daughter needed to take two placement tests and complete some other information two weeks before her registration appointment and with everything going on at the end of the school year, she waited until the absolute last minute to do it.
3. Transcripts – Make sure your high school sends the final transcripts to your students college, which they most likely do automatically.  More importantly, make sure your student arranges for transcripts for any college-level courses to be sent to the college he or she will be attending in the fall.  This is not automatic. Check with your high school counseling office to find out if they have a process for this.  You may need to contact the colleges directly.

As high school ends, it’s important to truly close out this chapter in your student’s life before moving on to the next exciting chapter.  Once these things are done, you and your student can focus on dorm shopping and ways to enjoy the last summer before college.