How to Utilise the Final Year of Your College

by Harakka M. Instructional Strategist, M.Ed.

We all want to have a successful career. College is just the beginning of the ways to get that. There is a large world out there, bigger than the college as well as harder and more competitive. The more students have ideas regarding the world the more successful they can be. There are lots of things to do in the final year of your college. You have to prepare for further studies, learn about other universities, study the initial syllabus for entrances. Besides these practical things, you have to go through lots of emotional changes. You will feel at once nostalgic and excited; your routines will change for a busier one. You’ll be surrounded by new faces and you’ll begin to wonder whether you are ready for the changes. However, it’s not an easy job to handle all these fuss at the same time. In order to help you go through this period of turmoil, here are a few tips which can guarantee that you’ll have a wonderful, fruitful senior year, as much as possible.

Ø Think thoroughly and decide whether you really want to go for further studies or not. If the answer is yes, you have to be busy running different kinds of chores. First, you have to decide about the kind of program (masters/certification/diploma/PhD) where you want to apply. Secondly, you have to clear related competitive exams such as GRE, GMAT, LSAT or whichever is required specifically for your course.

Ø You will need to work on the draft proposal, personal statements, and recommendations and so on. While making the decision, be honest with yourself. Don’t take the decision under any kind of compulsion or pressure otherwise it may affect your future.

Ø Make a bucketlist of all the things that you want to do in your senior year. Beginning from crazy things to do to rearrange your hostel room. Even though it’s possible that you may be able to fulfill only half of the list but it’s good to have everything placed right in front of you.

Ø Try to maintain a nice relationship with your professor, teachers and classmates. Talk to your teachers, show them the answers and get these reviewed by them. In this way, they’ll notice you and probably can give you good letter of recommendations as well.

Ø Even though it’s hard and tiresome try to gather some work experiences related to your area of expertise and career. If you want to be a professor, join a teaching assistant opportunity and teach people or freelance as an online tutor. You can go for internships as well during spring and summer vacations. This will definitely add some extra points to your CV.

Ø Attend conferences, seminars and events that are related to the subjects of your choice. Try to present paper in the student conferences, especially if you want to pursue research work. These places and events are great to make connections too.

Ø Try to do some volunteer work for community services like serving at the old age home or the Red Cross Society and so on. It will be valuable in learning life skills as well.

Ø Instead of partying through the weekends and vacations, read a lot of books, current research material in your areas of interest, popular fiction/nonfiction books or even online news sites in order to know about important worldwide events. You can even start your own blog on topics of your interest and connect with like minded audience.

Ø While sticking to your old friends, do try to meet and network with new people and expand your world.

Ø Be a little more organized and get a planner to mark everything. Beginning from the routine of your classes to the time and date to practice soccer, university and graduate school application dates, interview schedules, internship application deadlines, etc.

Ø In the final year of college, after which you are going to join an office or pursue your research work, you have to master the art of time management in order to make time for everything.

Ø Apply for scholarships for further studies. Besides that try to save little by little for future.

Ø Even though you are in the final year, attend classes regularly and make the most of it.

Ø Take class notes and study them regularly which will help you in the examinations.

Ø Make it a habit to go to library and prepare notes of your own. This will separate your answer from the rest of the class.

Ø Maintain a healthy life style. Don’t skip breakfasts, do some light free hand exercises or yoga to remain fit.

Ø Stay away from and make others aware about the problematic aspects of drugs. This is that period of age when people feel like rebelling, even at the cost of their own lives Feel free to talk to anybody, your teachers, parents, friends and so on. It is always to talk about things and seeking help rather than doing nothing.

Ø Explore the campus and the nearby areas with your friends or by yourself and soak in memories along with building new ones.

Ø Have fun while you can. These are the golden days of your life which may or may not come back ever. So grab your share of fun at your college graduation parties, graduation day ceremonies and farewell parties.

These are some of the ways to utilise the final year of your college so that you can look ahead for a happy future.