This is the fourth in a series of posts on what you should expect to be doing in each of your high school years as a homeschooled student. So, if this is your 12th-grade year – CONGRATULATIONS! You have made it! This will be the year that you put in the final pieces of the puzzle and it’s the year in which you begin to see the fruits of your labor. So kudos to both parent and student for all your hard work thus far! Homeschooling 12th grade is a fabulous experience – but it can be a little scary, so let’s look at some things that you should be paying attention to.
Woohoo! Senior year!!
In your senior year, you should be wrapping up your credits and should still be taking some rigorous courses. You will have finished many of your core requirements by the end of 11th grade, but the 12th grade is no time for slacking – especially if you are college bound. You are going to need some academic electives for most colleges and this is the year to work on those. Continue to take math, English, science and social science classes this year. For those of you who are dual enrolling – these can also double as some of your college General Education requirements. Before you start the year, double check your list of completed credits so that you are sure to take all that is required to finish high school and apply for your college of choice. Check your college’s website to see what their expectations are.
If you are college bound, you will want to be applying for colleges early in the year. The application and acceptance process can involve several steps and a deadline or two along the way, so you want to leave yourself plenty of time to accomplish everything. It is okay to apply for more than one college, but be a serious applicant for each. Once you have accepted an offer to attend a college, but courteous and notify the other colleges that you will not be attending so that they can extend your slot to other applicants.
Be sure that your portfolio is well organized. In talking with colleges, they may ask to see lists of curriculum or samples of work from throughout your high school years and having an organized portfolio of your work will make a great impression. You will also want to work on wrapping up your Official Transcript. Review your transcript to make sure that you have listed every high school credit that you have earned to date along with the grade. List courses that are in progress during your senior year so that colleges will know what credits you will be finishing. Upon graduation, you will send them a final copy of the transcript with your final grades and GPA.
For those of you applying for Bright Futures, the Florida Student Financial Aid application becomes available in December. Be sure that you are working on finishing up any community service hours you still need for this scholarship and get confirmation letters from the organizations with which you volunteered. The FAFSA will open up January 1st. See the previous blog posts on both Bright Futures and the FAFSA.
If you want to participate in one or more graduation ceremonies at year-end, you may have to register to participate early in the year. Typically, the larger the graduation, the earlier the registration deadline. In the state of Florida, one of the most celebrated graduation ceremonies is that of the FPEA. Go to fpea.com and search Graduation under the Events tab.
This will probably be one of the fastest years of your life and the key to 12th grade is to finish strong! Don’t coast out your senior year – challenge yourself! This year caps off twelve or more years of hard work. Congratulations on a job well done!
~~ to your success
Joanne
Previous posts: What to expect for your ninth grade, tenth grade, and eleventh-grade years.
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