Ready for Life After High School?

Hey, Class of 2021—it’s time to think about 2022 and beyond.

For high school seniors and their families looking forward to graduation this summer, the next few weeks are important to making a smooth and rewarding transition to life after high school. It is a crucial time for pursuing different career paths, deciding which college to attend, ensuring that you receive all the financial aid you qualify for, and lining up plans for the summer.

To help you with all of those important challenges, from now through April 30, 2021, the DOE is hosting a series of online events for high school seniors and their families that are aimed at supporting senior transitions and highlighting the variety of postsecondary tools and resources available on our website. Several of these events will be conducted in languages other than English.

Examples of topics to be covered in those events, which can all be found online in our official calendar, include:

• How to complete the FAFSA financial aid form;

• Resume workshops;

• Interviewing skills;

• Consideration in choosing a college;

• Networking and personal branding; and

• Ways to use summer months to prepare for life after high school.

In addition, seniors should now begin to schedule one-to-one meetings with their school counselors or other people they trust at their schools to discuss their postsecondary plans and transitional supports they may need. To prepare for these one-on-ones, check out this handy summary of a dozen questions to ask your counselor.

You can also sign up for a series of weekly texts from the DOE’s College and Career Planning Team that will help you lock in your plans and get the help you need to explore, prepare, apply, and transition to your chosen path. Signing up for the texting service is easy and can be done through our Next Steps Texts portal online.

It’s an exciting and important time in the lives of our seniors and their families, so please be sure to take advantage of all the resources available to help you take the next big step on your journey!

On behalf of the DOE, we wish all of our high school seniors success in their future endeavors!