Senior year is a time for questioning and reflecting on how all of this fits together and where it is leading. During this year, learning needs to be carried out both inside and outside the classroom.

The thought of life after Saint Anselm College has set in. General options include:

• work "permanently" (i.e. no plan or thought of graduate school)
• attend graduate school, or
• work for 1-5 years and return to school

Students need to realistically assess their readiness for whatever decision they make.

Post Baccalaureate Options

Workforce
Seek employment for which a college degree is necessary. At this point students should be thinking about what they've done or need to do for their "workforce preparation." As opposed to their academic transcript, students must now think about their employment transcript - a resume.

• Depending on interests or needs: students should be referred to:
  • Career and Employment Services, x7490
  • Internship Office, x7136 or their department chairperson for information on internships;
  • Dan Forbes in the Meelia Center, x7108 for service learning opportunities or volunteer work.

Temporary Workforce
Temporary workface is when students are considering taking a year or two off between college and graduate school. Maybe the student needs to think about how to best use their time yet also consider the question: Will "short term" experience prepare them for graduate school? It depends on the discipline.

• Volunteer/public service: students may consider public service such as City Year, JVC, Teach for America, Habitat for Humanity Peace Corps, etc.
  • Refer to: Career and Employment Services, x7490; Meelia Center, x7108
  • Short term "professional" job to graduate school: students who want to work for one year and then apply to graduate school "with experience" may need to consider the time frame. Student (ideally) may begin working in September after graduation and then applies for graduate school in November/December, which means they are basing "experience" on a few short months.
  • Ask: how much experience will constitute "good experience?" What kind of experience will be seriously evaluated by a prospective graduate school program? Do they need to consider an additional year?
  • Many students place little importance on the learning derived from "real world" experience and do not understand its relevance in a graduate school application.

Graduate school
Pursue a terminal masters degree

Pursue a professional degree

Pursue a doctorate, possibly via a master's degree

Reference
Adapted from Kramer, G.L. (2000). Advising Students at Different Educational Levels. In Gordon, V.N., & Habley, W.R. (Eds.) Academic Advising: A Comprehensive Handbook. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc., 100.
Adapted from Wheaton College Academic Advisor Handbook