Senior Year: No Money? Big Problem.

OLIVIA CHEUNG
News Editor

As senior year comes to an end, parents are frantically tapping into their bank accounts to fund their child’s post-secondary education and the many expenses that come along with pursuing a college education.

However, one thing that is commonly overlooked would be the cost of senior year itself. Throughout senior year, there are numerous activities that require spending money, such as dances and college applications. These individual, seemingly insignificant amounts eventually accumulate to a grand total.

“I am just through my oldest child’s senior year, and as a parent you’ve got your eye on college as the big expense,” Patricia Seaman, senior director of marketing and communications at the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), said, according to Fox Business. “There are a lot of expenses senior year that I hadn’t thought about.”

When one thinks of senior year, the usual thoughts involve graduation, college applications and perhaps several miscellaneous activities, such as school plays or sports games.

The problem lies in the actual cost of attending all of these events. Prom itself generally costs ninety-five dollars without an ASB discount, as does the yearbook. Grad Night, which is when seniors go to Disneyland, is also ninety-five dollars. A graduation gown and gap amount to forty dollars and minor dances that range from Homecoming to Buddy Dinner can cost as little as five dollars to approximately twenty-five dollars per person.

Furthermore, other expenses include college applications whose costs range from fifty dollars to eighty dollars, depending on where seniors are applying for college. Advanced Placement (AP) exams cost eighty-seven dollars each, unless they have reduced fees. Transcripts and Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) also require a fee.

“My advice to underclassmen would be to think carefully [about] which APs to take […] and to apply for colleges that are realistic and that you would like to go to,” senior Taneshia Ngo said.

Despite the excessive amount of money that one might spend during senior year, it is possible for underclassmen now to prepare for their senior year.

“Senior year is the last year of high school, so spending this much money on just one year in a lifetime is worth it,” senior Nathan Liang said. “Remember this: this year is your year.”