For many high school students, senior year can be a very stressful time. It’s your last chance to get your grades up and pick your path after high school, making everything feel crushingly real with the short amount of time you have left in your high school experience. However, your senior year doesn’t always begin in the 12th grade; for a select few kids, it can begin as soon as your sibling hits high school, naturally posing the question of ‘Do kids with senior siblings have an advantage here?’

To answer the question I’ve asked myself time and time again, I began asking others around me for their opinions based on my own experience giving advice to my brothers, just to see if we all agreed. Taking opinions from underclassmen with senior siblings, seniors who had older siblings to guide them, and finally, seniors with younger siblings, exploring high school for the first time.

For seniors like Sydney Jackson, who is the first to experience high school of her and her sister, she shares that she has given the advice of not caring what others think of you, telling her younger sister to enjoy high school because you only have one chance at it, and it’s not worth it to spend the years worrying.

Mary Ella shares similar advice, but with a slightly more practical approach. She encourages her younger sisters to take the AP classes to really boost their GPA, while also reminding them not to take others’ opinions to heart. She emphasizes making the most of the high school experience, something she feels would have been easier if she had an older sibling. As a senior, she’s also felt the pressure of being a role model, but she says giving advice has actually helped her grow as well.

Maddie Winstead says her sibling’s advice to focus on grades, take challenging classes, and surround herself with the right people made a big difference. Because of that guidance, she felt more prepared and believes high school has been easier for her compared to others.

Ryan Wilson agrees, saying that having an older sibling made high school much easier to navigate. Even though their experiences weren’t exactly the same, he found that the advice still applied. In fact, it helped him slow down and enjoy his senior year, especially by taking advantage of opportunities that are unique to seniors.

However, not every experience is the same. Ellie Smallbone says she didn’t receive much direct advice from her older brother aside from a hard yet simple “no boys.” Despite that, she still feels like having older siblings helped her understand how high school works, as well as being able to walk through the halls with them for most of their high school experience. From knowing which teachers to expect to having a general idea of what’s coming, the lack of communicated advice has been well made up for by the examples her brothers set for her daily.

So, are you really prepared if you have a senior sibling? Maybe a little, but there’s still plenty you’ll have to learn for yourself.