College and University Blog
Getting Past Senioritis: Make the Most of Your Senior Year
As springtime and warm weather sink in and the summer months loom, for some high school seniors, Senioritis will to. As easy as it is to cast aside their workload for playtime or rest, Senioritis and the “blow-off” mentality has the ability to scar a student’s college career. As the old proverb states, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man,” so too will they find their college future flushing down the toilet.
Colleges Are Watching
Skipped classes, failed tests, incomplete assignments may seem inconsequential to the high school senior who has already been accepted to a college and who sees the frivolity of keeping up his or her algebra grade since there will be “no need to worry about algebra in college.” Unfortunately, that mentality could not be further from the truth. It is called ‘laziness,’ and those that feed into justifying and diluting its impact are only deceiving themselves.
The reality is colleges are watching. They are keeping track of grades, course loads, and your performance, and if necessary, they will impose their consequences.
Implications of Senioritis
Remedial Courses: High school graduates suffering from Senioritis come to college completely unprepared for the workload colleges expect, thus, they are susceptible to pain-staking remedial classes that do not count as college credit. “High school graduates arrive at college unprepared for even the most basic math and English classes, forcing them to take remedial courses that discourage many from staying in school.” (Boston Globe)
Colleges Will Revoke Admissions: Colleges can and will revoke a student’s acceptance into their school if they find the student is not responsible enough to maintain his or her grades throughout the course of their senior year.
“Every year some students just don’t believe it when they are told that they need to keep their grades up particularly if accepted at a selective college. Colleges don’t like to “unaccept” students, but they will if the student indicates that they don’t have the maturity to continue to get strong grades.” —College Admissions Counseling
Colleges Can Reduce or Revoke Financial Aid/Merit Scholarships: For obvious reasons, careless regard for your grades especially during your senior year can affect your eligibility for merit scholarships and financial aid. Just because a scholarship has been awarded to you does not mean the rewarder will not rescind the gesture if its requirements are not made.
“Colleges can and will reduce a student’s financial aid award if they no longer meet the criteria for a particular scholarship.” —College Admissions Counseling
How to Get Past Senioritis
To the high school senior, I leave you with three words: 1. Perseverance—choose to take a bold step forward when faced with the temptation of slacking in your school efforts. 2. Focus—remember the purpose for which you are driving yourself forward, to succeed in your future. 3. Fear—while this may seemed a vexed suggestion, I believe a healthy fear and a lucid perspective of the consequences of letting up during your last stretch at high school will help drive your perseverance and focus.