Why Senioritis is a Really Bad Idea

Seniors, most of you have decided where you will attend next year and have even put in the deposit to secure your spot. Now you can slack off and just chill the rest of the year, right? Not so fast!! While it is time to celebrate, too much of a good thing can have bad repercussions.

Worse Case Scenario

You may have heard the tale of the student who slacked off senior year and then his acceptance to a college was rescinded, aka taken away. Well, turns out that this is one urban legend that is true! You heard that right. This actually happens. It’s very rare, but here’s what you need to know:

• The college to which you deposited will request your final grades from your high school. They need proof that you graduated and they are looking for you to have earned relatively similar grades throughout the year. Whatever criteria they accepted you on is what they expect you to maintain.

• A little bit of a dip in grades is usually okay. Don’t panic if your B+ went to a B, or your B went to a B-. It’s possible that your college might want an explanation, but unlikely. Grades fluctuate a little bit, and one point lower isn’t cause to panic.

• If a student has a severe change in progression, ie, much lower grades, a failing grade in a course, etc the college can rescind the student’s admission, or admit the student but put them on academic probation or take away certain academic scholarships.

What to do

Students for whom this is the case will likely receive a letter from their school mid-summer indicating one of the following:

• the college intends to take back their admission
• the college will still accept the student but the student will be on academic probation for a given period of time
• the college is looking for a written explanation as to why the grades changed
• any combination of the above

If your grades took a nosedive during the second half of senior year, it’s best to be open and honest with your college about what happened. They are generally very understanding if there was a medical issue, a family tragedy, etc. But continue to do your best throughout spring until graduation… then you can celebrate!