What to Do about Senioritis

Help Make Senior Year Count

High school seniors have worked hard for three years, taking tests, completing projects, and preparing for college admission. When senior year rolls around, some students just want to get through college applications and relax before they head off to the college of their choice.

Also known as senioritis, taking it easy senior year may be a nice break for your child, but is likely to do more harm than good.

Not only does senioritis jeopardize your child's chances for success later on in college, it can also affect her grades—and college admissions officers pay close attention to her performance senior year.

College Admission

Many students mistakenly believe that prepping for college ends after the eleventh grade. However, the senior year—the entire senior year—is actually of particular interest to colleges.

Applying

Many college applications (including the Common Application) require your child to list her senior courses, including information about course levels and credit hours. It will be very obvious to the admissions officers if she has decided to take the year off.

Many colleges also include as part of the application a form called the mid-year grade report. Your child's counselor completes this form with first-half grades and sends it to the colleges. It then becomes a crucial part of the application folder.

If Your Child Is Accepted

Many college acceptance letters include warnings to students such as "Your admission is contingent on your continued successful performance." This means colleges reserve the right to deny your child admission should her senior year grades drop.

Mary Lee Hoganson, college counselor for Homewood-Flossmor Community High School, Flossmor, Illinois writes: "It is not at all rare for a college to withdraw an offer of admission when grades drop significantly over the course of the senior year. (I have a folder full of copies of these letters.)"