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Senioritis Can Harm Your Child's College Plans

You've always safeguarded your child's health, scheduling doctor's appointments, soothing fevers and bandaging scraped knees. But during the last year of high school, he or she may fall victim to a different kind of affliction. It's called senioritis. Though it's not a disease, it can have lasting negative effects.

Senioritis is the tendency to ease off academically senior year, signing up for easy courses and slacking off on study time. It's caused by boredom, fatigue and the mistaken idea that senior grades don't really count, since college applications have been filed. And that is a mistaken idea. In fact, many offers of acceptance are contingent on continued satisfactory performance. Colleges can, and do, withdraw offers if grades drop significantly, leaving students high and dry.

Also, slacking off from studies can result in inadequate preparation for college courses. Half of all college students are required to take remedial courses. More than a quarter of the freshmen at four-year colleges do not even make it to their sophomore year because they can't handle college-level work.

What can you do to ward off senioritis?

Monitor your child's course selection. Make sure he or she continues to take the most challenging courses available, including AP courses, which can earn college credit (and therefore save your family some money).
Make sure he or she stays involved in activities and sports to keep boredom at bay.
Check out challenging opportunities in your community, such as internships or college-level courses available to high school students. Sometimes all that's needed to stay motivated is a little stimulation.
Be on the alert for symptoms of senioritis, and keep the communication going.

Sources:
Time.com
National Commission on the High School Senior Year, The Lost Opportunity of Senior Year: Finding a Better Way - Summary of Findings, 2001.
Barth, P., Haycock, K., Huang, S. and Richardson, A., Youth at the Crossroads: Facing High School and Beyond. Washington, DC: The Education Trust, 2000.
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/apply/the-application/8626.html
http://professionals.collegeboard.com/guidance/applications/senioritis