Avoiding the Second-Semester Slump

Imagine spending three and a half years waking up at 6 a.m. five days a week to spend  seven hours in one place, working hard to get into that dream college and then reading these words in the second semester of senior year.

“Unfortunately, because of your academic performance in high school since our initial review, we must rescind our earlier offer of admission.”

Letters such as the one stated above, from the Florida State University Office of Admissions, prove what can happen when senioritis takes over.

Seniors tend to think high school ends the second they receive a college acceptance letter; however, reality proves otherwise. Each year, universities send out letters to students after reviewing their second semester grades, issuing penalties- such as academic probation- or even revoking one’s admission. Mr. Nerenberg, college counselor at Miami Palmetto Senior High, has experienced this firsthand.

“We had two kids get into a highly prestigious school last year, and both of them were put on academic probation because of their senior grades,” Nerenberg said.

This risk is only a concern if a student proves to slack to the point where colleges can tell that the student is putting forth minimal effort. For instance, if students who once maintained all A’s and B’s become C average students, after receiving an acceptance letter, they run the risk of colleges revoking those acceptances.

“Even though you get accepted, they go back and review your grades at the end of the year, just in case you’re failing, they might rescind your application,” senior Peter McCann said.

Students seem to believe that once colleges and universities admit them, they are safe. They got in, they are done and they do not have to try anymore. However, this is not the case. Students may neglect to read the fine print of their admissions letter which includes the tidbit fact that their acceptance is continual, meaning that their status of admission can change if necessary.

“Everybody’s admission says you are conditionally accepted, if you ask anyone right now for a copy of their admission letters, it’s always conditional,” Nerenberg said.

From a senior’s perspective, they have noticed senioritis taking over even though they know colleges have these abilities.

“Basically, the slacking did not even start second semester, a lot of kids stopped trying at the start of senior year, but the biggest drop off came January 1, when all the major college deadlines ended, and then once kids started getting into places, they completely stopped caring,” McCann said.