Tag Archives: senioritis

college prep, parenting, senioritis, Uncategorized

How to Help Your Senior Fight Senioritis

senioritis

Senioritis is a disease contracted by most high school seniors. Its onset might be hard to recognize because it starts innocently. But once the disease has taken hold it can have a devastating effect on your senior’s future college aspirations. As with any disease, knowing the symptoms is the key to an early diagnosis and treatment.

All kidding aside, however, senioritis is a very real problem for most students, especially if they have already been accepted early decision or early action. They are coming into the home stretch and it’s only natural for them to try to rest on their laurels, so to speak. But every parent needs to be vigilant and act to stop it before it’s too late.

Continue reading How to Help Your Senior Fight Senioritis →
parenting, Uncategorized

Dealing with Senioritis (The College Dream Killer)

 

senioritis

Senioritis. Yes. It’s a word (and a disease). It hits most seniors the last semester of high school. It usually strikes after all their college applications are completed and submitted, and grabs total hold after they have received offers of admission. Senioritis says, “The year is almost over. I’ve been accepted to college. It’s time to take it easy and P-A-R-T-Y!” It is no respecter of persons and hits almost every senior at some point after they return from winter break.

What should you look for?

When senioritis begins, you might not notice the symptoms. It could be an unusually low grade on a test. Or you might notice she is studying less and less, with a complete lack of motivation. More severe symptoms include skipping class, a major drop in grades, and often accompanied by an “I don’t care” attitude. More so than your typical teenage defiance and resistance.

Why is it “deadly”?

Senioritis can “kill” your student’s dream of college. The colleges that offer admission are closely watching your student to see if she continues to excel until the end of her senior year. A drop in grades or even disciplinary action can be a red flag, signaling to colleges that your student isn’t ready to be on their own and handle the rigors of a college education. If she can’t commit and stay the course with all the adult supervision around her, how will she stay the course in college without anything except self-motivation?

Colleges have been known to withdraw offers of admission if a student exhibits any of these signs during the final months of high school. Hence, senioritis can KILL you student’s dream of college.

What is the cure?

A reality check. If you see signs of senioritis setting in, it’s time for a cold, hard conversation. Lay it all out on the table. Explain that colleges are watching. She won’t get a second chance. Once the offer is pulled, it’s pulled, for someone else who is committed. It’s a harsh reality check for most students, but one that needs to be made clear. The final months of senior year are just as important as the previous ones. Your student needs to keep her eye on the prize and realize once she walks across that stage with her diploma in hand, she can take a deep sigh of relief and spend the entire summer relaxing. Not until then, and only then, can she rest on her laurels.

Wednesdays parent

Wednesday’s Parent: The Dangers of Senioritis

 

Sign up for my FREE parent tips email and get my FREE Ebook on college financing! Or subscribe to my blog on the left and get email updates.

Wednesday’s child may be full of woe but Wednesday’s Parent can substitute action for anxiety. Each Wednesday Wendy and I will provide parent tips to get and keep your student on the college track. It’s never too late or too early to start!

Wednesday’s Parent will give twice the info and double the blog posts on critical parenting issues by clicking on the link at the end of the article from pocsmom.com to parentingforcollege and vice versa.

______________________

senioritisSenioritis is a disease contracted by most high school seniors. Its onset might be hard to recognize because it starts innocently. But once the disease has taken hold it can have a devastating effect on your senior’s future college aspirations. As with any disease, knowing the symptoms is the key to an early diagnosis and treatment.

All kidding aside, however, senioritis is a very real problem for most students, especially if they have already been accepted early decision or early action. They are coming into the home stretch and it’s only natural for them to try to rest on their laurels, so to speak. But every parent needs to be vigilant and act to stop it before it’s too late.

What are the symptoms?

Senioritis usually sets in as the holidays end in January after the winter break. The symptoms are obvious: laziness, lack of study, underachievement, skipping classes and lack of interest in school related activities, especially academics. They may be slight at first—a low grade, a lackluster composition, or an unwillingness to study for a test.

What is the diagnosis?

Senioritis is something students feel they deserve. They’ve worked hard and most likely have completed all their college applications. Why not skate through the last few months? Why not skip a few classes and not study as hard. After all, the colleges already have their grades. No harm. No foul. Or so they think!

What is the cure?

It’s simple: a reality check and ultimately graduation. This attitude can quickly affect their final transcript and possibly cause colleges to re-evaluate their offers of admission. Colleges look at those transcripts and if it appears that the student has not remained committed to academics and their grades drop dramatically, they will ask themselves if the student is college material. Read the college acceptance letters carefully. Many times colleges include clear warnings to students, informing them that admission is contingent on successful performance throughout senior year.

What can you do?

Pay attention to your senior’s study habits and grades. If you notice a slip, have a conversation. Pull out the acceptance letter and have them read the fine print. Remind them that the end does not justify the means.

For more insight into senioritis, read Wendy’s example:

6 Great Examples to Cure Senioritis

admissions, college guidance, college planning

5 Tips for beating back senioritis

images-4

The feeling you get when you you’re accepted to your dream school is one of euphoria! But the realization that there are still months left of school (six if you got in early action!) can put a damper on the celebration. There are AP exams left to take, endless calculus problem sets to turn in, capstone projects to be finished… when all you want to do is relax and hang out with friends.The truth is, almost everyone gets the dreaded senioritis. It’s characterized by a seeming inability to get work done by students who once pushed through projects and assignments in no time flat. The bad news: if you let senioritis get the best of you, you can jeopardize your college acceptance. The good news: senioritis is serious, but any high school senior can beat it. Here are my top five tips:

1. Set aside time each day for homework
You may not have the motivation to study as much as you did BCA (Before College Acceptance) but that doesn’t mean you can ignore homework entirely. One good strategy is to set aside distinct periods of time each day to do homework. If you tell yourself you’re going to work between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., each weeknight and then give yourself from 9 onwards for Facebook, socializing, TV or whatever it is you want to do for fun, you’ll be much more likely to get your work done than if you have an ephemeral goal of “getting your work done” but then don’t have anything concrete to match that to.

2. Study with friends
It’s senior year, it’s time to have some fun with friends who’ll be halfway across the country in a few months… but there’s that nasty project that’s due in the next two days. Studying with friends is a great way to get quality time in with your favorite people, while also ensuring you get your reading done and your problem sets finished. Make it more fun by meeting at a coffee shop or local cafe.

3. Be diligent about due dates and assignments
You may not get every homework assignment 100 percent, but you’ll want to be looking ahead to make sure you have the the big things on your radar — midterms, final papers and projects, big reports, etc. If you plan ahead, you can give yourself plenty of time to both relax and to get your work done stress free.

4. Check in with teachers regularly
Senioritis happens to almost everyone. And your teachers know it’s going to happen. But if you show them you’re on top of things by checking in, following up on assignments you may have turned in late, etc, they’ll be much more likely to be able to work with you in the event you miss something or forget to turn some homework in.

5. Reward yourself
Set out small goals you want to accomplish and then give yourself a reward when you complete them. Maybe for every five calculus problems you finish, you give yourself a piece of chocolate. Or perhaps it’s take a trip to the mall after studying for two hours for an AP exam. You decide the goals, you decide the rewards.

________________
Laura Oppenheimer works for InstaEDU, an online tutoring company that offers online algebra tutoring, as well as tutoring in hundreds of other subjects, ranging from basic math to advanced econometrics.