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Can colleges reconsider admitting a student if the student performs poorly their second semester of senior year?
Although I’m not yet a senior, I’m worried about how I’ll perform in the future since I know a lot of seniors who’ve lost motivation their second semester.
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Madisyn’s Answer
Hi, Emily.
Yes, colleges may reconsider or rescind a student's admission if they perform extremely poorly in their second semester. However, most colleges are aware that second semester seniors may have "senioritis," as you have mentioned. Therefore, you should just try to achieve the best grades you can so that you can graduate, get your credit and have your college acceptance stay in tact.
Yes, colleges may reconsider or rescind a student's admission if they perform extremely poorly in their second semester. However, most colleges are aware that second semester seniors may have "senioritis," as you have mentioned. Therefore, you should just try to achieve the best grades you can so that you can graduate, get your credit and have your college acceptance stay in tact.
Updated
Doc’s Answer
In truth Emily, your senior year grades (at least for the first semester) can actually weigh pretty heavily on the academic evaluation of your application. It’s important that you continue to excel in your classes during your final year of high school. If you are admitted, your high school counselor is asked to send your final grades for the senior year with the Final Report to your college. Admission is conditional upon your successful completion of the senior year. Even if your college’s deadline for application is before the finalization of grades for your first semester, colleges usually require a mid-year report for each student that includes their final grades for the first semester. If your grades drop significantly or you take a noticeably lighter course load, this can harm your chances of admission in a serious way. If the difficulty of your course load and your GPA aren’t up to par with your previous performance in high school, your offer of admission can be rescinded; essentially, your college can “un-accept” you. Poor extracurricular involvement and disciplinary issues can also result in rescinded admission. This is true not only for your grades but for extracurricular involvement as well. Don’t ignore your responsibilities as club president or team captain; in fact, senior year is a great time to excel in all your leadership roles, as that can help you snag glowing recommendations or collect impressive accolades just in time to add to your application. Even if you qualify for the state competition for debate or are named MVP of your sports team later in the year, you can still send updates to colleges via email or through admissions portals.
Emily if you’ve been waitlisted at your top-choice college, closing out your senior year strong — both in academics and extracurricular activities — is your best bet for turning a wait list letter into an acceptance letter. When selecting students for admission from the waitlist, admissions committees are looking for students who are both extremely interested in matriculating and most qualified to attend the school in question. If you slack off senior year, you’re sending a message that you aren’t particularly concerned with getting off the waitlist and/or you aren’t ready to handle the academic and extracurricular challenges of college. Performing well during your second semester is especially crucial for cinching those waitlist spots. If you slacked off in your first semester, it could factor in your college admissions office decision to keep you on the waitlist. Ignorance may be bliss when it comes to how much senior year can truly make a difference in your academic career; you’ve put in the work over the last few years, and it’s tempting to lie back and place your responsibilities on hold until college rolls around. However, armed with the facts on how your grades, extracurricular involvement, and disciplinary record factor into the admissions and scholarship granting processes, you should try and finish high school strong.
Hope this was helpful Emily
Emily if you’ve been waitlisted at your top-choice college, closing out your senior year strong — both in academics and extracurricular activities — is your best bet for turning a wait list letter into an acceptance letter. When selecting students for admission from the waitlist, admissions committees are looking for students who are both extremely interested in matriculating and most qualified to attend the school in question. If you slack off senior year, you’re sending a message that you aren’t particularly concerned with getting off the waitlist and/or you aren’t ready to handle the academic and extracurricular challenges of college. Performing well during your second semester is especially crucial for cinching those waitlist spots. If you slacked off in your first semester, it could factor in your college admissions office decision to keep you on the waitlist. Ignorance may be bliss when it comes to how much senior year can truly make a difference in your academic career; you’ve put in the work over the last few years, and it’s tempting to lie back and place your responsibilities on hold until college rolls around. However, armed with the facts on how your grades, extracurricular involvement, and disciplinary record factor into the admissions and scholarship granting processes, you should try and finish high school strong.
Hope this was helpful Emily
Updated
Brian’s Answer
Hi Emily,
Great that you're thinking ahead and mitigating risk.
Senioritis is a real thing - I had it as a Senior - and as previously mentioned, schools DO RESCIND admissions if you "do not maintain the same academic performance" as your application. This does not mean if you were a 4.0 student that a single B will lead to losing your admission. It means if you were a 4.0 student and all of sudden your senior year grades are 2.0, then you are at risk. Some notes:
1). For UC's and CSU's, they review your grades through Junior year and your Spring Semester grades will be considered (aside: ALL admission offers to UC's and CSU's are conditional on submitting your final transcript, which I think is standard for non UC's/CSU's).
2). For private schools, many will evaluate you through Fall Semester of your Senior year, so your grades will actually matter before getting admitted or denied.
Best way to avoid the stress is to finish strong and maintain the work ethic you had throughout years 9-11 into your last year in HS. If you do that, you never have to worry about getting an offer rescinded. Obviously, life happens and admissions officers know that, so if grades do slip, communicate the situation early (e.g. loss/death in family, health emergency, etc.) to the school so it will be taken into consideration.
Note: I know UC's rescind applications because a friend of mine was a 3.7ish GPA student, got into UCLA, then decided to not care about school anymore. She ended senior year with a 1.5 GPA and lost her spot in UCLA. So it does happen (on the flip side, a single B won't be adverse as another friend got into Yale with a 4.0, got 1 B senior year, and still went. Schools aren't that strict, but just want to see significant deviations from your capabilities).
Great that you're thinking ahead and mitigating risk.
Senioritis is a real thing - I had it as a Senior - and as previously mentioned, schools DO RESCIND admissions if you "do not maintain the same academic performance" as your application. This does not mean if you were a 4.0 student that a single B will lead to losing your admission. It means if you were a 4.0 student and all of sudden your senior year grades are 2.0, then you are at risk. Some notes:
1). For UC's and CSU's, they review your grades through Junior year and your Spring Semester grades will be considered (aside: ALL admission offers to UC's and CSU's are conditional on submitting your final transcript, which I think is standard for non UC's/CSU's).
2). For private schools, many will evaluate you through Fall Semester of your Senior year, so your grades will actually matter before getting admitted or denied.
Best way to avoid the stress is to finish strong and maintain the work ethic you had throughout years 9-11 into your last year in HS. If you do that, you never have to worry about getting an offer rescinded. Obviously, life happens and admissions officers know that, so if grades do slip, communicate the situation early (e.g. loss/death in family, health emergency, etc.) to the school so it will be taken into consideration.
Note: I know UC's rescind applications because a friend of mine was a 3.7ish GPA student, got into UCLA, then decided to not care about school anymore. She ended senior year with a 1.5 GPA and lost her spot in UCLA. So it does happen (on the flip side, a single B won't be adverse as another friend got into Yale with a 4.0, got 1 B senior year, and still went. Schools aren't that strict, but just want to see significant deviations from your capabilities).
Updated
Lesly’s Answer
Hey there! Don't worry too much; revoking an admission offer is quite rare and is usually tied to a student's grades. Typically, colleges would only take such a step if they notice a considerable decline in your performance during senior year, and that too without a justifiable reason. Remember, the college accepted you because they believe in your potential; just continue focusing on maintaining your grades and staying active in your extracurricular activities. Keep shining and making them proud of their decision to admit you!