Senioritis

Symptoms: These include laziness, excessive apathy, chronic tardiness, occasional absences, and an overwhelming urge to slack off.

Causes: The onset of senioritis can happen as soon as you send off your college applications. But symptoms often don’t become apparent until that big envelope arrives in the mail and the suspense of the college application process is over. With your acceptance letter in hand, it seems your hard work as a high school student is done, and all of your SAT prep is behind you. So you begin to let loose, and before you know it, you’re in a slump. Hello, senioritis!

Complications: Ignoring the symptoms can have serious consequences. College acceptances are often contingent on a student’s continued academic success, and a drop in grades due to senioritis won’t be overlooked by the admissions officers reviewing your year-end transcript. Every year, colleges rescind their offers of admission to those who haven’t maintained their grades or have fallen short in some other way. (Final grades were cited by 69% of colleges that revoked admission offers in 2007; disciplinary problems accounted for 25%, says the National Association for College Admission Counseling.) Additional complications associated with senioritis include being put on academic probation and receiving less financial assistance in college.

The Cure: If you thought I was going to say graduation, think again. You’ll need to combat senioritis long before then to avoid jeopardizing your future. My advice: nip it in the bud. If you feel your motivation waning, just remind yourself of how close you are to the finish line. You’ve been running this high school marathon for years, and now is not the time to slow down. So fight the temptations brought on by senioritis, and keep your eye on the prize. Before you know it, you’ll be done with high school, and only then will the race truly be over.