For high school seniors, it’s easy to feel like there’s no reason to put in the effort during your last semester, especially if you’ve already been accepted into college. It’s such a widespread phenomenon that there’s even a name for it: senioritis. If you’re suffering from this affliction, it can be difficult to overcome it and rediscover your academic motivation. However, in the final months leading up to graduation, it’s still important that students not lose sight of their priorities! If you’re struggling to combat senioritis in your final semester of high school, we have some tips to get you through it.
Keep Your Eyes on the Prize!
It might be difficult for some students to find a good reason to continue putting in any effort in school during these last few months of their senior year. You might be thinking: “I already got into college, so nothing I do this semester even matters, right?” But you would be wrong. The acceptances that you’ve received are contingent upon your continued academic success. In other words, if your grades drop significantly from where they were before you submitted your application, colleges may rescind their offer of admission. You’ve put in the effort for nearly four years and worked hard on all of your applications, so don’t risk your acceptances just to take it easy for a couple of months!
Over the next few months, it’s important not to lose sight of the end goal that you spent so much time and effort working towards: heading off to college. Keeping this goal in mind and remembering that your acceptances rely on continuing to put in the effort can help you stave off senioritis! Additionally, one of the best things that you can do is surround yourself with peers who are also trying to keep their goals in mind. That way, you can hold one another accountable, while also finding time to relax and enjoy yourself with this same group.
Plan Ahead for College!
As a senior, college is probably pretty high on your list of priorities, but you might think there’s no work left to be done in that department after you’ve been accepted. Not only do you need to keep your grades up to maintain your acceptance, but there are other things you should be on top of, too! The mistaken belief that the journey from high school to college ends with the acceptance letter is a leading cause of senioritis.
Even if you know where you’ll be going to college, you’ve still got a few major details to work out. One of the big ones: how will you pay for it? Make sure you’ve completed the FAFSA and any other financial aid forms, and spend some of this time researching and applying for scholarships! You should also make sure you figure out where you’re living – many colleges do require freshmen to live on campus, so find out if that’s true for your school. If you are going to be living in a dorm, research your options and apply sooner than later to make sure you get your preferred housing option!
Keep Senior Year Exciting!
Keeping your head up and staying on top of things as you finish out high school doesn’t have to be the same-old same-old, though. One of the best ways to combat senioritis is to reinvigorate your excitement about school by trying new things. This doesn’t mean you have to make a major change; if you can’t find the motivation to do your precalculus homework, try going to a new coffee shop to do it, for example. You can also try participating in new clubs and activities to switch things up and have some fun during your senior year. You might even discover something that you want to continue in college!
Prioritize And Stay On Top Of It All
Overall, the key treatments for senioritis are organization and prioritization. As we said, the best way to combat senioritis is to keep your goals and priorities in mind! It’s important for seniors to stay on top of their schoolwork and other important tasks despite their dwindling motivation, and keeping your eye on the prize, so to speak, can seriously help. Additionally, not only are effective organization and planning necessary for students to finish out high school on a high note, but making sure that they have these skills sets them up for success when they graduate and go to college! As a college student, you’ll have to be even more responsible for yourself and your own success than in high school, so it’s a good idea to make sure you have those organizational systems in place now.
If you don’t know how to stay on top of your work and hold yourself accountable, The Enrichery can help! We aren’t just tutors; we give students the skills that they need to succeed. If you need some extra help combatting senioritis and making sure you have the organization and planning skills you need to do well in college, our Executive Functioning Mini-Classes might be right for you! To learn more about how we might be able to help you, give us a call at (713) 370 – 4118 or contact us today!
