Senioritis

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Senioritis, from the word senior plus the suffix -itis (which refers to inflammation but in colloquial speech is assumed to mean an illness), is a colloquial term used in the United States to describe the decreased motivation toward studies displayed by students who are nearing the end of their middle school, high school, college and graduate school careers.^[1]

Causes/Effects, Symptoms

The main symptoms of senioritis include chronic procrastination, lack of motivation, a drop in academic performance, and "coasting," which is the act of going through classes with very little concentration or application of intent. This usually happens in the last year of middle school, high school, college or graduate school. One of the most notable symptoms of senioritis, besides of course an inclination to wear nothing but sweats for days on end, is that all attempts by educators to curb senioritis tend to actually increase senioritic symptoms. High school seniors experiencing senioritis after admittance to college are fed up with high school; as they see it, they have achieved high school's goal of getting into college and don't understand why they are still expected to work. Not to mention, most seniors, even those accepted to top-ranked institutions, do not love academics as much as their college essays would seem to indicate. Therefore, when a teacher attempts to motivate afflicted seniors, their efforts are only met with resentment.

Studies and Solutions

To claim the term senioritis to be one of recent origin ignores the events on college campuses of the 1960s. Many public school administrators in the 1970s felt that changes in family and community life had failed youth in their transitions to adulthood. Writers like James Coleman, Chairman of the President's Panel of Youth, urged changes in the high school curriculum to address the problem of senioritis. These concerns gave rise to the implementation of a "Senior Semester" in many high schools throughout the country, which allowed Seniors to spend time outside of the school or attend seminars in their specific interests. In 1974, for example, McKeesport High School in Pennsylvania received a grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation to establish a "Senior Semester" Program.^{[citation needed]}

The College Board, the National Youth Leadership Council, and other youth-serving organizations suggest that there are many ways schools can help young people make the most of their senior year instead of succumbing to the temptation to take it easy once graduation is assured. Giving young people opportunities to make their academic work more meaningful through service-learning, or other forms of experiential education, can increase students' academic aspirations.^[2]

Consequences

In some more serious cases where students allow their grades to drop quite significantly, universities and high schools may rescind offers of admission. Those who experience senioritis are often shocked when colleges and universities send them a letter the summer before their fall semester starts telling them that they can no longer attend the college due to failure in the academic rigor that they promised in the interview or application process.^[3] Nonetheless, it is widely known that most colleges do not rescind, and even the most elite schools only revoke a very small number of students.^[4] However, senioritis in high school may still cause the incoming college freshmen to not be as adequately prepared for the rigor of college level studies as they would be without the senioritis. A decrease in academic performance due to Senioritis may also cause difficulties should the student attempt to transfer from one college to another. Because transfers require one to apply anew, the student's poor performance would reflect negatively on them in their application and may decrease their chances of admissions. Towards the end of a degree a student might develop anxiety about what is ahead and also sadness of having a lot of the current schools social network being broken up. In addition, decisions about which school to attend next, which course of studies, or about work, are a major distraction in the mind.^{[citation needed]}

References

External links

• The College Board: What to do About Senioritis
• Jostens: Dealing with Senioritis
• Tate Thompson. [1]. June, 2003.