Getting into a highly selective college takes lots of hard work, including maintaining a strong academic performance throughout senior year. Once this dedication pays off with an acceptance letter, it’s natural to want to take it easy for the rest of the year. You start to cut corners here and there, rack up a few Bs and maybe even some Cs, and eventually start cutting class every few days. With an acceptance under your belt, there won’t be any consequences, right? Wrong!

Senior Slide — the academic decline that can occur when you stop putting in effort as your time on campus draws to a close — is very real and has very real consequences. Colleges can and will revoke your admission if you show a sharp decline in academic performance, succumb to a streak of senioritis that fills your record with absences, or receive disciplinary action of any sort. No one is immune from a potential rescinded acceptance, so if you think that you’ll be the exception who can get away with phoning it in for the second half of your senior year, think again! We at Ivy Coach once had a client who got their acceptance to an elite school rescinded because they suffered from a bad case of Senior Slide and wouldn’t listen to our cautionary tales. Their hard work went down the drain, much to everyone’s disappointment!

What is ’Senior Slide’?

We at Ivy Coach are not in the business of fear-mongering. One or two Bs won’t jeopardize your dreams of attending an elite school post-acceptance. But two Cs are certainly pushing it. Failing to show up several days in a row is certainly pushing it. And earning a trip to the principal’s office or the local juvenile detention center is tantamount to self-sabotage. But Senior Slide isn’t just about your behavior post-acceptance. If you throw in the towel on your senior year by enrolling in easy, non-AP, or IB-level courses, consider yourself a Senior Slider. Your admission, after all, was contingent on the senior year classes you stated that you were taking on your application.

Colleges want to see you pushing yourself every year of high school. Dovetailing during your senior year shows that you’re on a downward trajectory at the precise moment when you should be gearing up for the rigor of college. It’s a bad look that does not bode well for your future success. If you think your prospective college won’t notice, you need to remember that every offer of admission is conditional upon your successful completion of your senior year. Mid-year transcript requests are par for the course at most elite institutions. Let’s review the senior year check-in timeline according to your admissions round.

When Senior Grades Do and Don’t Matter

The grades you receive during the first half of your senior year of high school are slightly more consequential than those you receive during the second half. Early round applicants typically must submit their first-quarter grades, while Regular Decision applicants typically submit mid-year reports. However, it’s common for schools to conduct academic check-ins well into the second half of senior year. You might be able to get away with a small lapse in academic performance during the last few months of high school, but if you want Ivy Coach’s advice, anything less than meeting the academic standard that got you into a top school is like playing with fire. Your interlude of rest and relaxation will transform into anything but once that revoked acceptance comes around.

How Ivy Coach Helps Secure Elite Admission and Prevent Senior Slide

If you’re worried that your child may be at risk of developing a bad case of Senior Slide, Ivy Coach is here to help. Our team of former elite college admissions officers will provide the external motivation your child needs to stay on track. Not only will we optimize their odds of admission to a highly selective college, but we will also instill in them the importance of finishing what they started and ending their senior year on a high note. So, fill out our complimentary consultation form and we’ll be in touch.