Senioritis

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Senioritis is a term used colloquially in the United States and Canada to describe the decreased motivation toward studies displayed by students who are nearing the end of their high school or college careers. It is typically said to include slowness, procrastination, apathy regarding school work, and a tendency toward truancy. Many of these high school and college students find themselves in a type of lame duck situation: their plans are made and a new chapter in their life is about to begin, so finishing the current chapter (the current term separating them from graduation) becomes just a formality or "holding pattern."

1 Background
2 Prevention
3 Consequences
4 External links

[edit] Background

"Senioritis" is a jocular term rather than a medical one; it is not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association or any other medical body as an actual illness. It is considered similar to affective psychological disorders, such as depression or anxiety. While senioritis is generally viewed as an imaginary disease, its effects are well known to many educators and students alike. This imagined affliction is a symptom of students' complacency as many students feel they are all but guaranteed their place in college, graduate school, or employment. At the high school level, college admission letters arrive in early spring, which affect high school seniors' motivation to push themselves academically for the rest of the school year; it is then said that "Senioritis has 'kicked in.'" Likewise, a college student may be faced with job opportunities or graduate school acceptance causing them to similarly lose interest or motivation in finalizing their remaining undergraduate studies.

Senioritis usually results in a withdrawal from school-related extracurricular activities and school-spirit events and reduced concern on social acceptance, instead focusing on graduation (and the end of compulsory school) in June and/or acceptance to college in September. It can also manifest as increased activity in social and extra-curricular activity, which comes at the expense of academic duties, where the student prefers to "have fun" rather than work on academics.

[edit] Prevention

General preventive measures, frequently taken by high school administrators and educators, often include the assigning of research papers, senior projects, and other academic assignments of significant weight. However, these programs have been known to both exceed expectations and also to fail. It can not be proven that the programs themselves are what work or do not work. It is believed that it is the students themselves that choose whether they defeat "senioritis" or merely succumb to its will.

A quotation most seniors go by for senioritis is; "We would fight for a cure if we weren't so lazy."

[edit] Consequences

In some serious cases, when students let their grades drop, universities 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. [1]

However, in most cases, grades that are passing usually will not result in rescinding letters, because most colleges will understand a little bit of a leeway senior year.