Senioritis — an often chronic malady that strikes 12th graders with bouts of laziness and apathy — can be a problem for college applications.
High school seniors may not want to hear this, but grades matter, even those that are earned after the Common Application has been submitted.
“It’s the first thing I look at when I open a file,” Matt Middleton, the College of New Jersey’s associate director of admissions, said. “What courses are they taking their senior year and what are their grades? They are critical.”
Middletown said first quarter and first semester grades from senior year tell admissions officers a great deal about the applicant.
“I want to see are they continuing to challenge themselves or are they coasting along,” he said.
Many applicants think junior year is the showcase year, since the application process begins before senior year starts. And for students who apply early, applications are filed before the year’s first tests are taken.
But colleges have until March to make their final decisions, so Middleton cautions students from slacking off.
“If I’m looking at a file second time, if I see students doing well, it might move them from the wait list to admitted, or from the denial pile to the wait list,” he said.
“Our attitude is that senior year is the springboard to college,” he added. “We want you to continue to push.”
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