Senioritis, Round 2
To high school seniors across the country applying to college – you’re done and it’s over! You’ve worked hard in your classes, snagged those leadership roles, filled out the Common Application and numerous supplements, went on college tours, and have survived it all. It’s no surprise that you’re probably feeling a lag in motivation, otherwise officially diagnosed as senioritis.
It’s difficult to fight it – I remember struggling to find the motivation to study for AP exams, to wake up every day at the ungodly hour of 6 AM, to keep the commitments I had made in the last three and a half years. And as a current senior who has been accepted to graduate school, I’m going through the same exact problem right now. Here’s what I’ve learned over the years:
1. If you’re in AP Classes or have registered for SAT II exams – these still matter. You can save a lot of time and money (and annoyance) by using your scores from these exams to place out of various introductory level classes. This will leave you with more flexibility to take classes for fun or to try new things.
2. Scale back, but not too much. It’s important to take a step back and realize that now that you’ve applied, you don’t need to keep running at full force. If you were shooting for an A but get an A- or B+, it’s really not the end of the world (it wouldn’t be anyways, but even less so now). Let yourself breathe a little bit. The last thing you want is to be burnt out when you go back to school in the fall for an even more rigorous curriculum. That being said, don’t let yourself slip too much. Many schools will require your spring grades, and you don’t want these to reflect badly on yourself.
3. Take this time to develop good habits. Start a new workout routine, cut down on Netflix, think about what eating healthy might look like for you in a dorm setting. Your future self will be thankful.
4. Look up scholarships! Now that you have some free time, try to get some money to help fray the costs of books, clothes, and other unexpected costs (for example, tickets I may have gotten recently to see a Game of Thrones concert…). You won’t know what your financial situation will really look like until you hear back from schools, but regardless of how much aid you get, extra money is never a bad thing.
5. (Once you are accepted) indulge yourself!!! Feel free to obsess over the different clubs available at the school of your choice, what your dorm room décor might look like, what things you want to do around the area – it’s going to happen anyways, so just accept it and give yourself the permission to be a little college-crazy. It’s exciting, and you deserve it!
