A senior at MCHS sits in her car before returning to class after spending her lunch off campus. Motivation is as low as ever as all the senior’s last year of high school comes to an end. As final assessments, tests and quizzes are piled on top of one another, it can be easy to lose track and drive. The senior thinks to herself, “What’s the point of heading back in when there’s just a study period today?” She then realizes how bad she let her senioritis affect her grades.
Senioritis is a real phenomenon. 78% of high school seniors across the US reported experiencing senioritis. It’s a supposed affliction of students in their final year of high school or college, characterized by a decline in motivation or performance. It causes students to not deem assignments as necessary and instead, more optional. This can cause students’ grades to drop or they lose certain rewards depending how bad their motivation tanks.
“I’m actually currently going through it. I haven’t been turning in as many assignments,” senior Marko Stojich says. “Mine started sometime after winter break.”
No matter how early or how late some seniors started noticing their cases of senioritis, many are trying to push through their last few weeks as strong as they can and carry that into college.
“I started noticing my senioritis about halfway through second semester,” senior Caleb Caldwell says. “It was bad for a little bit. It still kind of is, but I’m just focusing on college at this point.”
Senioritis can also affect some students’ motivation to even show up to school.
“I have seen an increase in students not attending class, and I’ve seen an increase in the number of failures.” Senior Counselor Gary Myers says, “So, I’ve been busy the last two weeks speaking with the seniors and getting them back on track so they can graduate. But for some of them, it’s been a grind.”
The biggest struggle is the completion of smaller assignments such as work in the ‘completion’ or ‘homework’ category in the grade book. These are assignments that typically have a small effect on students’ grades.
“I have some friends who have pretty bad senioritis,” senior Daniel Gibson says. “Yeah literally just them doing the tests is what’s holding them up. It can be bad, but they’re getting through.”
Surrounding all the preparation for college and the exciting last month of high school including prom, senior skip day or ditch day and sports for some, is the overwhelming pressure to keep grades in shape to be ready for their leave. Letting certain grades slip could even cost some cash.
“The only way that it could really affect their next step is if they failed a class needed for graduation, so it could delay their graduation.” Myers says, “The other thing was some seniors are getting financial aid based on their GPA. So, if they’re letting their GPA slip, it could cost them thousands of dollars and money that the school, the college, or the university will give them.”
To prevent or get rid of senioritis, seniors should focus on maintaining academic focus, setting goals, rewarding themselves, and finding a balance between work and fun. It helps to stay organized, take breaks, and enjoy the senior year experience while you still can.