Four Signs Your Senior is a Slacker

By Katherine L. Cohen, Ph.D., founder and CEO of IvyWise and ApplyWise.com

As your student starts his or her senior year, pay close attention to his/her attitude towards applying to college and graduating from high school. Senioritis, the lazy, lackadaisical attitude that seniors exhibit towards academics, can affect even the hardest working students. Taking an easier or “light” course load senior year will not help a student’s chances of getting in to a selective college. Although your son or daughter might want a break from the demands of high school, slacking off in senior year is not a smart thing to do.

I’ve compiled the following four questions to ask yourself to determine whether or not your child is a slacker, and have also included advice on how you can help them avoid senioritis.

• Does your senior avoid discussing the college application process?
  Researching and applying to college can be a daunting task. But students should feel excited, not intimidated, by their choices and opportunities. A college admissions expert, like a school-based guidance counselor or an independent consultant, may help your child feel empowered during the college search process.
• Is your child disengaging from school, activities and friends?
  Watch your child’s behavior before and after school. Does she lock herself in her room? Is she consistently waking up late? Is she isolating herself socially from her peers? If your child is disengaging from school, it can be helpful to discuss specifics of her academics at the dinner table. Find out what she is reading and have a conversation about it. You may be able to spark a dialogue or further interest in the topic. Encourage her to see her teachers outside the classroom and perhaps set up some parent-teacher conferences to see how to best motivate your child.
• Is his/her academic effort inconsistent?
  One day your student may be staying up all night to get a paper done. The next day, he may want to just nap and watch TV. Slow and steady wins the college admission race. Encourage short, concentrated periods of effort to build your child’s intellectual stamina and personal fortitude.
• Is your child disorganized with deadlines and obligations?
  Although technology (like ApplyWise.com) is here to help keep your child organized, sometimes she may forget important deadlines. I encourage parents and counselors to set aside time every Sunday to discuss upcoming short and long-term obligations. Having a calendar will help your child balance priorities and realize what she can do in a limited amount of time. Remember, your child also needs downtime to have fun and to get the 7 - 8 hours of sleep needed to be productive!

If your senior is exhibiting one of the symptoms above, it is best to speak to teachers and guidance counselors early to create a plan and avoid a ‘senior slump.’ Clearly, if you see that your child is cutting classes, or if his performance in school has dropped in several subjects, it should raise some concern. From my experience, I know that a weak senior year can adversely affect your child’s chances of gaining admission to their top choice colleges. Working with counseling professionals before the end of the first academic quarter is an excellent way to prevent senioritis and will pay off in the long run.