Second Semester Senior - Don't catch Senioritis!
- Dane Copeland
- Feb 23
- 3 min read
As a senior, you are now officially in the waiting-for-decisions period and starting the homestretch of senior year. While you may feel ready to take your foot off the gas, you should think about finding a good cruising speed that allows you to:
1. Continue to do well in classes and avoid lower grades that could impact your acceptances or scholarships.
2. Take the time to write Thank You letters to teachers, counselors, and others who wrote a recommendation letter on your behalf. The people who have championed you in high school will be rooting for you long after graduation, and you never know if you may want to ask them again to write another letter for an internship or job or serve as a personal reference.
3. Keep doing the things that make you happy!!!
4. If you have multiple acceptances, start weighing the pros and cons to help you determine which schools are your strongest fits. Make sure to include the cost to attend (tuition, books, room/board, student fees, and transportation), the academic program, will AP credits be accepted, the distance between school and home, and anything else important for your successful leap to college.
5. If you have already decided on which school to attend, send in a Housing Deposit to start securing Housing early. Send your deposit and SIR (Statement of Intent to Register) to the school you plan to attend next fall and tell all schools that have offered you acceptance that you will not attend.
6. By now, many Early Action notifications, schools with rolling decisions, and some CSUs have released their admission notifications. Remember to stay on top of your email and portals in case one of your schools needs something from you, like, mid-term grades or test scores.
The majority of admission decisions will come out in March. So, while you are in “waiting mode,” here are a few more tips from Tufts admissions’ blog, called * “Applied to Tufts: Now What?,” to help keep you focused, be present, and enjoy senior year with only the slightest hints of senioritis!
One statement I often hear from second-semester seniors is, “Phew, I can finally relax.” Enjoying senior year as you get ready to graduate is part of your journey to college. Knowing expectations from colleges you’ve been admitted into is also part of your journey to college and will help you continue to strike the right balance between academics, extracurricular activities, and downtime. This blog post, “How to stay admitted,” from Jeff Schiffman, former Director of Admission at Tulane, will help clarify what colleges expect.
*updated 2026
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Have more questions or looking for more support? Email me at dane@collegeu.solutions
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