As more and more high school graduates are choosing to attend college, the admissions process becomes more of a challenge with each incoming freshman class. However, with the outpour of new students, colleges and universities have needed to “crack down” on their newly accepted freshmen which have experienced bouts of “senioritis” in their last year of high school. The Washington Post recently published an article outlining how more and more well-known universities are reconsidering the admission status of applicants who have slacked off during their senior year. “Senioritis” is something that seems to come naturally to every upcoming high school senior. However, mainstream colleges and universities are right in their decisions to hold firmer policies towards students who have declined in their academic grade point averages or who have traded in more challenging courses for easier ones.
According to the University of Massachusetts website on general freshman undergraduate admission standards, “The average high school weighted GPA for freshmen entering in Fall 2003 is 3.4 on a 4.0 scale. If a student does not meet the 3.0 GPA minimum, then a SAT/GPA sliding scale applies. The lowest GPA, which may be considered for admission, is a 2.0. Simply meeting minimums does not guarantee admission; the admission process is competitive.” Nothing is directly stated on the website that makes any mention of the standard expected of students in their senior year, but one can assume from the competitive atmosphere in the aforementioned statement that declining grades will result in a lesser GPA meeting more of the minimum acceptance standards rather than the average or ideal acceptance standards.
Typically throughout the undergraduate college admissions process, students are required to submit multiple copies of their transcripts throughout the year, including one final transcript at the end of their senior year. One very common statement on many admissions letters to students is that “admission is contingent upon their performance throughout their senior year.” This statement seems to be taken for granted more often than not, but can carry more significance than the weight of a high school diploma.
Many universities, including mainstream and alternative schools, such as the University of Maryland-College Park and Texas Christian University, have been taking direct action to remedy the problem of declining grades amongst their applicants. One method that these universities have chosen to reach their applicants is by writing a letter. According to the article published in The Washington Post, the letter would be a mild warning requesting details on the reasons surrounding a student’s senior year performance. A more austere version of the letter would include a sentence stating that the student’s admission to that college/university is in jeopardy.
For students who have just completed their senior year in high school, the thought of their college admission being rescinded can be the furthest thing from their mind. Particularly if the student made the choice to apply early decision to a school and got accepted, the onus is placed on that student to keep up his or her grades. It is a common myth to believe that once an applicant is accepted to a college/university, that the acceptance is guaranteed. Unfortunately, more and more students are not taking that factor into consideration once they receive their acceptance letters.
For universities to crack down on their admissions criteria to high school seniors who have exhibited less than the average performance expected of them is to properly handle the difficult situation in which many of these admissions deans have been placed. No higher education facility wants to deny admission to any student, but colleges may find that they are forced to if that student’s behavior and performance is not up to par with their codes and standards at the time when their admission is still not finalized.
Allison Edles is a Collegian columnist.
