Yes - it was still below freezing when I woke up this morning, but the first week of March means spring is just around the corner! The warmer temperatures and exciting news in the mail can always induce some senioritis, and this year we expect that the loosening coronavirus restrictions and increased vaccine availability will make it even more tempting for students to relax.
And for the most part, that is great! In fact, we hope our seniors are able to relax a bit in the classroom and enjoy the end of the year safely.
But students should still be making good decisions throughout the spring and summer to ensure that years of hard work toward those college acceptances do not go to waste.
This includes monitoring your social media posts carefully - keep an eye out for our guest blog next week from recruiting and hiring guru Jayana Garvey for more about making good decisions on social media.
Before you post or message, ask yourself, “Would I be okay with explaining this to my college of choice?” If the answer is no, don’t put it online!
Last year, more than a dozen colleges, including Clemson, the University of Richmond, and the University of Florida rescinded offers of admission to students based on their social media posts. And in 2017, Harvard rescinded offers to ten students who wrote offensive posts in a private Facebook group (yes, even in a closed group, this can happen!). In the last three years, 14% of private schools and 4% of public schools have rescinded admissions offers based on social media activity from incoming students. Whether schools should have the right to do so is up for debate, but as things stand now, it is much better to never find yourself having to make the argument.
Remember, perception is reality, so try to avoid situations where others are behaving inappropriately or breaking the law. Yes, even if you are not doing it with them. Ask yourself, “If a video of this was posted on social media, would I be okay with that?” If not, do your best to get out of the situation before it becomes a larger issue.
Of course, the most common reasons that offers of admissions are revoked are academic in nature.
As a general rule of thumb, if your grades slip in one or two classes, it shouldn’t pose a problem - especially if the classes aren’t related to your major. If you are typically an A student, a grade of C or below may raise red flags, and you will likely be asked to explain your downwards trend in academic performance to the colleges.
You don’t want to change your senior year schedule, either. Dropping some AP classes may seem like an easy way to relax a bit during senior year, but colleges will notice. If you have a true conflict and need to make an adjustment, contact the schools on your list in advance of making the change. This is not the type of situation where you should act now and beg forgiveness later - far from it.
More serious academic issues include plagiarism or cheating - don’t do this! Violations of academic integrity are likely to result in revoked admission.
That said, this might be the most important thing we say in this post: don’t lie! If you do have a major disciplinary or legal issue, report it to your colleges.
For current clients, we can help you do this, and you may also want to consult a lawyer - especially for cases involving criminal misconduct. On the other hand, if colleges find out that you lied or withheld information, they will not be willing to work with you. It is much better to get any issues out in the open and control how they are presented instead of having your college find out through the grapevine from someone else.
(And don’t think that doesn’t happen - your classmate Johnny down the street was waitlisted at your school of choice, and his mom could not have been more excited to learn about your suspension. She’s going to place an anonymous call to the admissions office first thing tomorrow morning to make sure they know!)
We don’t say any of this to scare you - we want our students to enjoy their senior year! But make sure to stay safe, stay productive, and stay out of trouble. If you have questions about anything we’ve covered here, please let us know and we are happy to help!