Question: Should I visit colleges again before I make my final decision?

It’s spring. You’ve already been accepted into college. But if you’re tempted to slack off, think about the prospect of getting this letter in the mail:

“This office recently received a copy of your final school transcript. I noted with some concern that your final grades fell from where they had been previously. Your admission to ________ College was contingent upon satisfactory completion of your academic program. Due to the decline in your grades, the Admission Committee has reviewed your application materials again.”

This real letter, sent from a prestigious liberal arts college last spring, ended with a request that the student submit an explanation for the decline in academic performance at the conclusion of the senior year.

“Senioritis” has plagued soon-to-be-graduates, and their parents and teachers, since the beginning of college admission. What reason do you have to continue to work hard and achieve strong grades? Colleges have three answers:

1) The “unwelcome” letter. As explained in the example above, with applications growing, and yield often falling, schools have trouble predicting how many of those admitted will actually matriculate in the fall. Sometimes they underestimate and are faced with huge freshman classes. One way to correct this is to rescind offers of admission to those students who have not maintained their academic standards in the period following their acceptance.

2) The dreaded “waitlist.” Some colleges are notorious for putting a plethora of applicants on a waiting list so they can first judge what percentage of those admitted actually accept their offer. Still other schools simply cannot decide who to take and who to deny, so they wait until the student shows further interest by sending in additional materials, including an updated transcript with recent academic marks, before making a ruling.
 
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(top photo from Simmons College)