Rescinded offers: Do senior year course changes affect it?

Worried about a rescinded college acceptance letter?

It’s second semester senior year and many seniors have already gotten into at least one college. As the sun emerges and spring break plans come to fruition, admitted students are wondering just how much “senioritis” or “senior slide” they’re allowed to have before their college acceptances are rescinded. Can seniors take a little breather, or are colleges really going to penalize grades that slip from an A to a B?

We interview three admissions officers and learn:

  • How to get your college acceptance rescinded
  • What colleges are really looking for in the final transcript
  • Why senioritis isn’t as bad as everyone thinks

Have two or more deficiencies in the admissions requirements

Some colleges have basic admissions requirements. University of Arizona is one of those colleges. Although these are “required,” this term is loosely tossed around. Many students get accepted without having completed all the requirements. At U of A, here are the high school competency requirements that are said to be mandatory before being admitted.

  • 4 years of English
  • 4 years of mathematics
  • 3 years of lab science
  • 2 years of the same second language
  • 2 years of social sciences (1 year of American history)
  • 1 year of fine arts or 1 year of career and technical education (CTE)

Turns out, after a call to the admissions office this week, these requirements are not as strict as they sound.

If a student is deficient in two of these categories, he can still be admitted. If he has already been admitted and is considering dropping a class the second semester of senior year, he will not lose his admittance as long as there are only 2 deficiencies.

Takeaway: If your student wants to drop a senior year English class and math class, but has met or definitely will meet all the other requirements, U of A will not rescind their acceptance.

Your high school graduation date

Colleges require admits to submit their final high school transcripts once the student finishes senior year.

Many parents and even teachers believe that it’s to make sure all the course requirements are met, grades are strong, and course rigor is high. This is why many counselors and teachers do not condone dropping senior year classes in the second semester — because they think colleges need to see maintained rigor all throughout senior year.

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