Quick question ...

[apocalypsos]

Since I haven't been in high school in 1995, I can't really recall -- at which point during the senior year would school basically be a lost cause?

You know what I mean? At some point, you've taken the SATs, you've gotten acceptances from colleges, you all know what you're doing after graduation, and you're basically set ... except you still have weeks if not months left in senior year and you just kinda have to sigh and get it over with.

How long would that be? A month? Two months?

Comments

[kittikattie.livejournal.com]

Generally after Spring Break--mid March? I've been out since '99, but i'm thinking that's about right. Post Spring Break, most seniors sort of stop giving a shit and get "senioritis."

[that-september.livejournal.com]

I graduated a year ago and I'd say everyone started getting stir crazy in May. We had a month left and basically nobody cared anymore. I think up until that point things are still stressful because you have to focus on keeping up grades and finding out if you got accepted to colleges and deciding where to go. By May, everybody's usually set and there are "senior-y" things going on like prom and whatnot, so it feels way more relaxed. Hope this helps!

[cacahuate.livejournal.com]

Depends. For some people this is the whole of the second semester, since colleges won't be admitting or denying you based on those grades. (Most schools reserve the right to revoke admission if you screw up too badly, but you generally have more freedom to be less than perfect academically.) Of course, most people haven't been accepted to college by this point; they just know what they do from then on doesn't matter much.

As far as knowing where you'll be, you get all your decisions by mid-April and have to choose your college by May 1, if that helps.

[trinity_clare]

College admission decisions can happen as early as February or as late as mid-April, and most colleges only take transcripts through first semester (although you can't get away with failing everything second semester). If you're in prep school you have AP tests the first week of May, but after that it's basically all over.

[eilonwy.livejournal.com]

Like everyone else said, depends. Granted, I graduated in '97, so perhaps am not up to date, either... I applied early decision to my college, though, which meant that not only did I know that I was accepted, but had already promised to go if I was accepted-- so I was done before Christmas break. (Granted, like someone else said upstream, my school could have revoked things if I had ended up sucking all Spring semester. And I was a nerd, so I still wanted good grades for the sake of good grades, so never really hit that senioritis phase.)

[ciara-belle.livejournal.com]

Mid to late April and all of May. It is like pulling teeth to get work done during the last week or two in May. Assuming you don't care about AP tests (or finals), you're all done by then.

[pie-is-good.livejournal.com]

Whenever your college acceptance letter comes

[winterweathered.livejournal.com]

I got accepted to my school in early October, so... it was a long, boring year. My little sister was an athlete, and she got accepted to Dartmouth before she even started her senior year. It's different for everyone.

[etoilepb.livejournal.com]

It's been ten years, but I still remember!

Graduation was the first Sunday in June (6 June 1999) and the last week we had to attend classes was the week Phantom Menace came out... so, May.. 17th, I think, through 21st. About 30 of us cut school together to go see the movie and no-one cared. ;)

AP exams were at the end of April and start of May, the senior musical was at the start of May, the prom was at the start of May, and we were all required to have good attendance to do any of those three things... college acceptances were all in by early April.

So, we were all phoning it in from roughly late March, but we really stopped giving a damn whatsoever and sometimes just cutting school starting in early May.

(NB: I grew up in New England, where the end of the school year is between June 18th and 29th.)

[shellies.livejournal.com]

i taught seniors for three years and their attention really started to wane post winter break (early january), but they actually became COMPLETELY brainless in mid-march to april.

[lunardreamed.livejournal.com]

I agree with this one the most. But as eilonwy pointed out, it also depends on the student. There are plenty of students that get their acceptance revoked because they get senioritis that bad. Some of us care long past time.

Someone also reminded me of advanced placement exams, for which you will have to pay attention through the end of the year or you don't get to use the class for college credit. Again it depends on the type of student you are, but most don't want to waste the class.

Remember also that those who turn 18 hit an additional rebellion. I did such battle with my parents over everything then. The school doesn't really recognize your age unless your parents release them, and my mother refused. By the time graduation came, I wanted OUT so bad, it was almost like hysteria. I had a kind of unique situation and wanted to know that I could have a life as an adult. I had to get out to know there was a future.

But winter and spring break are your time periods. With all grades, attention starts to wane after spring break (at least if you live in a temperate climate). You spend spring break enjoying the warm weather, and then you have to go back to class when it's all springlike outside :( So, I would say, that you really see the change for seniors happening after winter break. They're already thinking about how their next winter holiday they'll be coming home, instead of already being there, they've started to really think about how things will change and they want it now.

[vega-ofthe-lyre.livejournal.com]

Eh, I'm no help. I'm Canadian so we don't have SATs anyway, and I was accepted before Christmas, as were most of my friends. I think most of us gave up on really making any effort post-March Break, though, ditching was epidemic after that point.

[kleenexwoman.livejournal.com]

For me, it was two months, maybe two and a half. Started the first nice day of the year, nice enough for me to think "Why am I in school? I should be outside," and not have the more conscientious part of my brain object immediately.