My daughter got accepted into her dream school ED. She was a straight A student. She got all As first trimester. Now senioritis set in and she just wants to enjoy her senior year. Is there a case in which the college going to look at her final grades and take away her acceptance? Is getting all Bs acceptable? Some Bs? She’s not worried at all. I’m the one freaking out.
You can stop freaking out. She can get all Bs and her offer of admission won’t likely be rescinded. But really…don’t tell her that! She needs to continue to put her best foot forward.
Remind her that her college will be requesting her final school transcript in June. 'Nuff said!
I’ve seen stated here on CC No Ds, no Fs, no felonies. I also wouldn’t recommend telling her she’s fine.
I don’t think this matters a bit unless her school is one of the very tippy top schools (Stanford, etc.) Then, she might get a warning, but even this is unlikely. She pretty much has to commit a felony or fail every class to have her acceptance rescinded.
I agree with @thumper1 who has said it very succinctly.
UCs are not “very tippy top schools” in selectivity (except perhaps some majors at UCB and UCLA), but their standard conditions of admission include no worse than a 3.0 GPA in previously reported senior year courses, with no D or F grades. So straight B grades would be right on the edge at UCs (which are obviously not the OP’s daughter’s ED school, since none have ED). But if she would be on the edge of rescission at schools that are not “very tippy top schools” in selectivity, then she may want to be more concerned about her senior year academic performance.
What conditions with respect to senior year academic performance does her admission offer specify?
Our private college counselor said to try to keep it at a 3.0 GPA to be sure, but the only time an offer was rescinded was when someone failed an English class so he no longer had 4 years of English, which was required for admission.
Some schools say that once a student is accepted, they don’t rescind, even for low grades.
Looks like the ED school is Wash U. Does anyone know its policies?
I would be very unhappy if my kids had gone from straight As to all B’s. The child is still in your household, you could put on some limits to socializing on school nights, etc.
My D was accepted to her ED school and even though I can see a bit of weariness in her as this second semester starts, she in no way will let her grades slip because she doesn’t want to disappoint her teachers, (she thinks its disrespectful to them to slack off) and she has really high standards for herself. She is also a peer tutor and all grades need to be maintained in order to continue in this role.
All kids are wired differently, but in my Ds case, it’s business as usual this semester! And I agree with @mom2collegekids, I don’t want to see the grades slide either. 
Geez, let her relax a bit! Hasn’t she already impressed you with her GPA and college admission? How much more do you want? We don’t know how hard she worked to get those "A"s and last thing you want is her burnt-out in college, which does happen when kids have worked too hard in high school. Phone the college and ask about the policies, but it’s doubtful you need to crack the whip anymore. I get so tired of people not trusting their children - she’s already proved herself. And not telling her it’s okay to relax? I don’t believe in lying to my children because I respect and trust them so they’ve always made me proud.
I think a parent staying level headed is helpful. Balance. A smart, very good student is going to breathe a little and also show some maturity. Many usually put more pressure on themselves and will realize that everything is on the right path.
She’s in a top 20 public school in the country that’s extremely competative and cut throat. Where all classes are either honors, AP, or IB. She’s getting an IB diploma. So getting those As was very very hard. So she’s beyond burrned out. I never had to push her to do anything. She always pushed herself. I have no problems with her taking it easy for the rest of the year. Just wanted to make sure it will be OK with college she got into. The acceptance letter doesn’t really provide any specific info. Just generic statement to keep up your grades.
The acceptance letter is not going to make a statement on GPA etails. Try having her call the office of admissions for an answer. Glad to hear you’re okay with her relaxing. With her work ethic, it’s not likely she is going to relax into the “D” zone, especially since she pushed herself to succeed. You must be so proud of her!
Is D trying to get merit $$? If yes, I would hold back on the senioritis just a little until mid year grades are submitted
[quote=WashU}
Students who apply under Washington University’s binding Early Decision plan may apply for any scholarship matching their academic and extracurricular achievements. Academic scholarships, however, are not awarded until after the early decision commitment date.
Yes, she’s applying for scholarships. But WashU will only look at first trimester grades for ED students. And she did well in the first tri.
I agree with the no “Ds” no felonies. Short of that, even the most selective schools will not rescind. But, even if she slacks off, her grades will probably be fine. Slacking off for our kind of kids usually means an A- or B+ here or there instead of straight As. As I’ve said before, second semester senior year is oftentimes the first time our high achieving kids can take a step back and enjoy school since most of them have been on the college acceptance treadmill their whole high school career. Let her go to prom, beach week, senior night, cut a couple of classes (depending on the hs school, of course).
She’ll be fine. Relax mommy.
The reason colleges don’t rescind for a few Bs is that, by the time they find out about spring semester grades, it’s far too late for a kid to apply anywhere else. Especially in the case of an ED college, where they have told the student to withdraw all other applications. Withdrawing an admission offer under those circumstances is pretty harsh. Granted, I know they do conditional offers in England and elsewhere, but that’s clear upfront, and it isn’t what happens here.
Selective colleges admissions are generally conditional on things like completing senior year with acceptable academic performance in previously reported courses.
However, it appears that many of them are not very specific on the academic performance condition, which is presumably why students slacking off in senior year come here with this same question year after year. It appears that UCs are outliers in specifying an actual senior year GPA threshold (along with other specific conditions like no D or F grades) for the student to have a “safe harbor” against rescission.
Frpm College Confidential: http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/775/
When Do Colleges Rescind Acceptances?
Sally Rubenstone
College Admissions
Question: Under what conditions would a college take back an acceptance?
This question is an oldie but goodie. “The Dean” has answered various versions of it many times before. Yet just as spring has sprung, so, too, have the worries of admitted students who succumbed to senioritis (and other questionable behaviors) after the ink was dry on their acceptance letters.
In fact, The Dean has received so many queries this week from those who stay awake at night wondering if their acceptances are about to vaporize that this blanket reply will attempt to address many of these at once:
Colleges do not like to renege on admission decisions but will do so on occasion. This most typically happens when a student’s grades drop significantly after the student is admitted. In other words, if an A student suffers a bout of senioritis and drops to a B average, it’s not a deal-breaker. But if grades plummet to C’s and D’s (or worse), it can be. If there are extenuating circumstances behind this change in GPA (e.g., an illness or family crisis), they should be explained by the school counselor. The college will probably be sympathetic and stand by their original acceptance, sometimes putting the student on academic probation when the school year starts.
Colleges may also revoke acceptances if the student is suspended from school or arrested outside of school. Again, because the college does not want to do this, the case will be carefully evaluated and the verdict will most likely depend on the nature of the infraction and the circumstances surrounding it.
Finally, if a college should discover that an applicant was dishonest on his or her application, that is likely to lead to a rescinded admission, too.
If a college plans to revoke your acceptance, especially for academic reasons, you should be proactive about making a deal to save it. For instance, you can offer to take a summer class (or several) and let your fate rest upon meeting a specified minimum grade. You can also suggest that you start your first college term on academic probation. (The college may insist on this anyway, even if you don’t offer!)
Finally, for those students who are writing now, in early April, with worries about declining grades, note that the college you plan to attend won’t see your transcript until the school year is over. So you still have time to reverse the downward spiral. Even a “D” or an “F” on your third-quarter report card won’t make a big impact if you’ve managed to pull it up to more respectable turf by the end of the semester.
So, as my Nana used to say, “A stitch in time saves nine.” Although the thought of Nana sewing anything is laughable, her advice was still sound.
@Massmomm, no need for multiple F’s for a rescind. 1 may well be enough.
However, other than the UC’s rather draconian policies, I’ve never heard of rescinding for C’s. Even straight C’s.
BTW, to the OP: might be time to ask her to ease off on the EC’s. Does she have to take challenging classes still?