Senior year of high school is one of those things that everyone always seems to look forward to. Upperclassmen and parents tell stories of how senior year of high school was the greatest year of their lives, and it gets fantasized in movies all of the time. Underclassmen look forward to the many fun traditions that senior year has to offer, like the annual water balloon fight, senior ditch day, and the coveted prom. When final exams roll around, the underclassmen think about how nice it will be senior year when they might not have to take all of their finals if they have A’s. Many juniors who are tired of coming to school and taking standardized tests on weekends look forward to the relaxing year that is ahead when they can just blow off all of their classes.

But is senior year really a year to slack off? While your final year of high school should be spent making memories that will last a lifetime, school, your grades, and attendance still matter.

The beginning of senior year is the time when most people begin to finalize their lists of schools and apply to colleges. That being said, most colleges will see your first semester schedule when you apply. Meghan McHale Dangremond of Tufts University’s admissions office stated in an online admissions blog, “[Senior Year] is not an occasion for laurel-resting, so avoid the temptation of early dismissal AND two study halls AND those wacky electives in underwater basket-weaving.”

Taking challenging courses instead of an “easy A” will set you apart from other students. In addition, the rigor of your classes is one of the only things college admissions have to judge your senior year on if you apply early action or early decision.

As the semester progresses, taking your classes seriously will pay off. It will make it much easier on yourself when first-semester finals roll around. Even if you have already been accepted, mid-year transcripts, which show your final first-semester grades, are sent to most colleges. Colleges and universities that you apply regular decision to will factor these grades into their initial decision of admission.

“As we review applications and find students who may be borderline candidates for admission, we often request that mid-year grades be sent from high school counselors,” stated Mariah McLane Giardino, an admissions counselor from Rochester Institute of Technology. “Do not underestimate the importance of mid-year grades; they can sometimes result in a make-or-break decision for your application.”

Once second semester starts, senioritis really begins to sink in, and at this time, it is most important to fight it. Your final grades from second semester will also be sent to the school you decide to attend. Colleges and universities can rescind acceptances and/or scholarships if your grades drop significantly.

A 2009 State of College Admission Report stated that during the Fall 2008 admission cycle, 21 percent of colleges reported that they had revoked an admission offer, compared to 35 percent in 2007. The most common reason that colleges indicated for rescinding admission offers was final grades (65 percent), followed by disciplinary issues (35 percent) and then falsification of application information (29 percent), according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

And if the revoking of admissions isn’t enticing enough to make your senior year matter, taking challenging AP and honors classes in high school could make it easier on yourself once you are actually in college. By getting AP credit in high school, it might be possible to exempt from classes and free up credit hours for something fun or more interesting.

For example, this year I am taking Calculus even though I will probably have to take it again in college. Because I am taking it now, it will make it that much easier for me later on in my education. I would have done myself a disservice had I not taken the course in high school.

Senior year is special for a multitude of reasons, and it is clearly not all about grades. It is a good idea to reward yourself for working hard for three years by having fun and making memories that will last throughout college and the rest of your life. However, senior year is still important for college and expanding your education. Although it is important to enjoy your final year of high school, you should maintain good grades to make the most out of your senior year.

To start off, I would like to point out the obvious that I am in no way encouraging students to blow off their classes. I am simply entertaining the idea that students can be more lenient in doing their homework and studying in their senior year of high school.

I came upon this notion after receiving an email from the University of Texas in Austin, one of the colleges I applied to, after I notified the admissions office that I had decided to drop a class second semester. The email I received read that the university was “not looking at coursework past the end of your junior year.”

I’m not sure if this is the case for other colleges, however, colleges that have November or December deadlines for admission applications will have senior year grades noted as “in progress,” meaning their decisions will be made on students’ grades from their freshmen through junior years. That got me thinking.

Instead of stressing about grades senior year, perhaps students could take that time to learn more about themselves and spend more time with the friends, whom they will be parting with soon enough. After all, how much could senior year really matter?

It is true, colleges do require a final-year transcript, but only to ensure that you have graduated and passed your courses, which should be an achievable goal for this year anyway. Only a drastic change in senior year grades, dropping required courses, or any negative behavior revealed on this transcript could result in a college’s reconsideration, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Students often stress about the possibility of their second-semester grades resulting in a reversal of decision from their college of choice. But, according to Huffington Post, there are two types of letters students could receive from colleges regarding this subject: one is from an admissions team, which will note a drop in grades or class changes and would like an explanation, and the second is a revoked acceptance without warning.

The former is the most common, but only a drastic change in grades or scheduling (for example, dropping all AP or honors classes for electives) will provoke it. In response, you should acknowledge what you’ve done and explain your reasoning behind it. The latter of the two possible letters is pretty rare and is usually reserved for non-grade-related infractions, like cheating or getting arrested.

I believe, with reason, that junior year is the most important year, and students should focus most of their energy and academic performance on this crucial year. It’s the last full year of high school that colleges see in admission applications, and it should be the year with the hardest course load you can get a “B” or higher in. Your junior year teachers will most likely write your recommendations, and this is the testing year for your ACT or SAT scores, according to PrepScholar.

Although it is important to be consistent with class levels from junior year to senior year (whether it’s AP, honors, or regular), slight grade slippage senior year goes under colleges’ radars, according to Huffington Post. Your grades should simply look similar to years past.

What students should do senior year is go for those tougher classes, as some universities don’t see grades during admissions process and only count the number of honors or AP classes a student is taking that year, according to getmetocollege. This allows students to be able to be more lenient in doing homework and studying, as their grades aren’t seen by most colleges while they are making their decisions.

However, the rigor of these classes may not appeal to some seniors, understandably, so these students can take an easier schedule, but they should fill up that free time with a part-time job, volunteer work, or possibly an internship. This will prove to colleges that a student is using his or her time wisely, even if it is not with school-related studies.

So current and forthcoming seniors, fill up the limited time you have left of high school with even more memories because I’m sure you do not want to remember your senior year as the most stressful time of your life thus far. Take a load off, to some degree, and enjoy the final few months you will have left at LHS with no regrets because it will go by fast.