Once the college application process is complete, it can be challenging to focus on the remaining months of senior year. The condition playfully termed 'senioritis" usually begins with the receipt of an acceptance letter and can worsen until grades fall, reflecting behavioral patterns that raise red flags and cause admission offices to reevaluate their previous offer.

Colleges and universities often offer chances of forgiveness before rescinding an admission letter — realizing that senioritis can be an unfortunate side effect of a student's relief over finally being finished with the college admission process — however, not all cases can be fixed, and formerly admitted students are sometimes regrettably rejected.

In the 2008 State of College Admission, NACAC (National Association for College Admission Counseling) published the results of a survey that found that more than one-third of colleges had revoked an admission offer during the Fall 2007 admission cycle. When asked why offers of admission were revoked, the majority of institutions (69%) said final grades were to blame.