You are not done yet. You haven't finished. What? I can hear the wails rising from the masses of college applicants as I type this blog. They say in unison, "Of course I'm done. I've submitted my applications. Now it is time for the colleges to go to work and time for me to have all the fun that I can squeeze into the remaining months of my senior year. I've been deprived long enough. I've worked hard for 3 ½ years, so it is time to give it a rest before I have to start all over again as a college freshman." And part of me is sympathetic to that wail. I really am. You do need to throttle back after having been in overdrive for the last several months. You should take some time and smell the roses of senior year. But, and this is a crucial but, you need and want to finish strong. Here's why.

It counts in the admissions process. Sure you get your admissions decision before you walk across the stage, but there is this little loophole. You will not be able to enroll if you do not graduate from high school. Again the wails. "D is for diploma, so I don't have to put my best effort forward, I just have to put in the minimal effort necessary to graduate."

A few problems that have presented themselves over the years for applicants who have taken this approach. First, the problem of the wait list. What if you get wait listed? You want to have a great final semester to show them, not an array of pathetic grades that show you gave up once the applications were in. Second, the problem of making sure you estimate your effort (or lack of effort) correctly. Woe be to you if you don't. F is not for diploma and it can be a pretty slippery slope from D to F. Don't risk it.

It also counts in life. You are building a record, a memory, and a habit that will follow you. The record that looks good and then falls apart will provoke questions any time you have to present that high school transcript. Also, it creates a memory for teachers, adult mentors, and others who could be important supporters of your future goals. They will remember you as that person who blew it at the end. That's not the memory you want to leave behind. Finally, you will encounter lots of times in your life when your performance doesn't seem to matter much to others, so why not slack off? In a word: integrity. You owe it to yourself to do your best because that is who you are. You do it because it matters to you, not because it matters to other people. If you launch yourself into adulthood without regard for your own integrity, you have established a habit of undermining yourself, and that is a bad habit. A big bad habit.

So pull yourself together. Relax, but don't go comatose. Finish strong.

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Alison Cooper Chisolm writes the series 52 Weeks to College. She has worked in admissions at Southern Methodist University, the University of Chicago, and most recently Dartmouth College. She is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Virginia Law School. As part of the Ivey Consulting team, Alison works with college applicants and their families as they navigate the college admissions process. Read more about Alison here.