Burnout is a condition which can affect people in a variety of settings. It is associated with reduced productivity and satisfaction; increased rates of mood disorders such as depression and anxiety and a plethora of physical problems including increased inflammation biomarkers and cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, sleep disturbances, changes in appetite, fatigue, lowered immunity, headaches, and gastrointestinal distress. Burnout has primarily been studied as an occupational hazard, but there is increasing evidence that it is a condition that can be experienced in other settings, such as school. The purpose of this study was to investigate how personality characteristics (such as extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism) and term classification (freshman, sophomore, etc.) affect academic burnout in a sample of college students. This paper includes a brief summary of the history of the study of burnout, a discussion of the existing literature on the topic, hypotheses suggested by previous studies conducted in this field, and a description of the method, results, limitations, possible future directions and conclusions of this study.