There have been so many challenges and disruptions to our everyday lives since the COVID pandemic started its deadly march across the world. This article addresses the special circumstances for students who are engaged in their high school academics and extracurricular activities, college-bound juniors and seniors in particular. For this group of young people, it’s important to remain optimistic that the crisis will, in fact, bring about a sea change in the world of college admissions, leading to changes for the better in a system that for many with limited resources, simply doesn’t work.
Admission officers review applicants’ academic records with a focused eye on both 11th grade results and coursework rigor. This is also the time for many students to start their standardized testing and build up a healthy resume of extracurricular activities. But in the spring of 2020, most schools closed, and students were suddenly required to complete their spring semester online, within a system that was unplanned and with teachers unprepared to switch over to an online format. Both parties struggled and for many students, this important academic year was suddenly thrown into chaos. Testing dates were cancelled, AP tests were abbreviated and went online, and many schools chose to switch from traditional grading to Pass/Fail results, thus creating havoc with a student’s transcript and grade point average. Sports were cancelled, jobs were lost, community service options fell apart, summer programs were cancelled, making many college-bound students deeply worried that their dreams of gaining entry to their top colleges/universities might become a distant memory.
It is important to note that colleges were going through the same crises as everyone else. They lost all their in-person visitors as well as the students they met as admission officers traveled to visit schools, and confronted a potential drop in enrollment from both in- and out-of-state students, and international students.
This pandemic has demanded that colleges and universities take a completely different direction for the students applying for fall 2021 admission. To alleviate the anxiety of so many, a group of over 300 institutions issued a reassuring statement, letting students know that the negative impact of COVID would not, in any way, be held against them in the admission process. Colleges will now need to do things differently. For this year’s seniors, there will be a heavier focus on fall junior grades, rather than spring junior grades, and trends up to that time will get a second look. It is also possible that colleges are now investing in new ways of evaluating students – examples might include more informational video interviews, or questions to be answered online or in a short video.
It has long been known that grades and rigor of courses are the best predictor of a student’s college readiness and subsequent success in college. This means that it is an imperative for fall 2021 applicants to work hard in the new world of high school and/or virtual learning. Many colleges are test-optional or test-blind for the Fall 2021 admissions season. Most students’ normal extracurricular activities have ground to a halt, but try your best to select some options you can explore at home – practice your singing, musical skills, art; create interesting videos; take new courses; interview experts in your fields of interest; explore nature in your backyard; build robots or computers; and create face masks and/or food parcels for donation to a local charity. Find ways of shining while maintaining good self-care Just do the best you can without putting undue expectations on yourself.
Colleges like to connect with prospective students and visits both on-campus and at your high school are off the table for now. But there are still so many ways to connect – attend virtual tours, virtual information sessions and open houses, connect with your admissions representative by email and ask your many questions.
The fall 2021 Common Application and Coalition app offer a new Covid-19 question to give applicants the chance to share their personal experiences with the pandemic; counselors also have a new form to share more about the impact on their school. So, don’t worry, work hard, make the best of the situation and connect, connect, connect – with your colleges, your counselors and your teachers. You will be at the forefront of change and that’s a pretty exciting place to be.