The college admissions landscape is changing quickly, and I will post updates as often as makes sense.

Finishing High School Strong

it can be very hard to stay motivated to finish high school right now, since learning at home can be difficult for a variety of reasons. But I want to encourage you to work as hard as you can, and learn as much as you can, despite these challenges. You should know that some HS students less fortunate than us have no internet, or no computer, or a variety of other reasons they can’t finish school and may actually have to repeat a year. My students are not in this situation, and we need to be grateful for that and keep studying.

HS Grades and Transcripts

Colleges are starting to announce that they are making more allowances for accepting pass/fail rather than letter grades, and late-arriving final transcripts, so that students don’t have to stress about how whether their HS’s grading system will affect their ability to matriculate. It is extremely unlikely that your choice college will disallow your HS’s grading system, or will penalize you for presenting a transcript late.

Making College Decisions

A new tool is available for students to view virtual tours, events and information sessions from over 500 colleges. It is being updated in real-time by college counselors all over the country. Please look for your colleges and continue researching to make your best admissions decision. Also, there are ways to meet virtually with students at colleges you’re considering, and set meetings with college admissions officers and professors if you need to learn more before making a decision. Ask me to guide you if you are still trying to decide which college to attend.

Depositing by May 1

Most colleges, including all of the California public colleges as of this posting, are still requiring you to submit a deposit by May 1 if you plan to attend in the fall. Some colleges have pushed that date to June 1. Even if you have secured a place on one or more waitlists, make sure to submit your deposit to and accepted college by the deposit date. If you need more time than May 1, contact your choice college and ask if they can push the deadline for you.

Waitlists

Once you are certain you do not want to be placed on a college’s waitlist, decline the waitlist offer, or remove yourself from an already accepted waitlist offer. This makes room for other students who wish to remain on the waitlist and are waiting for an offer. Similarly, if you have received an admissinos offer from a college you are definitely not attending, you may go ahead and decline the offer now, to make room for students on the waitlist.