The class of 2021 faces a unique college admissions process during the COVID-19 pandemic
By Isabel Vestergaard ‘21
High school seniors encounter new changes to college admissions. Image by Isabel Vestergaard.
College admissions across the nation are changing in light of COVID-19, which poses a unique application process for this year’s seniors, the Class of 2021.
Catlin Gabel School (CGS) seniors share their thoughts on how COVID-19 has posed new challenges and benefits in their college admissions process. Senior Riley Hart finds the process has become more difficult in light of the pandemic.
“I think overall the process is definitely harder just because there's so much uncertainty and so much unknown from both the college’s side and the applicant’s side,” said Hart.
CGS senior Sophia Spry agrees that while the admissions process has become more difficult, there have been benefits to certain changes made, particularly test-optional policies among colleges and universities.
“I think the change as far as not requiring test scores definitely made it easier for me, just because I didn't have to go through studying extra-hard for the SAT and then making sure I've gotten a score I'm happy with,” said Spry.
While many colleges and universities have made the decision to implement a test-optional policy for first-year applicants for the fall of 2021, this decision has been a source of confusion for many. The College Board has provided clarity into what test-optional policies entail.
“If a college or university has a test-optional admissions policy, that means they allow all or some applicants to decide whether to submit SAT or ACT scores as part of their application,” according to the College Board’s blog page, “What Is a Test-Optional College?”. “If a student doesn’t submit their scores, it won’t be considered in the application review.”
Given the option of submitting standardized test scores, seniors at CGS weigh their options. Hart finds the decision hard to deal with, especially with conflicting opinions from college admissions representatives.
“It's stressful because some reps I talked to said it won't matter if you haven't taken the test and some say it will,” said Hart.
While Spry finds she will be taking advantage of the test-optional policies, she also finds this a necessary step for colleges to take beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think the test-optional admissions year is definitely a step in the right direction, said Spry. “I think the SAT is outdated as is the ACT, and standardized testing is not a very valuable method for deciding if a student goes to the school or not.”
While the decision to submit standardized test scores is left to the applicant, the decision of some is heavily influenced by restrictions to test center availability. COVID-19 restrictions on group gatherings eliminate the opportunity for some students to yet take the test. This has even influenced some students to travel out of state in search of open testing centers.
CGS senior Hannah Ma agrees that no longer having to prepare for standardized testing has been a large relief, but limited access to testing centers may be a struggle for others.
“I think it's a double-edged sword. For some, a high SAT might have proved beneficial to an applicant's profile, for others, it wasn't,” said Ma. “I think it really depends on each students' situation. For me personally, I will be submitting an SAT score since I managed to sit one before everything was closed down.”
Aside from changes to testing policies, seniors are finding it difficult to research and familiarize themselves with the schools they hope to apply to.
Researching schools is challenging without the opportunity to visit campuses and connect to college representatives in person. Hart finds that the inability to visit college campuses has affected her ability to apply to schools confidently.
“I was supposed to visit colleges over Spring Break but obviously, that got canceled and I haven't had a chance since to visit any colleges,” said Hart. “I definitely think this has had an impact on my college process since I have a lot of indecision about it already, and this is making it really hard for me to commit to a college that I've never been to, especially if it's in a city or a state I've never been to.”
Ma, however, finds her admissions process no different than if it had occurred before the COVID-19 pandemic. She also finds the inability to visit campuses has been beneficial in that she expanded her college search.
“I think most colleges have done a really good job of making virtual tours, info sessions, panels, etc. accessible for prospective applicants, so I don't really feel like I'm missing out on anything,” said Ma. “In a normal year, I think I would be biased towards, and thus limited by, colleges which I get a chance to visit.”
While COVID-19 has influenced many aspects of the college process, seniors haven’t found themselves choosing to apply to schools closer to home. Hart felt she wanted to leave Oregon before the pandemic and finds this opinion has not changed.
“I've been pretty adamant about getting farther away since I started the college application process and I haven't really been interested in any West coast schools so I don't think COVID-19 is changing that,” said Hart.
While the class of 2021 is facing added stress to college admissions with unprecedented circumstances, seniors strive to remain positive about the process. Ma gives a message to her fellow classmates.
“College apps are stressful,” said Ma. “Good luck, seniors!”