New College Admissions Updates

Greetings Families,

Many families are continuing to ask us to send out collected updates on how COVID-19 is impacting college admissions. We will continue to be available for meetings with current clients and new clients and will provide resources and updates as we gather them.

Resources for Current Seniors

Here are some more resources that can help you explore colleges…

College Admission Impacts

The April ACT and the May SAT have been cancelled. The ACT and Collegeboard are discussing future dates and next steps.

The AP exams for the academic year 2019-2020 will be offered as at-home exams online, check out more information here.

For the class of 2020 (current seniors), some colleges are pushing back their enrollment deadlines back to June 1 so seniors have more time to make their final college choice. Here is a list of colleges with new deposit deadlines for college enrollment.

For the class of 2021 (current juniors), many colleges are discussing whether they will go test optional temporarily. Oregon State University and Case Western Reserve University have already announced that they are going test-optional for next year’s application season.

MIT just announced eliminating SAT Subject Tests for next year’s application season and it sounds like it will be a permanent decision moving forward.

Some high schools are discussing the option of moving AP exams to take-home exams or to push them back to June.

Colleges such as the University of Chicago are sending out announcements to students to help de-stress their worries around not visiting the campus before applying, cancelation of testing dates, disruption in schooling and activities, and more. See the note below on how James Nondorf, the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at University of Chicago, is helping to ease the worries of high school juniors.

Note from James Nondorf, the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at University of Chicago…

COLLEGE ADMISSIONS INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE IN THESE CHALLENGING TIMES:

Dear Student,

I hope you are all weathering the current storm and staying healthy and safe!

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting so many aspects of life and forcing changes, cancellations, and new policies at all levels of education. Many students and families have written to me and expressed their worries and frustrations, especially those just beginning the college search process. As Dean of Admissions, I want to assure all students and their families that we (and most of my peers at other highly selective institutions) will be understanding and accommodating of these changes. The current crisis will NOT negatively impact how we review your application, and there will still be time once this crisis is over for you to find your future college home. At UChicago, our goal is to assist students with as much flexibility as possible. Given the changing landscape in the admissions area, I hope this additional information about the admissions process will help ease some worry during this difficult time:

  • We recognize that school transcripts will look different for many students this year, and we will work with that! Academic progress as usual is currently being disrupted for students across the globe. We encourage students to continue to engage with whatever method of learning your school is able to offer, and to do so to the best of your ability. If your school moves to an alternative grading system or method of credit notation (pass/fail, credit/no credit, etc.), we will fully understand why the change has been made and it will not, in any way, be an issue for an admissions office. If a high school closes and does not provide any online or structured replacement educational opportunities, rest assured that we will understand that as well (this is a good opportunity to read something new that piques your interest!).
  • You do not need to visit campus to be admitted to a selective school. UChicago does not consider demonstrated interest as part of our admissions process. While universities are currently restricted in our ability to offer information sessions on campus or in local communities, many universities will offer virtual information sessions. UChicago will be posting many new online opportunities in the weeks ahead. The goal for our online programming (and any sessions we offer on or off campus in the future) is simply to help students learn more about the highly selective admissions process, the financial aid process at most schools, and the impactful nature of a UChicago education. Visiting or attending an online session is NOT a requirement of admission to UChicago.
  • Many final national exams or international certificate programs (such as Advanced Placement tests, the International Baccalaureate program, Cambridge Programme/A-Levels, etc.) have been (or will be) moved online, postponed, or cancelled. Most highly selective admissions offices do not require AP scores and are aware of the changes (and will also understand that students will have few opportunities to take any required tests more than once – which is a good thing!). At UChicago, we do not require any students to complete exams in these or other national programs as a condition of enrollment. UChicago does not require AP or SAT Subject Test results for any applicant. We understand that many students’ preparation for or ability to take these exams will be impacted by current events. Supplemental testing is not required in our admission process, even for test-optional candidates, and it will not impact a student’s application if they are unable to share these test results with us next year.
  • Many schools are closed temporarily or indefinitely, and some students may worry how they can showcase their accomplishments for the spring. Do not worry. This will be the case for most students, and an application is always read in context.
  • Your school counselors will give you excellent and well-informed advice! Universities communicate updates and changes in the admissions process with your school counselors (and school counselors call us when they have questions or need clarifications). If you do not have a school counselor, UChicago provides information that will help you with this process at most universities, not just ours. We will be sharing more general college admissions resources and other information with students who may need extra assistance or resources in the weeks ahead. Continue to check our website; for more details in the coming weeks.

We hope that this information was helpful to you and alleviates some of your college admissions stress (the current crisis creates more than enough stress – you do not need more). If you have any additional questions, please reply to this email to reach the UChicago admissions counselor for your area.

Stay safe, stay healthy, wash your hands, and we will hope to see you on our campus sometime in the future (Not now, though. Stay home now!).

Best,

James Nondorf
Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid
Vice President for Enrollment and Student Advancement
University of Chicago

College Admissions During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During these challenging times staying informed can decrease your worries and help you to plan ahead. Staying present and at the moment are important practices right now. And due to so many families having many questions related to the impacts of COVID-19 on the college admissions process, we are doing what we can at The Best U to provide updates and important information.

Click here to learn more.

Get Help With Your Questions At The Best U, we are available for one-on-one meetings to support your college needs.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AI has arrived to college admissions. What does it mean for students?

Image
  Much like every other sector of life, the rapid development of AI will undoubtedly shape the future of college admissions. What you may not know is that AI is already at play in the admissions review process. So how should students approach essays and applications in light of the growing role of AI? The answers are probably not what you’d expect – AI has already arrived to the admissions review process. In a survey cited by Inside Higher Ed, 50% of college admissions respondents said AI was already in use in their admissions review process. The catch? Those responses were collected in 2023 . In the two years since then the capabilities and accessibility of AI tools have grown exponentially, so it is safe to assume that at this point admissions offices that are not deploying AI in their review process are in the extreme minority. If we can be almost certain that some components of your application will be screened with the use of AI, how does that change the ways students should ...
Read more

When the time comes, how do you choose a college?

Image
 With the May 1st national deposit day in sight, the tables turn for students and families who’ve spent months anxiously awaiting college decisions, and it’s time to decide what’s right for you . While you may be compelled to check the rankings, we have a different approach. Here’s how we encourage you to make your own best decision – #1 Break up with the rankings: There are all kinds of college rankings and ‘best of’ lists out there…and while that may have led you to apply to a certain school, we encourage you to leave all those external validations behind when it comes time to make your college decision. The truth is, no ranking list can tell you if you will be happy, if you will build a great community, meet amazing mentors, or shape the life you want to. Nothing can tell you this with certainty, but decision time is the perfect time to step away from the noise of what everyone else thinks about a college and tap into your own intuition. Here’s how: #2 Ask yourself: how will I m...
Read more