Juniors Share Concerns on College Applications Amid COVID-19

With 2 million confirmed COVID-19 cases around the world and over 100,000 deaths, businesses, restaurants, and institutions have shut down in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Dozens of colleges and schools across the United States have reacted to the spread by shutting down campuses and moving to online classes and lectures to slow the spread of the pandemic. Many juniors have expressed the anxiety of the college admissions process amid the spread of COVID-19 and the closing of multiple campuses and testing dates, fearing that it will have an impact on the application process.

“The college process for many juniors will be plagued with more problems because of this pandemic not just including grades,” said Newton North junior, Andrew Chin. “Other actions such as extracurricular activities and part-time jobs which greatly broaden your appeal to college are shut out.”

North junior Hannah Huff expressed similar thoughts saying, “I definitely think that the college admissions process will be more difficult. I think colleges will try to be accommodating considering that all of the Class of 2021 will be facing the same issues but I think that the accommodations won’t be able to make up for the uncharted territory we’re in.”

The College Board released an email on Wednesday, Apr. 15 about the cancellation of the June SAT administration saying, “Many states have closed their schools for the rest of the academic year, and globally there are widespread school closures across 192 countries. As such, we won't be able to administer the SAT® and SAT Subject Tests™ as planned on June 6, 2020.”

The cancellation marks the third SAT date moved due to COVID-19, following the March and May exams that were also canceled earlier this year.

“I think the SAT should be weighed less due to this sweeping change in how schools now have to prepare their students for college,” Chin added.

Other schools have also faced the admissions crisis and worry about the toll it will take on applications.

“I think the admissions process will definitely become more difficult because most states closed schools and everything before people had the chance to take the SAT or ACT,” said junior Ashleigh Collins at Boston Collegiate Charter School in Dorchester.

A major concern of students is not being able to tour college campuses due to closings and social distancing regulations being implemented.

“While many people start early action applying, many will do it without being able to tour the college. This is especially hard for someone like me, who lives more than an hour away from most colleges,” said junior, Ethan Nesbit, at Wahconah Regional High School in Dalton, MA.

In addition to these setbacks, the College Board, who oversees the administration of the AP exams, announced in March that AP exams this year would be administered online and would be 45 minutes long.

The College Board released a notice saying, “We’re confident that the vast majority of higher ed institutions will award college credit as they have in the past.” They continued adding, “We’ve spoken with hundreds of institutions across the country that support this year’s AP Exams.”

Many of the exams will be limited to essay-style responses without the multiple-choice and short-answer sections included in previous exams.

“As for the AP format I’m not a huge fan but I also don’t think there’s any better alternative,” Huff stated. “AP students have worked hard all year so I believe everyone deserves a shot to test for the credits but I do worry a test format that’s easy to cheat on will lead to a higher curve, but I know that there’s not a better alternative to taking it online.”

With many high schools and colleges closed or teaching virtually for the remainder of the academic year, an increasing number of colleges and universities are waiving standardized test requirements.

According to the New York Times, Tufts, Northeastern and Boston University have all adopted the optional-testing policy and many other schools across the country are.

For many schools and students, the spread of COVID-19 has put college applications in uncharted waters and stirred uncertainty about how standardized testing and the SAT will be weighted in the future.

“I think that the admissions process is stressful as it stands but what takes some weight off is the fact that millions of people have gone through it and can guide you,” Huff concluded. “But during this time everyone who has gone through it before our graduating class will have a completely different experience than we will have.”