Flexibility of Colleges During COVID-19

If you've read my most recent article regarding colleges going test-optional in the wake of COVID cancellations, I thought I would share another (hopefully reassuring) update for juniors who are worried about their applications in the fall of 2020.  With the most humble thanks to Wayland High School, whose counselors compiled these revisions to colleges' policies for the next admissions cycle, it is clear to see that the college world has turned upside-down, and changes will continue to evolve into the summer and fall.  The bright side of the chaos:  all students nationwide are now on an even playing field.  School closures are ubiquitous, and 11th-graders are forced to transition to remote learning.  Opportunities will be more limited, as internships, summer jobs, and extracurricular activities have been suspended or postponed.  Although these ideas may send students into a tailspin, fretting over the "what ifs" is not a healthy frame of mind.  Remember, colleges have always used holistic review when evaluating a student's application, which will be the saving grace for everyone across the nation. 

What's a holistic review?  Essentially, colleges look at a student as a whole person, not select pieces.  Using this approach means that admissions officers will not fault students because the nation (and by default our teenagers) experienced an unprecedented calamity for which we were not prepared.  Thus, colleges will look at trends and the big picture:  Has the applicant taken challenging classes over his/her four years?  Is the student's essay well-written and insightful?  Do the accompanying letters of recommendation demonstrate a deep relationship with staff members, as well as attest to the student's academic strength and character?  Remember, all colleges try to find a way to admit students, and they don't seek out the minutia.

As a counselor, these ideas are nothing new to me; I know colleges don't hyper-focus on a single variable (e.g. a student earning a C+ in a class rather than a B-) to weed students out.  And, they certainly won't try to predict "what if."  Everyone will recognize that the Class of 2021 will look very different from previous years:  yes, their GPAs might be lower.  Their resumes may be a bit shorter.  They may not have any SATs or ACTs to report out.  But that's okay:  essentially, colleges (and students) will have to toss out any expectations that they might have for this fall, and frankly, perhaps the next fall.  Remember that colleges are businesses, and they are concerns about filling their beds for the upcoming freshman class of 2020.  College and university presidents are deeply worried that the coronavirus crisis could wreak havoc on their institutions' finances in the short-term and beyond.  As such, it's possible that it may become even easier to earn acceptance at certain schools if they experience low enrollment in 2020; this upheaval and uncertainly may be a blessing in disguise for any 11th-grade student worried about their prospects in 2021.  So take it from me:  take a deep breath.  Relax.  Stay safe.  And wash your hands...

COVID-19 and Test-Optional Admissions

In the light of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Case Western Reserve University and three other colleges went test-optional last week, citing the cancellation of SAT and ACT exams in March, April, and May.   Case Western's vice president for enrollment management said, “We would rather students focus as best they can on their academic subjects rather than worrying about the SAT or ACT. Testing has always been just one factor in our evaluation of applications, and we are confident that we will continue to make quality admission decisions for those students who are either unable to test or who choose not to submit test scores.” Another representative from the school also commented, "These scores have always made up just a portion of our evaluation of prospective students, and we don't want our future applicants to feel hamstrung by circumstances far outside their control." As a school counselor, I'm sure that my colleges will follow suit within a few weeks or months, and I'm sure that the College Board and the ACT are freaking out.

Why do you ask? I've been a counselor for close to fifteen years, and every year, colleges decide to remove entrance exams. Generally speaking, those schools on this list tend to be smaller, private colleges, which often have significantly fewer applicants than larger institutions. As a result, such schools can afford to spend more time considering everything an applicant has to offer, rather than concentrating only on grades and test scores. Some of these test-optional colleges include highly selective institutions such as the University of Chicago (IL), Bowdoin (ME), College of the Holy Cross (MA), Providence (RI), Franklin & Marshall (PA), Hamilton (NY), Smith (MA), Pitzer (CA), Middlebury (VT), Muhlenberg (PA), and Union (NY). For a complete list, visit the website www.fairtest.org.

Sound too good to be true? You are correct to ask yourself what the motivation could be behind a practice that creates more work for schools by making the process less objective. For those skeptics out there, rest assured, these colleges truly are test-optional, and it will not be held against your son or daughter in admissions if s/he chooses not to submit scores. As it turns out, colleges actually reap many benefits, prestige-wise, by not requiring the submission of scores in the application process. According to Lynn Shaughnessy’s (2009) article in the New York Times, it has long been documented that standardized tests favor families from higher socioeconomic brackets who can afford expensive test-preparation courses. Since colleges are engaged in an intense competition to recruit more applications each year, test-optional policies are alluring because they attract significantly more students, particularly ethnically diverse ones. Additionally, the onslaught of applications received after a school removes a testing requirement often makes the school in question appear to be more selective. This phenomenon occurs because colleges maintain the same number of freshman seats each year, but now students who may not have considered the school a possibility due to lower scores become much more likely to throw their hats into the ring. Colleges making the switch from test-mandatory to test-optional typically see an immediate ten to twenty percent increase in the number of applications they receive, whereas it would normally cost tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional recruitment expenses to achieve the same results. Because “selectivity” is one of many measures used by periodicals such as U.S. News and World Report to create their lists of college rankings, test-optional schools ultimately see their “prestige” rise due to the simple laws of supply and demand.

Another direct effect of not requiring students to submit their test scores is that the average SAT score of accepted applicants is artificially inflated. Because students with low scores are less likely to share their results with admissions officers, their numbers cannot be included in a college’s published averages each year. According to Shaugnessy’s (2009) article, applicants who do not divulge their SAT results generally score 100 to 150 points lower than a typical submitter. Consider Mount Holyoke as an example of this phenomenon: in 2001, when their admissions office required SAT scores as part of a student’s profile, the middle 50 percent of accepted applicants reported scores of 1170-1360 out of 1600. Years later, with only 70% of applicants submitting scores, the range jumped 60 points on both ends, and is now at 1270-1490.

After reading this information, the reader might ask, "Why report scores at all at a test-optional college?" Although there is no current data to suggest how widespread the practice is, it is suspected that a significant number of colleges use test scores as a determining factor in awarding merit scholarships. Sound contradictory? You are right to have raised an eyebrow at this practice; Debra Shaver, director of admissions at Smith, an institution that does not use test scores to award merit scholarships, was quoted as saying, “You can’t say, ‘Tests are not a good tool in the process,” and then say, ‘If you don’t submit your scores you can’t qualify for merit aid’...it doesn’t make sense.” 

Whether hypocritical or not, the fact remains that going test-optional has been a hot trend for colleges each year, and with the windfall of COVID-19 this spring, I am guessing that removing a testing barrier will make practical sense for all students applying in the Fall of 2020. And, even though colleges are purporting that this policy is only for the application season of 2020-21, I do wonder if the benefits associated with this decision will entice them to make it their standard approach. Regardless of what occurs in the future, it is important for students and parents to make informed decisions when deciding whether to submit scores at these schools. As with every facet of the application process, thorough research is your best protection against missing out on an opportunity to gain admission or a possible scholarship at a college or university. Juniors should email admissions officers for their individual advice regarding what criteria should be used when deciding whether or not to report scores to their specific institution, and parents should be listening to responses with an open yet critical ear. As always, if questions persist, do not hesitate to ask a high school counselor for input. 

All statistics and quotations courtesy of Lynn O’Shaughnessy’s article, “The Other Side of Test-Optional,” appearing in the July 26th 2009 edition of The New York Times. 

Too Many Choices?

In the throe of the scheduling madness, I always ask myself, "Why do we need so many options?" I hesitate to write, "Back in my day...," causing the reader to perceive I am out of touch, but nonetheless, I continue to see the stress level in my students increase more and more every year.  It starts in mid-August when students receive their schedules for the upcoming year and are disappointed they didn't get their top elective or a preferred teacher.  Begging commences, and sometimes tears are shed, but eventually, the student moves on and copes, yet still disappointed that s/he didn't receive the ideal schedule.  Then, once scheduling is officially finalized (at least for this fall; it will rear its ugly head in January) the senior college application frenzy initiates, with a litany of questions from parents and students:

“If I’m applying to a college that is test-optional, should I submit my scores? Do you think I’d be better off going to a small liberal arts school or to a university that has lots of options? Is it more practical to major in biology rather than enter into a pre-med program? If a school has a rolling deadline, when should I apply?  Will I be penalized for not writing the “optional” essay on this supplement? Do you think I should apply single-choice early action to Yale or early decision to BC?”

I often find myself exhausted by the number of decisions my students have to make regarding college choice. It all starts during junior year, in which students are forced to tackle the gargantuan task of whittling down their list from an initial pool of 3000 to about 6 or 10.  It finally ends with the senior application process, in which even the savviest 12th grader can get swept away in the minutia of how to present the best application package to colleges.

In the counseling department, we do our best to guide students towards making informed choices, but sometimes I sense that certain seniors are left disappointed, fearing that by making a final decision, they may have lost out on an opportunity at a different college. The more I started thinking about the abundance of alternatives that are available in our lives (not only in the world of college admissions but also outside our front doors) the more I began to realize how crippling making these decisions can be.

My curiosity drove me to research the notion of choice and I was surprised to find that there have been a variety of studies done on this concept. Barry Schwartz, a psychology professor at Swarthmore College, notes that people living in a westernized society often make the assumption that the more options people have, the more freedom they enjoy. He notes that due to America’s capitalistic mentality, it is now possible to purchase more than 175 different types of salad dressing in a typical grocery store. At his local electronics store, he calculates that a shopper could end up buying one of 6.5 million different configurations of stereo systems.

However, as it turns out, being presented with too many options is stressful to our brains; it gives us too many ideas to compare and contrast. As a result, Schwartz postulates that an excess of choice imposes two negative effects: one, it produces paralysis rather than liberation. With so many options, it can be difficult to choose at all.  Looking back on my own application process, I now realize that my desire to avoid choices may have led me to choose the college that I did.  I didn’t want to research too many schools for fear of being confused by all of the options...and, I'm not going to lie, touring schools took me away from my friends.  As such, I visited one school in Boston, felt like I would fit in there, so I decided to attend.  My search was done.

Additionally, the second consequence of copious choices is that ultimately, we end up less satisfied with the selection we eventually make. Schwartz’s theory is that if we invest significant time and energy choosing an option, we expect it to be ideal. If it is not, we often have a nagging sensation that we could have done better. Since fortunately, most of our decisions are less weighty, one way in which Schwartz suggests we tackle the problem is to become more comfortable with the idea of “good enough.” Seeking perfection, especially in big decisions like colleges is a recipe for misery.

For students or parents who may have been horrified when I admitted to visiting only one school’s campus, I now realize that this fact was, in fact, a blessing in disguise. Another reason I didn’t do more research is that I never expected a school to be absolutely perfect. My expectation helped me to be more realistic about my freshman year; frankly, I wasn’t immediately happy during my first semester, but I recognized that my struggles would likely have remained the same, no matter where I went to school.

Remember that the typical senior does have difficulty transitioning to college, and those who struggle most are often those who idealized their experience before moving into campus. Recognize that nothing is perfect. Movies, television shows, and online media have all hyped up college to be “the best time of our lives,” but in reality, it is not always the case. Although I grew to love my school, it was a process that occurred over time, as I found my niche and grew more comfortable with my identity as a college student.  As an adult, I now realize that going to college is a grand adventure in its own right, as teenagers will experience tremendous growth during these four years.  And, sometimes, struggling can be part of the process that eventually sparks genius; many entrepreneurs say that feeling uncomfortable is the key to success, and if we frame our college experiences in this mindset, society as a whole can reduce the stress level in our teenagers.

January 24th: Coffee with Counselors and the College Process for Students with Disabilities

On January 24th, join the counselors for some morning refreshments and a discussion on the college application process for students with disabilities.  From 7:30am-9:00am, counselors will address the differences between services at the high school and college level, along with information on testing,  the types of accommodations available, and the importance of campus visits.  Ferne Bork of Landmark College will present from the college perspective. 

In case you can't attend the session, HHS counselors recognize that the transition from high school to college can be a confusing time for students with learning disabilities and their families; in addition to the challenges that all students face when transitioning to college, other obstacles confront students who need extra academic support. Complicating the process even further is the fact that there is not a standard model of how special education services must be conducted at the college level.  At a minimum, all colleges are required to offer disability services, and thus all schools are required to designate an institutional contact person who ensures that students with disabilities receive accommodations such as extended test time, a separate exam location, or access to assistive technology. However, this person is not required to have training in special education, and s/he may have additional responsibilities on campus. As such, institutions are not allowed to charge families fees for providing these basic accommodations.

Nonetheless, many institutions go beyond this minimum standard and offer a disability program, which has a full-time coordinator or director. Although the nature of these programs still varies from college to college, they may provide support in study skills, instruction in writing strategies or individual tutoring. In these cases, the college may require that families pay a fee for these more comprehensive programs since the institution will need money to fund additional staff members who run the extra support groups.  If you are a parent who is planning to visit a college in the near future, check out these questions you could ask of the disability service office.

It is also essential for families to know that any special education services, as well as modifications outlined in a student’s IEP, are terminated when the student graduates from high school. At the college level, institutions are not required to change admission standards, course content, or programs of study for a student because of his/her disability; for an applicant to be admitted, the college or university must consider him/her to be “otherwise qualified” despite the existence of a disability. Furthermore, the student is responsible for self-identifying to the college and providing adequate documentation of the disability. If the student chooses not to disclose this information, accommodations will not be made, and they also cannot be granted retroactively to a student who struggled because s/he had not identified him/herself as learning disabled.

If a particular college does not allow for formal self-disclosure on the application, applicants might consider including information about his/her disability in a supplemental statement. Describing how a learning disability affected a particular class, or what techniques the student learned to compensate for his/her weakness can be helpful information for a college to have. Bear in mind that this disclosure will not guarantee admission, but it may give committee members better insight into inconsistencies in his/her transcript, or inconsistencies between grades and standardized test scores. The statement should be carefully and thoughtfully prepared, and counselors are more than happy to help their students work on these disclosures.  As always, starting conversations with counselors early in the process is helpful, so please reach out if you're not able to attend our coffee but still need personal advice for you or your child.  

Resources:  Madaus, J.W. (2005). Navigating the college transition maze. Council for Exceptional Children, Jan/Feb, 32-37. 

November 1st: Coffee with Counselors and Holistic Review

This school year, our counselors are inviting parents for a meet-and-greet opportunity to enjoy coffee and conversations related to the college admissions landscape.  On Friday, November 1st, we will offer our first session (7:30-9:00 a.m.), discussing the holistic admissions process in the United States, which contrasts sharply from the colleges/universities abroad.  In particular, our dialogue will be most informative for first-generation college applicants, as well as families with an international background who may be unfamiliar with the process here.  

Generally speaking, the most selective universities and colleges in the United States consider more than grades and test scores when accepting applicants.  Instead, they use a holistic approach, which according to ThoughtCO,  can be defined as an emphasis on the whole person, not select pieces.  As such, elite colleges lean heavily on extracurricular activities, personal essays, letters of recommendation, demonstrated interest, and college interviews to weigh the merit(s) or detractor(s) of each student.  Colleges want to admit exciting students who will contribute to the campus culture in meaningful ways.  Thus, under a holistic admissions policy, a student with a 4.0 GPA might be denied while an award-winning athlete with a 3.4 GPA might get accepted. The student who wrote an outstanding essay might get preference over the student who had higher ACT/SAT scores but produced a mediocre essay. In general, holistic admissions take into account a student's interests, passions, special talents, and personality, and not simply quantifiable measures, such as GPA or SAT/ACT.

To get a bird's eye view of the admissions process, check out Today's Show, where their reporters were allowed to peer over the shoulders of Grinnell College's admissions staff in 2014, as they sorted and evaluated applicants across the nation.  Although the clip can be stressful to watch, it also liberates the viewer, knowing that the decision is completely out of one's control, and as such, students and families can relax and enjoy the process as much as possible.  We encourage you to watch the clip, take notes, and come prepared to ask questions on November 1st; we are fortunate to have highly seasoned counselors here at HHS, and we are prepared to take the edge off in the college process.

Summit Educational Group: The Importance of a Testing Plan

Calling all parents of juniors and sophomores!

About two weeks ago, Drew Heilpern of Summit Educational Group presented at our Junior Parent Night and offered an in-depth exploration of the landscape of college admissions testing.  In case you missed his engaging approach to the differences between the SAT and ACT, parents and students can now preview this information in the comfort of their home.  Join Summit in a webinar from 6:30-7:30pm tonight by clicking here to learn the importance of a testing plan.   

Although the counseling department and Drew both emphasize that students should wait to take these exams until the spring of the junior year/fall of the senior year, it is always beneficial to get as much information in advance.  On Saturday, October 19th, sophomores will be taking the pre-ACT, whereas juniors have signed up for the PSAT, and this webinar may give you an inclination about your child's strengths and weaknesses without even seeing their scores.  Sign up and you won't regret it!

Summer Tasks for Rising Seniors Applying to College

Rising seniors can undoubtedly make the college application process more smooth by taking some proactive steps in the summer.  Here are some helpful tips for students:

1.  Complete a solid draft of your college essay over the vacation.  Send it to your counselor, so when we are writing your letter of recommendation, we can highlight your strengths that emerge within your narrative.  We can also support your essay by elaborating on your story, or we could amend our letter if the two documents become redundant.  

2.  Visit colleges, even if you don't have time to make an official tour.  Narrow down your list and, ideally, by September, have at least three to four colleges in which you intend to apply.

3.  If needed, create a college email that is separate from your personal email.  It may be useful to allow your parents to have the username and password to this account; about 99% of colleges' communication is entirely electronic, and if you're not consistently checking your email, you may miss essential information.  Your parents can keep you on track by monitoring your college email to see if anything is missing in your application file.

3.  Do some research to see what application(s) is/are required by your schools. Individual southern schools (e.g., Elon, Clemson, U Maryland, U of South Carolina, UT at Austin, U of Florida, James Madison University, and a few others) do not accept the Common App and instead, have signed on to the Coalition.  If you are a person driven by detail, check out the pros and cons of both apps.  My personal advice:  If all of your schools accept both applications, use the Common App; it is more intuitive and user-friendly.  

    After committing to an application, you can start to fill out your personal data, educational background, awards, and activities.  Additionally, add each college onto your account; for the Common App, perform a "College Search" to add schools onto "My Colleges" (see upper right).  For students using the Coalition, click on "Colleges" (see lower right).  Once this step is completed, you can note whether you'll need to write additional supplemental writing pieces for specific schools.  I suggest you should attempt to group topics to minimize the writing you'll need to produce.

4.  If you have an extensive list of extracurriculars (e.g., more than ten significant activities) consider making a resume; here is a clear, concise example, as well as tips on how to format it.  If you don't have more than ten activities, then don't waste your time duplicating your efforts by making a resume.  Most applications (including the Common App and the Coalition) have an "activities" section in which candidates can list roughly ten activities and five awards.  

5.  If you plan to re-take the SAT or ACT in the fall, try to sign up for the earliest test dates available (SAT/August, ACT/September).  You will likely have to go to each website (www.collegeboard.org or actstudent.org) by July/August to register.  Remember, statistics show that most students' scores will peak in the fall of their senior year due to maturity and brain development.  It can't hurt to try these tests again unless you are completely satisfied with your results from your junior year.

The puzzle of the holistic admissions process!

6.  At the end of August, email your teachers who have committed to write your letter of recommendation, and politely remind them of your first application deadline.  Most early deadlines in the Northeast are on November 1st; however, some southern colleges have deadlines on October 15th.

Above all, enjoy your summer and relish the freedom before you head into your senior year.  Try to keep a balance between preparing for college and spending time with friends and family.  Your senior year will fly by, so it is essential to make some high school memories while you have time.