Even for families whose health and livelihood haven’t been harmed, it’s been a tough run for high school students — on top of distanced learning, curtailed socializing, and closed-down extracurriculars — to make their way to college.
The Class of 2020 went into quarantine just as the majority of colleges’ acceptances came out. They had to make decisions about where to spend the next four years as colleges scrambled to determine if and how they would accommodate students in the fall. (As we have all seen, it’s been a mess of mixed signals and reactive decision-making — which the results clearly reflect).
The Class of 2021, doing their college research and exploration almost entirely online, have similarly felt they were flying blindly into their applications. It remains to be seen whether they’ll set foot on the campus of their choice before showing up in the fall.
And now, Class of 2022, it’s your turn. The end of the pandemic is glimmering on the horizon, but it’s not clear how or when we’ll get there. How do you proceed?
Here are ten tips I’m encouraging students to keep in mind as their college preparation ramps up.
Stay active, adaptive, and aware.
However you can continue to explore your interests, pursue your passions, or keep up the activities that make your time in and outside of school meaningful, keep it up. One question at the forefront of the minds of admissions readers: “What did you do with your time in lockdown?” While they know options are limited, they have also seen some tremendous resourcefulness on the part of students who have pivoted from hitting the wrestling mat together to team workouts via Zoom; from summer camps to online internships; or from taking an art class to teaching art to the neighbor’s kids. You must keep on doing whatever it is that you find compelling, even if it must take a different form. The awareness, then, is necessary for tracking why you made your choices, and how the experience changed the way you’re looking ahead — it’s the perfect material for college essays.
Cast a wide net in researching and building your college list.
Until you get the chance to really engage with the community at a college and/or visit the campus, my advice this early in the process is don’t say no…yet. You never know what insights exploring a college you never thought you’d seriously consider might yield, and in a year when adaptability is especially important, you’re going to want to keep a wide range of options available. In fact, that principle can extend beyond colleges as well, to options like taking a gap year or getting an apprenticeship right out of high school. There are a lot of changes taking place — you can only find out what option might best suit your needs and the circumstances once the moment comes to choose it.
Track your top colleges’ testing policies.
One of the most prominent shifts in the college admissions world recently has been colleges’ standardized testing requirements. Some have gone test-optional (they’ll consider SAT/ACT score if you submit them, but don’t require them), some have gone test-blind (they’ll disregard scores as part of their evaluation process even if you have them); some have made their change on a temporary basis, others have permanently done away with their testing requirement, and others are in transition, not having made a final decision. The key resources for any student are the FairTest list, as well as colleges’ websites themselves.
Form a test-prep plan.
This is a tricky one, given how many last-minute closures of testing sites we’ve seen in the past months. For students who feel they would benefit from getting test scores, normally, I encourage students try both the SAT and ACT in a mock-test format (most just choose to take a test at home), compare experiences/scores, and then choose the test they’ll commit to. Then I encourage students to take the exam for the first time sometime between February and April of second semester — which is soon — after a few weeks of practice. Most of my students then plan on taking the exam at least twice but not more than three times, over the summer and fall.
Given the state of the pandemic as I write this, especially here in Southern California, I’m encouraging students to approach testing more loosely at the beginning: get familiar with the exam, do some light practice, so that you’re ready to give it a shot if a date becomes available in your area in the next couple of months. Since vaccine distribution is more likely to diminish the health risks as more time passes, plan some time to prepare with practice tests over the summer, and mark out the anticipated dates of the exams through the summer and into the fall.
Go on virtual tours, read student reviews, and join information sessions.
For now, virtual tours are about the only way to start to get a feel for the campuses you’re becoming acquainted with. Before you tour, read the Fiske Guide profile and/or skim some student reviews on websites like Unigo to get a sense of which parts of campus current students connect with. If your high school is hosting virtual information sessions, make sure to sign up as part of demonstrating your interest. Ask questions! Take notes!
Take self-guided tours on local campuses, when available.
If you can take a day here and there over weekends to visit campuses within driving range, there really is no better means of getting an actual feel for campus size, type, locale, and maybe some inkling of the vibe there. Being there in person sparks the imagination in a way that nothing else can — even without the people.
Reach out to college admissions counselors.
It’s more important than ever, once you get your research rolling, to engage. Colleges need to know who you are, to establish a relationship with you — to whatever extent that is available — before your application passes across the admissions desk. As the prominence of test scores declines, admissions committees need other ways of gaining perspective on what you’re bringing to the table. Help them out! Send a thank-you email with questions after an information session, clarify what you read about in the Fiske Guide or saw on your virtual tour, or ask to connect with a faculty member from a department of interests. There are many avenues to start a conversation.
Connect with current students.
Use your network and reconnect with friends, family, or graduates from your high school to get an insider’s perspective on a particular school. Without the opportunity to experience a school’s culture and vibe for yourself, this is probably the next best thing. If you can, try to find a current sophomore or upperclassman to connect with so that you can get a before/after pandemic picture of what campus life is like. Again, take notes and pay attention to the details. (Also, many colleges specifically welcome applicants’ sharing of the names of current students or alumni they’ve connected with.)
Start thinking about summer now.
Yes, it’s up in the air whether in-person programs will be able to proceed, but start asking the key questions: What is it that you want to explore? What do you want to experience? To learn about? Or, on a very pragmatic level, what do you need to get done before senior year? Save some money? Get a required course out of the way? Gain professional experience?
In other words, start with the essence of the summer you’d like to have. What experience would ideally help you access what you desire? Of course, that might not be feasible because of social distancing, so…
Take a Plan A / Plan B approach…to everything.
…And we’re back to where we started. What are other ways to address your needs and your interests? Can you do it from your couch? Stay active, and be flexible in your planning. Embrace your resourcefulness and problem-solving faculties. Brainstorm with your parents, ask your high-achieving peers what they’re planning, reach out to family friends who may know of (or can think up) opportunities for you. There is an opportunity here to make the best of the circumstances, and rising to the challenge will provide you with an excellent personal story to share when it comes time to apply to college.