The Coronavirus has caused a great many temporary changes to college admission processes in general and to the specific admissions practices of colleges. This has engendered such confusion that it has become difficult to track all of the changes that may affect you at this critical juncture in your education.
The ACT’s, SAT’s, and SAT Subject Tests have been cancelled until June at the earliest. New York State Regents exams have been cancelled. It’s been announced by the College Board that AP courses and exams will be modified so that they can be conducted online. Tours of colleges have ceased just as we near the peak visiting months. These are just a few of the developments that may impact in a time that can be confusing under the best of circumstances.
There are ways to help you cope with the fluidity of events. Reliance on an Independent Educational Consultant (IEC) such as Klaar College Consulting is foremost among them. We’re professionals who track changes in the admissions field on an ongoing basis, and never more diligently than under these unprecedented conditions.
Klaar College Consulting is a member of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC), which recently announced the availability to the general public of two new online tools to facilitate your tracking of changes that may affect you. The first tool, the College Admission Status Update, includes changes to college deadlines, events, and policies caused by the pandemic. The second tool, the Secondary Schools College Admission Services Update, provides updated information about high schools to students whose schools are closed.
The NACAC College Admission Status Update
This is an online database updated by more than 900 colleges, with more contributing to it every day. The tool has six filters for use in searching for updated information about a specific college, as follows:
1. Name of Institution
2. Country (pull down list)
3. State/Territory (pull down list)
4. Open to Admissions Visitors (Yes/No)
5. Currently Hosting Admissions Events (Yes/No)
6. Changed Deposit Deadline (Yes/No)
Upon finding a specific college, a range of information is provided to you, if available. Using Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, as an example, the information provided is as follows:
1. Date of Last Update: March 16, 2020
2. Open to Admission Visitors: No
3. Allow Overnight Visits: No
4. Currently Hosting Admission Events: No
5. Date(s) of Events: n/a
6. Intended Audience: n/a
7. Adjusted Candidate Reply Date Deadline Beyond May 1: Yes
8. New Reply Deadline: June 1, 2020
9. Changed Deposit Deadline: Yes
10. New Deposit Deadline: June 1, 2020
11. Links to More Information:
– Admissions Microsite – beyondtheblue.org
– COVID-19 Admissions Page – beyondtheblue.org/covid19/
– Page with new deposit dates – beyondtheblue.org/apply-now
– COVID-19 Page – www.presby.edu/campus-life/counseling-health/campus-health-notice-novel-coronavirus
Link to NACAC college admission website page.
The NACAC Secondary Schools College Admission Services Update
Most high schools are closed and classes, if held at all, are now online only. It’s difficult for guidance counselors to meet student’s needs for transcripts, advice, letters of recommendation, and other admissions requirements. This is a crowd-sourced tool that enables high school guidance counselors and administrators to report to the general public the status of services at their schools and revised dates.
The tool has five filters for use in searching for updated information about a high school, as follows:
1. Institution Name
2. Country (pull down list)
3. State/Territory (pull down list)
4. School Building Closed (Yes/No)
5. Have Online Access to Students and Families (Yes/No)
Upon locating a specific high school, you’ll find the following information, if reported. Using Tempe Union High School in Tempe, Arizona, as an example, the information available includes the following:
1. Date of Last Update: March 30, 2020
2. School Type: Public
3. School Building Closed: Yes
4. Administration Announced Reopen Date: Yes
5. Reopen Date for Online Teaching: March 30, 2020
6. Reopen Date of Physical Campus: n/a
7. Reopen Date Comments: Buildings are closed for the spring semester
8. Administration or Staff Working Remotely? Yes
9. Have Online Access to Students and Families? Yes
10. Coronavirus-Related Link: www.tempeunion.org/health-safety
11. Plan for Issuing Final Course Grade: Grade as usual based on full semester (teaching online)
12. Can Provide Upon Request: College counseling services, updated transcripts, communication with admission offices on behalf of students, and other admission-related requirements.
13. Contact for Counseling Office: mkrebs@tempeunion.org; (480) 706-7900 ext. 70135.
The secondary school tool also collects information regarding the questions to which students have been seeking answers on college websites. The sample questions below are from Tempe Union High School students:
– Are you willing to change test requirements for juniors or seniors given that SAT/ACT test dates have been cancelled?
– Will you require final high school transcripts for accepted or waitlisted seniors?
– Has your college announced if early course registrations and summer programs will be offered?
– How do you plan to handle AP course completion and testing for admissions and placement purposes?
Link to NACAC secondary schools website page.
How the Pandemic Affects High School Seniors
For the most part, admission decision notifications have been sent out as scheduled. Many colleges have announced that they’re pushing back the Common Reply Date to give seniors more time to review their options and make their final decisions.
Physical meetings for admitted students have been cancelled. Plans for virtual events have been or soon will be announced by most colleges. For the duration of campus closures, colleges will use mail, email, social media, and updates to their websites to communicate with admitted applicants.
A Certified Educational Planner with 20-plus years of experience, Dr. Klaar is one of the nation’s top college consultants and has led hundreds of students to college success! For more information: Call 803-487-9777 or visit the www.cklaar.com.
