Thinking about 9/11 today along with everyone else, I’m sure. The events of September 11 have been on my mind a lot these past six months, as I mentioned last spring, because I felt like it really defined my high school years. I have thought a lot about the parallels between what that represented for my high school class and what COVID will ultimately represent for the Class of 2021.

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

TEST-OPTIONAL, BUT ESSAY REQUIRED!

If you read any section of the blog today, I hope it is this one! Some schools have added additional requirements to their applications for students who apply test-optional - and these requirements are going under the radar, because they are often NOT included or mentioned on the application itself. Students will only be instructed to submit additional information upon gaining access to their post-application-submission status portals.

The University of South Carolina has added a requirement for “one required supplemental material” from their applicants. Students who do not send in test scores will need to submit graded writing assignments. And this might be a difficult one for students to catch, because they will be asked to complete Supplemental Materials Forms AFTER submitting their applications, but the forms are still due by the original application deadline! 

Applicants to the University of Delaware under their Test-Optional Admissions Program will not only need to complete additional supplemental essays, but also submit “any additional evidence of academic skills.” If you are a current client, we can help you select the most relevant material to submit for this (vague!) stipulation. 

We will absolutely alert every one of our current clients if we learn about a change that impacts one of their applications, but it is always best for students to take a proactive approach as well. Read and re-read the school’s test-optional policy and to get your application in early, so you have time to monitor your status portal and send in any additional required materials after submitting. Anything else needed should be reflected on your status portal! 

And I have to say - I’m not thrilled about what schools are doing here. Has this year not been hard enough for students? Is it really a great idea to simultaneously add more requirements while failing to publicize them? Incredible.

FLORIDA STATE SYSTEM STILL REQUIRES TESTING

State universities in Florida are still refusing to drop the requirement for ACT or SAT scores as part of their application. This makes Florida the only public university system other than Wyoming with a test score requirement. Applicants, admissions officers, and college counselors are continuing to pressure the state to waive it. If they do hold on to the requirement, there will be many applicants who can’t qualify for admission because they are unable to test.

Fun Fact: The state of Florida has an incredibly generous merit scholarship program for in-state residents. Students with weighted GPAs of 3.5+ and scores of 29/1330 have their tuition 100% covered at public universities (University of Florida, Florida State, etc). Crazy, right? So, the state’s failure to drop the testing requirement is going to have an enormous impact on families that expected their children to go to college tuition-free!

A GREAT (FREE!) RESOURCE FROM DAVIDSON

Davidson College is offering a free admission intensive that runs until early November (though you can also register for individual sessions). These look like great sessions whether you are applying to Davidson or not. And if you are, this is also a great way of demonstrating interest in Davidson! As we know from the WSJ article in last week’s blog, that’s an essential part of the process!

COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS (SORT OF) BACK

Despite threats from the coronavirus, college football is still happening at some Division I schools, prompting apprehension from health experts. But for those schools that have chosen not to play this year, there are also concerns: the suspension of the season has been devastating for towns where college football is an essential part of the community.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

There is so much in the news recently about whether or not a traditional four-year college experience is “worth it.” As I’ve mentioned before, I am still all for this route. So I was excited to read this opinion piece from the New York Times that does a great job of articulating why the traditional college experience still can’t be beat by online courses or certificate programs. Like Mr. Iyer, I am constantly amazed by the experience, maturity, and open-mindedness of our students, and I can’t wait to see them go on to be brilliant college students. Being part of a campus community is essential to showing our kids different perspectives and allowing them to think critically and form their own ideas. The college experience is honestly about so much more than just finding a job after graduation! 

CNN has compiled a really interesting list of health experts’ opinions on whether or not it is safe for college students to return to campus. There is a lot of information here, but it is definitely worth taking a look at opinions from the president of the American Medical Association, as well as college stakeholders like the co-chairs of the American College Health Association’s COVID-19 task force. They cover everything from talking to your student about health and safety on campus to what they think college will look like in a post-COVID world.  

This is not exactly an article, but Georgia Tech has put out a very helpful podcast called College Admissions Brief that covers various parts of the college admissions process. The episodes are less than ten minutes long and give actionable advice for students and parents. I’ve been getting so many questions this cycle about testing - their latest episode on standardized tests and test-optional admissions is definitely worth a listen!   

In my post last week about Dr. Fauci’s advice that students who test positive for the coronavirus stay on campus, I commented that most parents I knew would want to have their sick students home. I’m even more convinced of that after reading this article! Schools have been so focused on keeping sick students from infecting others that they have not thought about the care and support that these students will need when they are ill, isolated, and far from home. We are all rooting for colleges to be able to keep students safe, so it is heartbreaking to read about issues like these. 

We’ve talked a lot about the coronavirus response on campus, but a lot of students are still learning from home - including most of our Class of 2021 students! The Washington Post has provided a list of helpful tips for Zoom classes. The tips are geared toward college students, but many of them will also be useful for high schoolers completing their first semester on Zoom. 

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

HUGE congratulations to all of our National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalists and Commended Students this year! I don’t think we’ve ever had so many of our students on the list before - and this is just the FCPS list! We are so proud of all of you!

Our office calendar is packed with counselor-only webinars and virtual tours of various schools these next few weeks - Shannon is taking most of them on and she is excited to share her tips and impressions with all of you. Keep an eye out for a future post here with a list of virtual info sessions for students to attend as well! 

Her favorite virtual tour of the past week was provided by the United States Air Force Academy - which is timely because we have both been working like crazy all week on service academy nomination applications! Oh my gosh - these are an incredible amount of work. The process is so different from the traditional college application process, but for the right student, a service academy might be a great fit!

If you are applying this year, make sure that you are working to send nomination applications to both of your state’s senators and your representative, as well as the vice president - applying through every possible avenue is the best way to maximize your chances of being nominated. In Virginia, this is especially important, since we have so many students interested in service academies in our state. Mark Warner’s deadline is coming up in about a week and a half!

No matter where you are applying this year, we are in the home stretch of this process! If you are feeling overwhelmed by all of the upcoming deadlines, it’s not too late to set up a Meet & Greet - students who start this week should still be able to have their applications submitted by November 1. 

Good luck to everyone starting school, whether in-person or virtual, this week!