Now that the college admissions cycle for the Class of 2021 has largely wrapped up, in this excellent article, Jed Applerouth takes a moment to review how colleges, and students, adapted to the challenges presented by this past year and how the effects of the pandemic will continue to have an impact on the college admissions process.
Some of these changes have been wonderful — colleges became more flexible in their application requirements and many joined the growing list of test-optional schools for at least a year while others made the switch permanent. Some schools chose not to measure demonstrated interest by the number of times a student connects with the college either in person (campus tours, connecting at a college fair) or virtually (exploring the school’s website, opening targeted emails) finding that information to be less predictive of a student’s chance of attending than in years past. Any some colleges dropped their supplemental essay requirements and even their application fees to encourage more students to submit applications.
And students responded by applying to more colleges than they do in a typical year to increase their chances of acceptance. They were more strategic about where they sent their SAT or ACT scores and even if they would take the tests at all. And they figured out how to take advantage of other resources to learn about a college by going beyond watching pre-recorded campus tours to reaching out to current students, speaking with regional representatives for the colleges, and even connecting with professors teaching in their desired majors to learn more about the program.
While it’s uncertain which of these changes will be lasting, it does seem that many colleges will continue to be test-optional at least for the next few years, although that decision falls a bit along regional lines. For example, while the public colleges in Florida will continue to require students to submit test scores, all of the public colleges on the West Coast are test-optional, including the University of California system. Colleges have emphasized their holistic approach to admissions and students have responded by sharing through their applications and interviews the skills, interests, and qualities that define them beyond their GPA and test scores. And while this has been a challenging period for all, many students have learned to be resilient, adaptable, resourceful, and kind and those are qualities that will serve them well beyond their four years of high school.
As we begin the college admissions cycle for the Class of 2022, I hope we will all learn from the lessons of this past year and continue to find ways to make the college process more holistic, humane, and hopeful.