COVID-19 Updates: What High School Juniors Should Know

If your college visit plans were stymied. Spring and Summer before senior year are typical periods when high school juniors will visit colleges and develop their college lists. Although colleges have closed their campuses, you still have many ways to familiarize yourself with the colleges on your list.

Ivy Link highly recommends that our students research information about colleges on the college’s websites, which often reveal more useful information than in-person visits. When you visit a college’s website, sign up to be on the college’s mailing list. This will show the college that you are interested in them, and the college will keep track of this demonstrated interest. Take virtual campus tours, as well as attend live webcast information sessions and classes. If you are a student who falls into special categories at the college, make sure you are on the appropriate mailing lists and establish communication with the relevant campus groups.

If you’re planning to take the SAT or Subject Tests. As Ivy Link previously announced, March, May, and June SAT and Subject Tests have all been canceled. The next testing dates are in August, and registration will open in May. You should schedule your SAT and Subject Tests in August and September. If you are registered to take the SAT or Subject Tests in August and want to take a break from preparation, we recommend that you resume preparation in June. Test preparation is akin to training for a marathon or a piano recital. If you take too much time off, you will lose the skills and progress that you made while training. To preserve progress and maintain momentum, our students often continue to prepare and ramp up the pace of preparation as they head into the actual exam.

Ivy Link has a lot of information about these changes (see above). Note that many colleges have announced test optional policies for the rising high school seniors. Please contact us for any questions about the SAT and Subject Tests that are specific to your situation.

If you’re planning to take the ACT. The April 2020 administration of the ACT was canceled. It is conceivable that the June administration of the ACT might get canceled, as well. For now, ACT has not made any announcements regarding changes to the June testing. Ivy Link recommends our students who are registered to take the June ACT to continue to prepare. 

Ivy Link has a lot of information about these changes (see above). Note that many colleges have announced test optional policies for the rising high school seniors. Please contact us for any questions about the ACT that are specific to your situation.

If you’re planning to take the AP Exams. One reason to take the AP Exams this year is that they will be much easier than prior years for a number of reasons relating to COVID-19. In this post, we explained why.  

Another reason to take the AP Exams is that a strong score on any of them will impress the top colleges. Even though AP Exams are not required for admissions by any college, in this post, we explained how they could be a booster for your college admission chances. In addition, you could get college credits in a number of subjects before even matriculating. Imagine skipping required courses in college and taking the ones that really interest you. Or imagine having to take fewer courses in college to graduate, or graduating a semester early. If you would like to work by video with one of our expert tutors to prepare for the AP Exams, please contact us.    

If your summer programs have been canceled. In the wake of COVID-19, many summer programs are switching to online classes, or being cancelled all together. Be sure to check with your summer programs to see if they have moved online.

If you find yourself with an open summer due to cancellations, we can help you figure out a strategy to enhance your extracurricular profile. The summer before senior year is very important for college admissions purposes. We can help you find online courses, contests, and scholarships that are still accepting applications and that would be excellent additions to your extracurricular profile. Don’t let the summer slip away because of program cancellations and COVID-19!