COVID-19 Updates: What High School Seniors Should Know
If you are evaluating colleges that admitted you. Typically, April is a time when colleges hold admitted student weeks/weekends, during which you would visit campus and meet other admitted students. Given COVID-19, colleges will hold virtual events, as well as use emails, social media, and their own websites, to connect with you. Stay on top of these communication channels.
If you are deciding which college to matriculate among multiple acceptances before putting down a deposit at one, this is the time to assess your options. To give high school seniors more time to decide, many colleges have announced that they will delay the May 1 Common Reply Date. Check with each college to which you have been accepted to see their latest policy on the Reply Date. In addition to accessing the information that the colleges are making available to you, discuss the colleges that interest you with alumni and current students of such colleges, your family, your teachers, and your advisors.
If you are on a college waitlist. Send in your response to the colleges that waitlisted you well before the end of April. Ivy Link provided plenty of advice regarding waitlists for students. One tip we always give is that no ordinary letter will do! There are certain approaches to your letter that will increase significantly your chances of getting admitted from the waitlist. If you have not done so, prepare a compelling letter and send it in ASAP to your top choice colleges that waitlisted you. Moreover, this is an unusual year in many respects, especially because of COVID-19, and Ivy Link believes that many waitlists will see higher odds of acceptance.
If you are taking the AP Exams. Why would seniors even consider taking the AP Exams? Seems crazy, right? In this post, we explained how 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!
Another reason to take the AP Exams this year is that they’re much easier than prior years for a number of reasons. In this post, we explained why. If you would like to work by video with one of our expert tutors to prepare for the AP Exams, please contact us.
If you’re considering deferring Fall 2020 matriculation. You might not like any of the colleges that accepted you and might be considering taking a gap year and reapplying to your top colleges. If so, you need a plan. Taking a year off in and of itself will not increase your chances of admissions next year. We tell our students who take a gap year to have a compelling plan that will enhance their profile.
Alternatively, you might want to take a gap year because you are concerned about COVID-19 and attending classes in person. Some colleges are beginning to discuss holding classes online until there is more clarity with respect to COVID-19. To date, however, no college has announced online classes for Fall 2020, and all have adopted a wait-and-see approach.
Regardless of your motivation for taking a gap year, be advised that most students who opt for a gap year should still put down a deposit at the top choice college that admitted them in order to secure a spot at that college. You also will have to make a formal request from that college for a deferral. In order to obtain a deferral, you will have to provide good reasons, including a proposal of how you will spend a gap year, or risk losing your spot at the college. Are concerns relating to COVID-19 a good reason to defer matriculation? Perhaps so, but we believe that at this point, many colleges might require more. For more information about gap year strategies, please contact us.
