The "Ideal" College Applicant During COVID-19

Recently, NPR published an article entitled “What More Than 300 College Admissions Deans Are Looking For During The Pandemic” which outline the ways colleges hope to see their incoming applicants are making the most out of their experiences in the last seven or so months of the COVID crisis.

It’s commonly known that students’ academic performance the last two years of high school is a major component of their college applications, making the particular pitfalls of this year’s applicants unprecedented. 

The article notes that colleges are not looking for who has been able to make the most impact on their communities during this time of duress, but rather, what have been the challenges both in their personal lives and the lives of those around them, and how are students responding and adapting?

Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education released the following statement reflecting this precise attitude, explaining:

No student will be disadvantaged because of a change in commitments or a change in plans because of this outbreak, their school's decisions about transcripts, the absence of AP or IB tests, their lack of access to standardized tests (although many of the colleges represented here don't require these tests), or their inability to visit campus. 

So what do colleges expect from their applicants this year?

• Realistic adaptability

• Self-motivation and self-discipline

• Resiliency

It’s important to reiterate (see our previous posts on modified admissions policies) that the most competitive colleges will still favor students with stellar academics and test scores. This means that if you can find a way to take the various standardized tests (particularly the ACT or SAT), you absolutely should.

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