Coronavirus Admissions Update 4/15

Undergraduate Admissions

The big shakeup was the cancellation of the June SAT and the announcement by both the ACT and SAT that they will be offering more tests, with greater capacity, and–all else fails–online testing in the fall. I expect that the ACT will also cancel its June exam.

Before the announcement, I thought a June cancellation may lead to a large shift in colleges going test-optional. I am no longer convinced. The announcement of the additional test dates, capacity, and alternate format will help insulate the SAT and ACT in the fall. Ultimately, the ACT and SAT no longer compete against each other: they compete against the test-optional movement. Remember, many colleges don’t want to go test-optional. They will, however, do so if they need to.

Why would they need to? Applications and enrollments. If many colleges have a rough time with under-enrollment in the fall (and they will) and the quarantine is still in effect, you’ll see a sharp uptick. And, if the in-home SAT and ACT are delayed or otherwise infeasible, you’ll have a sea change. 

But, it’s too early to count on that yet. Don’t. Colleges who want to use the tests will do so in some form. At the same time, the College Board and the ACT are fighting tooth-and-nail to keep colleges from going test-optional. 

In other news, a significant poll of admissions officers indicated that colleges are going to be flexible with how they view transcripts because of the quarantine. They don’t have a choice: there is too much variance between districts and states to do much else. My thinking is that they’ll discount the importance and validity of the semester. That said, I think good grades will always help and bad grades will never help. We wrote about this at length, check it out!

Graduate Admissions

There’s very little to report. It’s beginning to look questionable whether foreign students will be able to matriculate to campus in the fall. Like their undergraduate counterparts, graduate school program coordinators and deans are preparing for an online-only semester. As such, under-enrollment by foreign students may or may not open up slots for domestic students to enter next year, but it will be very program-specific. 

Last week, I wrote about how it’s a great time to start your common app essay. Many of my students are well into a first, or even second, draft. I strongly encourage all of you to follow through and do that. Particularly those of you who are SAT people; get whatever you can off your plate. This summer and next fall are likely to be very busy.