How will COVID-19 affect college applications?

College admissions departments are going to looking at applicants differently this Fall. Here are some examples from New York University’s department of admissions:

• Pass/Fail will not impact decisions
• Senior year grades will be scrutinized more closely than before
• They don’t want to read about the pandemic in your college essays. Click here for more details: 
• Academic advising for new students will be available via webinar
• No changes in their testing policy right now
• Recommendations of AP teachers will be more closely considered than the AP scores themselves
• They are painfully aware of how much extra curricula activities have been impacted and will be looking for how you spent your new ‘free’ time this spring and summer

College visits have always been an important part of the college search process, and now you have no excuses whatsoever, not to do them, albeit virtually.  More and more colleges are offering virtual tours, so take advantage of the time you have to really dig deeply into what they have to offer.  Make notes because after a while they’ll all start to blend together.  You can always visit the campuses in the Fall, Winter or even Spring of next year. But for now, get clicking and start digging.