Now that both high schools and colleges are making decisions to stay closed for the rest of the school year, they’ve been able to focus on some of their admission policies and how they’re going to affect both juniors and seniors. Many are starting to make allowances, proclaim flexibility, change their test requirements and encourage families to reach out to their financial aid offices when financial circumstances have changed. Stay with me…more shifts to come, but here’s where we are at the end of this first week of April.

ACT/ SAT Testing (Juniors)

• Both ACT and SAT are working to increase the capacity of summer and fall test sites to accommodate more students. They might also offer another administration date, but that is a more complex undertaking, than just increasing site availability.

• If you must choose, students should prioritize the SAT over the Subject Tests if you were planning to take them, and your earlier test date was cancelled.

• University of California and California State Universities have suspended the required standardized test submission for students applying for Fall 2021. Translation: SAT and/ or ACT are no longer required. Students confident in their scores should submit, but those who do not, will not be penalized. UC President, Janet Napolitano, said campuses would adjust their admissions review processes “to ensure that no student is harmed in admissions selection should they not submit a test score.” They are still encouraging students to submit.

• This is a link to 400+ Top Tier Schools with Test Optional policies for Fall 2021 applicants. Some may do this for only one year. It’s updated regularly:  http://www.fairtest.org/sites/default/files/Optional-Schools-in-U.S.News-Top-Tiers.pdf.  

 AP’s

In my last post, I listed the changes for AP testing (at home, 45 minutes, free-response). We now know more information about the test format and information about credit and cheating.  

• Each exam will be given twice: once in May (5/11–5/22) and then again in June (6/1–6/5). For the exact dates/times of each test, see the full AP schedule here.

• Each exam will be given at the same time worldwide. This means that depending on a student's time zone the test may be at an odd time (early morning, late evening, or middle of the night).

• Students will pick ONE date to take their test. The decision will be entirely up to the student.

• The tests will be open-book. Students can refer to their notes but CANNOT collaborate with other people.

• To prevent cheating, the humanities-based tests will be comprised of reading and analyzing primary sources and the math and sciences will be more complex questions where you will be asked to show your work. The College Board is adding a range of digital security platforms like plagiarism detectors.

• University of California, has announced they will accept all AP scores for credit as usual. Students will need to send them officially through Collegeboard.org by July 15th to their school of choice.

• Other schools are taking a wait-and-see approach for credit. Colleges are working with faculty and creating solutions such as offering a bridge course to fill in the curriculum gap, or backing up their starting course curriculum to accommodate what students may have missed during the closures. Also, Academic Advisors will be asking more questions during orientation, “You received a 4 on your AP Calc BC test, but are you ready for Calc 3?”

High School Grades (Juniors and Seniors)

• University of California and California State U’s have announced they will suspend the letter grade requirement for the 15 prescribed college prep classes (A-G’s) completed in winter/spring/summer 2020 for all students, including UC’s most recently admitted freshmen. That means P/F or Credit/ No Credit grades will be accepted. They will NOT be included in their GPA calculation.

• University of California and California State U’s have also announced they will not rescind a student’s offer of admission this fall that is a result from a student or school missing official final transcript deadlines (high schools are supposed to send transcripts to the college of choice by July 1st). 

• Other colleges will have varied policies, but I am hearing over and over that they are going to be “extremely flexible” when it comes to making sure students are enrolled this fall.

Letters of Recommendations (Juniors)

For those schools who accept them, a letter of recommendation can help a student in a variety of ways. This semester particularly, if your school moves to a P/F grade system, and this was the semester you totally rocked it, a teacher can speak to that upswing in performance and to your motivation and interest.

I highly recommend asking two teachers for a letter, sometime between now and the end of May. In your request, you should refer to your specific situation, to prompt that response in your letter.

 May 1st vs. June 1st Decision Date (SIR)

Some schools are announcing a month delay in their decision date. However, many schools (especially those in a public system) may not be able to change their decision date because they are held to state-wide laws. However, you can still call/ email your admission representative to ask for an extension based on your circumstances, and they will likely grant it. 

 A Change in Financial Circumstances

Financial aid is based on the “prior-prior” year. For instance, students in the Class of 2020 submitted their 2018 tax info for FAFSA. If your financial situation has changed drastically since 2018 (or 2019 for the class of 2021) - you may be eligible for additional aid. Wait until you receive your financial package from the university and then send back data supporting your need for an adjustment of the amount of aid given.

 In Closing

Let me leave you with a little snippet from one of the best webinars I’ve seen this week (and, I’ve seen a lot). From Rick Clark, Director of Undergraduate Admission at Georgia Tech:

“There’s going to be a huge asterisk around the whole semester - high schools are all handling things differently, and no matter the decision, colleges will look at the rest of the college transcript. However, if school decide to go Credit/No Credit or Pass/Fail - it isn’t time for kids to slack off, because they still will need teacher recommendations. They will be looking at what students do “in spite” of their situation - they cannot control what is given to them, but they need to make the most of what is offered. However, there will be a lot of “grace and understanding” for all circumstances. There will be an increase in flexibility.

 Hirko’s Word of the Week: FLEXIBILITY!