Coronavirus Changes College Choices

PR Web: "A national survey of 300 families indicates 25.7% of inbound freshman are re-thinking their college choice because of the coronavirus pandemic ... Families located in the West (30.6%) and Northeast (29.5%) are more inclined to choose another college based on the outbreak than families in the South (21.1%) and Midwest (23.0%). In addition, families in urban communities (30.0%) are most likely to be “rethinking” their college choice than suburban (24.0%) or rural families (23.5%)."

"At this time, a full 46.0% of 're-thinkers' said that they would not add other colleges to their list for additional applications and only 8.2% would add an online university as an option. Before the families heard about the coronavirus outbreak, 84.2% of families were planning to move away to attend a residential college or university and 14.4% planned to commute to a local college or university."

Coronavirus Scrambles Admissions & Aid

NPR: "For many schools, March and April are when they send out the bulk of acceptances or denials. Financial aid packages are sent out, too — setting up the options for how to pay. Traditionally, May 1 is 'decision day,' the deadline for students to submit a deposit to hold their spot at a school for the following fall semester. But there's a growing movement this year to shift the deadline back a month, to June 1, to give students and families more time.

"Admissions tests have also been jumbled: Advanced Placement (AP) tests will be given online, without multiple choice questions. The ACT has rescheduled the April 4 test to be given in June because of COVID-19, and the College Board has cancelled the SAT test scheduled for May. For now, the SAT scheduled for June is still on the books. Because of this, a number of schools, including Oregon State and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, have announced they will be test-optional for the class of 2021. Experts wonder whether this might be the beginning of many more schools going test-optional."

"Colleges are also bracing for an influx of adjustments to financial aid packages. For many families, their financial situations are changing.Estimates predict that millions of Americans are filing for unemployment this week. And the amount families thought they'd be able to pay come fall might be different now."

7 Tips for Quarantined Students

None of us wanted or predicted this -- but here we are -- safe at home with so much time on our hands. Here are seven great ways to pass the time, be productive and also get a jump on the college process.

1 - Research colleges on your exploratory list. Check out the websites. Look at the curriculum. Visit department websites of interesting subjects. Review clubs, sports and organizations. Read websites such as College Confidential and College Prep. View YouTube videos. Read student profiles and student and admission blogs. Look at online college newspapers.

2 - Think about how you can be a leader. For example: Is there an online chat group you can start to support your lacrosse team?

3 - Contribute to your community. How can you help your community, your school, your family, your peer group? Writing letters or FaceTime with seniors in nursing homes? Entertaining younger siblings?

4 - Try something new. A free online course in Sanskrit? Yoga? Calligraphy? Ukulele? Learn French? Bake your first seven-layer cake?

5 - Think about your essay. If only the colleges knew __________ about me …

6- Shore up your academics. Did you fall behind on the readings for AP History? Do you need to review the problems you got wrong on your last math test?

7- Practice for standardized tests: The latest testing schedules and updates are available via these links:

https://www.act.org/content/act/en/covid-19.html

https://pages.collegeboard.org/natural-disasters

Stay safe and keep your social distance! :)