Covid gives high school seniors new opportunity on college applications

by Anna Alford, Staff Writer

The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.

This year many universities have gone test optional due to test cancellations from COVID. There were multiple reschedulings of both the ACT and SAT throughout quarantine. Photo by Unsplash.

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly changed the college application process for high school seniors. The class of 2020 didn’t experience a normal senior spring, but they were fortunate enough to finish applying and planning for college before quarantine hit. On the other hand, the class of 2021 has had to experience the college application process online and mostly by themselves.

An important section to many students on the Common Application is the standardized testing report. This year many universities have gone test optional due to test cancellations from COVID. There were multiple reschedulings of both the ACT and SAT throughout quarantine, and many students did not get the opportunity to take the test before submitting applications. Caroline Whitt (12) had to reschedule her ACT four times and “(is) tempted to apply test optional because these tests are stressful. [Test optional] allows students who don’t score as well as others to give colleges a fair representation of their achievements.” Caroline and classmate, Carter Stanley (12), have similar thoughts on the test optional policy. Stanley said, “I like standardized tests because they can help your application if you do well, but I don’t think that they should be required.” Hilliard students got the opportunity to take the SAT on October 14th so that they could add it to their applications if wanted.

The test optional policy gives students greater opportunity to rely on their extracurricular activities and grades. Mr. Woodford, the Hilliard schools college counselor, said that “the public universities in California are test-blind. This was a change that was written in a legislative bill this fall.” Test-blind reviewing is when the university does not use test scores as part of the overall decision of admittance for a student. This would benefit all students that plan on continuing their education. Not all students have the opportunity to take multiple tests or have a score that properly reflects their knowledge.

The college application process is never easy, especially during a pandemic. The class of 2021 seniors may have had a struggle along the way, but they were given a helpful opportunity. With early applications wrapping up soon, seniors have the chance to put their best self in their applications.