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Recent Changes in College Planning, Preparation, and Admissions

As disruptive and frightening as this pandemic is, it's helpful not to allow fear and uncertainty prevent us from preparing for college and believing that this moment of uncertainty will pass. I believe we have a bright future. While social distancing, I have gathered information to share with you about the recent changes in college admission, preparation, and planning. I encourage you to review the following sections to learn the latest about the application process.

Tests

SAT and AP Tests: The College Board, which administers the SAT and AP tests, is continually updating its list of test center closings and location changes for both US and international sites.

· SAT — The SAT for May 2 has been canceled. Makeup exams scheduled for March 28 are also canceled. Registered students will receive refunds.

· SAT SUBJECT TESTS – We do not have clarity about the role of the Subject Tests in the Class of 2021’s admission applications. Seasonally, we have scheduled the Subject Tests to coincide with the dates of the IB and AP exams. There is discussion of removing the Subject Test from the application process for the upcoming year; details forthcoming.

ACT Tests: ACT has rescheduled its April 4 national test date to June 13 across the US. All students registered for the April 4 test date will receive an email from ACT informing them of the postponement and instructions for free rescheduling to June 13 or a future national test date. Please check the ACT website for updates.

ACT INC., THE MAKERS OF the ACT college entrance exam, announced in October plans to drastically alter testing and scoring policies. At this time, there is discussion that in September 2020, students will be able to retake sections of the test, superscore their results and sit for a digital version of the assessment.

The ACT's sections are English, math, science and reading, with an optional 40-minute writing test. The new opportunity to retest in specific exam sections, rather than retaking the entire ACT, is a delightful change for many high school students. Section retests allow them to focus their energy on their weakest areas and may alleviate a considerable amount of test anxiety.

Students who are interested in ACT section retesting should know these three facts:

  • Section retests are available only in digital format.

  • Students can take up to three section retests per sitting over seven dates.

  • The cost and registration procedures are not known yet.

AP — BREAKING NEWS: On March 20, AP announced they will be offering AP exams on two separates dates and students will take the exams from the comfort of their homes. For the latest in details and information, please visit: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/about-ap/news-changes/coronavirus-update

College Information+ Virtual Tours:

As a service to students and families, NACAC has created an online tool that is a central resource on changes to the college admission process due to the coronavirus outbreak. The tool includes information from colleges and universities nationwide on campus closures, deposit deadlines, and other admission-related changes. The tool updates automatically in real-time as we receive input from postsecondary institutions: nacacnet.org/college-admission-status-coronavirus

As a Professional Member of IECA, I have a cohort of thousands of educational consultants around the globe who are working together to support ALL of our students. Together, we are working to create a master list with many institutions' contingency plans and advice for remote work/teaching: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VT9oiNYPyiEsGHBoDKlwLlWAsWP58sGV7A3oIuEUG3k/htmlview?fbclid=IwAR3JQFp0MDOD9_t0I5AEzF7NbNoScYhCF6l5KkBREwDuxdiJoP0fGijxfIg&sle=true&urp=gmail_link#

According to Inside Higher Ed (3/16), they are reporting that the coronavirus is forcing colleges to rethink their admission process and has “created pressure to start producing their first online content for newly admitted students, or to greatly improve the content.”

Virtual Tours:

A campus tour is a quintessential part of the college search. First, they help a student make the right-fit decision. Second, a college tour demonstrates interest. Many colleges absolutely factor ‘Demonstrated Interest’ into their rubric for admission. In other words, they are protecting their yield. So, if you have not visited their campus and/or reached out personally to your local admission representative, they are often hesitant to extend an acceptance to you and don’t have confidence that you will actually accept their offer of admission; often regardless of your impressive data. During this pandemic, colleges have been focusing on increasing their online presence. I have compiled a list of my favorite sources for virtual tours:

· www.Youniversitytv.com

· www.campustours.com

· www.youvisit.com

· www.campusreel.org

·. The tours posted on each college website

The colleges track their students throughout the college application process. Visit the individual college websites on your list and sign in with your college email address. Please note that it is VITAL to check your email address frequently. When you receive an email from a college, please open it. Now, I cannot make you actually read it; nor does that even really matter. But the colleges track every single touch point. So, they track to see if and when you open their emails.

Current Curriculum:

If your school district does not have access to Method Test Prep’s web-based program, the founder and president of MTP has extended the following:

“For those of you in districts that don’t have access to our program, we are offering schools an extended free trial of Method Test Prep for the rest of this school year and summer. If you are interested in learning more, email support@methodtestprep.com or give them a call at 1-877-871-PREP.

IB Curriculum:

IB will make an international decision about their exam schedules on or before March 27, 2020. The IB has implemented the following deadline extensions for schools currently closed due to COVID-19, if your school has been closed please contact support@ibo.org

  • eCoursework early component deadline (15 March) extended to 12 April

  • Internal assessment deadline (20 April) extended to 20 May

  • MYP personal project and ePortfolio deadline (20 April) extended to 20 May

  • CAS completion entry deadline (1 June) extended to 3 July

  • Predicted grade entry for DP, CP and MYP is extended to 1 June

  • Externally assessed components for film, dance, music, theatre and visual arts extended to 30 May

  • CP service learning and language development components to 1 June

  • Language A: literature school-supported, self-taught alternative oral to 30 May

I hope that this information is helpful. Stay well!

I hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to reach out with questions.

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