By: Cooper Hyldahl
December 15, 2020
The college applications season is a notoriously stressful and busy time for the average high school student. Even without a global pandemic and online school, college applications can often be confusing, time consuming, and stressful. In order to more fully understand what seniors are going through and how the college application process is going, I interviewed three Hoggard seniors.
The average number of schools for a senior to apply to is between 7 to 10 colleges, but some students only find it necessary to apply to one or two. On the other extreme, many seniors get worried about being accepted and might apply to up to 20 or more different schools. I asked the seniors how many schools they applied to and see where they fit on the continuum. As I talked to the three seniors, I found their answers varied; ranging between 7 and 17. While 17 may seem high, it is certainly not that unusual as many people face anxieties about acceptances and in addition may be seeking scholarships.
As the college admissions process is notoriously stressful, I wanted to poll the seniors to assess how they are feeling about the whole process. One student reported that waiting for the decision is hard because schools release their decisions on different dates so many of their friends have received acceptances, adding to their feelings of pressure. Some colleges work on a rolling basis, meaning the sooner your application is sent in, the sooner you will get a response. Other colleges have early decision dates which enable students to apply by an earlier date which in turn enables them to receive acceptances or rejections prior to regular decision dates. This process becomes complicated and as one student puts it, “it's stressful but exciting at the same time.” Another one of the seniors stated that the application process had consumed much of their free time and that she was constantly thinking about it. She told me that she was both extremely nervous to see where she would get in and excited to see where she would go and what the next four years would entail.
Test optional?
Because of the pandemic, most schools across the country have opted for a “test-optional” policy for the class of 2021. This means that standardized test scores like ACT and SAT scores will be accepted by colleges, but not required. Additionally, colleges have promised not to reject any candidates simply because they did not send in scores as multiple test dates were cancelled. This test-optional policy has received backlash online from both sides of the argument with strong arguments for test scores and equally strong arguments for test optional. This is unchartered territory for many colleges and universities who typically put a
large emphasis on standardized test scores. In the interviews, I asked the seniors how they felt about the policy. One senior, who did submit their scores stated, “Personally, I support the test-optional policy, because I don’t think it would be fair to not allow some students to apply to a school just because they don’t have test scores to submit. I know lots of people who were scheduled to take tests but all of their testing days were cancelled. I personally was only able to take it once in August of 2019 and I tried signing up three more times and all were cancelled. So if I wasn’t able to apply to a school just because I wasn’t able to take a test that would be super disappointing.” When I asked the same senior if they submitted scores themselves, they reported, “I did because my first and only score wasn’t too bad and I had lots of potential to have it be even higher if I was able to take it again. I also knew that test scores weren’t the only thing that they were considering and they weren’t weighted as heavy in the process this year so I decided to submit them.” Another one of the seniors, who also submitted test scores, when asked the same question said, “In the context of Covid-19, I do agree with the decision made by colleges to go test-optional because I do know a lot of people who were not able to focus and study for the standardized tests as much as they wanted to or were unable to get the test dates in at all. Grades and grade inflation are definitely a little subjective across the country so the standardized tests can act as an equalizer but I am also very aware that some people are better test takers than others and in the workplace or the classroom your standardized test score isn’t what makes you a productive member of the community.”
Virtual Learning, a new dynamic.
Lastly, I asked the three seniors about how virtual school has affected their relationship with school as well as how it may have affected their college resume or college application experience as a whole. One of the seniors answered regarding her resume, “Virtual school has definitely had a negative impact on my ability to explore new things that may have ended up on my resume. This summer, I was pushed out of doing something that I was really hoping to do that would’ve been really strong on my resume but it also gave me the opportunity to do new things that added to my resume and allowed me to have a job that I didn’t expect to have and ended up writing about that experience in my personal statement.” She continued about how virtual school has affected her time management skills and the applications process, “I do think that virtual school has 100 percent helped me with time management. I’m applying to more schools than I would like to be and combined with the scholarship applications that I am doing, a lot of my time is being consumed with college admissions stuff. Having the extra flex time that comes with virtual school has been really really nice and I’m honestly not sure how I would’ve done it all had I been going to school from 8:30 to 3:30 every day.” Another student talked about how they feel like the quality of their education is much lower when using the zoom or canvas platform, “I don’t feel like virtual school has helped me in terms of education as much as being in person does. When I’m listening to a teacher and learning in person I pay way more attention than I do when I’m on zoom or attempting to learn on my own. I also retain information better when I learn in person and I get a lot more out of it than when I participate in virtual school.”
Lastly, I asked the seniors about what they would change about the college admissions process. One of the seniors said that they would’ve liked it if the schools she was applying to asked for less supplemental essays beyond what the Common App required. She said that all of the essays were time consuming and she often felt like the extra essays really didn’t strengthen her application all that much. Another one of the seniors said that she wished that the schools she was applying to used the interview more in their admissions process, “I think schools should weigh the interviews more in the selection process. It's hard for the admissions staff to really get to know someone through their application and the interview can cut through a lot of the fluff in an application and gives the college the chance to see you would be able to add to their community much more than they could with a written application.”
Each of the seniors seemed to have a slightly different relationship with their college applications but one thing was made clear- college applications are time consuming and stressful. While different approaches and goals were noted, everyone that has gone through the process can relate to what Hoggard’s seniors are going through right now. Best of luck to all Hoggard seniors who are completing their applications. We can’t wait to hear what schools you will attend!
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