3 Tips for the College Application Process
Applying for college is already difficult enough.
Aside from the emotional turmoil of leaving home, you have standardized tests, continued academic stress, and now you’re learning about the nuisance differences between early decision and early application.
Well, let’s add a pandemic to that.
Now you’re managing difficult online classes, trying to strategize affording your education with additional financial stress, and for most students, you don’t even have the opportunity to visit your potential home for the next 4 years. In fact, you don’t even know what format your education will be delivered in by next fall.
There are some basic guidelines that should be followed ‒ we’ve compiled our list of the top tips to follow during this unprecedented college application period.
Reconsider Early Decision
During this time of the application process, the biggest terms floating around are “early application” (EA) and “early decision” (ED).
Early application simply means you have applied earlier than the standard application ‒ so you already applied and may even have an answer back from your potential institution at this point. However, early decision is binding ‒ if you applied ED and got in, you must attend that college. While this method will usually increase your chances of getting into the college, it will slash your chances of negotiating a better financial package as you’ve lost your leverage.
With the uncertainty of the 2021-2022 school year (and need for financial negotiations), many guidance counselors and academic advisors have recommended against early decision.
But what if you already applied early decision?
Many students who applied early decision now have different financial standpoints ‒ if this is you there is a good chance you can either get out of this binding agreement or use the unprecedented situation as leverage to negotiate a different financial package. At the very least you should be able to defer your acceptance by a semester. We recommend speaking to your admissions counselor and have them understand your situation ‒ once you do this you can both approach the financial aid office with the dilemma.
Look at How Each College is Handling the Pandemic
Due to COVID-19 students still don’t know what format education will be delivered in for the Fall 2021 semester.
Hopefully, with the vaccine roll-out, we will be closer to normal this coming fall, but, if that is not the case it is important we prepare for the worst ‒ assuming that we are in the same situation in the fall as we are right now.
A good way to do this is to look at how your potential institutions are handling the Spring 2021 semester ‒ specifically, make sure you are looking at:
Housing options ‒ Many institutions have limited dorms and encourage (or force) a large portion of their student body to live at home. Additionally, many colleges will only allow you to socialize with your roommates, so ensure that there is a good policy for roommate agreements and flexibility for room changes if you don’t get along.
Current “in-person” learning restrictions ‒ Some colleges will advertise as having safe “in-person” course offerings, but oftentimes this is a hybrid model that will give you some in-person education, but the majority will remain online. Try looking directly into specific courses offered during the Spring 2021 semester or reach out to a few professors and ask for their take on how their colleagues are handling the pandemic.
Dining hall options ‒ Most institutions are not offering the classic cafeteria-style dining that revolves around long tables and laughing college students. Instead, most universities have to-go options that may limit how much food you’re getting and restrict specialty food needed for specific diets.
Testing options and their ramifications ‒ Some colleges are requiring weekly testing while others have incredibly limited testing. This means that data on the number of cases at various institutions is wrong ‒ so ensure you are taking this into consideration when examining how efficiently each college is handling the pandemic. Just because the reported cases are low doesn’t necessarily mean the institution is handling the pandemic well.
Examining these metrics will give you a good idea of how well your institution is able to handle the pandemic and keep you safe whilst also providing a “normal” experience.
Look Into Virtual Touring Options
While there is no replacement for an in-person tour, many colleges and universities have greatly improved their virtual tour options to give students an accurate and in-depth digital experience.
There are several resources available that list hundreds of tours for colleges ‒ these tours will allow you to “walk” through the campus and explore it on your own time.
Many times, there will be Q&A segments during these tours, and programs such as You Visit have attempted to combat this by providing prompts during the tour to elicit questions from the viewer. If this does spark a question, you can type it in, and it will be sent to a representative from that institution.
Lastly, it’s important to recognize that most of these tools are created by the institution themselves and they are fine-tuned to give the “perfect” feeling. For a more authentic assessment of a potential college, look at Campus Reels which allows current students to upload videos of their institutions that are then approved and made available.
By: Jody Bell
Jody Bell (19) Girls With Impact’s Chief Editor and a program graduate. Girls With Impact is the nation’s only online, after-school, entrepreneurship program for teen girls, turning them into tomorrow’s business leaders and innovators.