College Admissions Counseling in a Pandemic: Lessons from the Year in Review
In early March of 2020, my son returned from his planned semester in Rome. I made the decision to move all my student meetings to a virtual format “for a couple of weeks” and to cancel planned campus visits to be extra cautious in case I had been exposed to any COVID he brought home from Italy - much to the bemusement of clients and colleagues alike. Before the end of the month, almost all students were home and found themselves learning virtually as their activities, summer plans and standardized tests were upended.
It soon became clear that advising the high school class of 2021 through their college process was going to be challenging and filled with uncertainty.
I focused on what I always do, knowing my students well, developing balanced lists and helping them create compelling applications for themselves. I couldn’t control closed campuses, missing grades or cancelled testing, so I worked with and on behalf of my students to understand and mitigate those impacts as best as I could.
Rising Concern over a Staggering Spike in Applications
As nervous applicants awaited regular decisions, the published numbers were daunting. The Common Application reported total applications were up 11% over 2019-2020, even as unique applicants only increased by 2%. Selective colleges, defined as those with admit rates below 50%, had staggering increases in their application numbers: large private colleges saw an increase of 21%, small private colleges, 14%. Super selective colleges, with admit rates below 20% and into the single digits, had even more jaw dropping increases to share. For example, Harvard University’s applications surged by 42% and Cornell’s by 36%. Colgate University’s’ more than doubled in 2020, according to a university press release of January 21, 2021. In other words, the consolidation of interest in a subset of the nation’s higher education institutions had accelerated in the pandemic.
Case Study: Twenty Members of the High School Class of 2021
Increased Applications
Students applied to an average of 10 schools, although I had several students with 15 or more applications, something I had not seen in the past. Partly it was because students couldn’t visit colleges and wanted to have more options, partly it was because they wanted to overcome uncertainty by having more chances for an acceptance, and partly it was because students applied to more reach colleges than in the past, thinking it was a good year to “go for it.” (Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.)
To Test or Not to Test?
Roughly a third of these students applied without testing, either because they were unable to test, or because they were not happy with their results. Colleges responded to the widespread cancellation of testing by offering test optional admissions in unprecedented numbers, a trend I believe will continue at many colleges, although not the most selective.
Early Decision Results
Early Decision Results
All of the students utilized early application options of one kind or another, with most applying under an early decision plan. As is always the case, those who used early decision on a school for which they were not competitive (something I do not advise) fared less well than those for whom the school was on target.
Overall, 42% of students were admitted under an ED plan, 21% were deferred to regular decision and 37% were denied. The increased deferral rate was something of note.
“…those who used early decision on a school for which they were not competitive (something I do not advise) fared less well than those for whom the school was on target.”
Regular Decision Results
Regular decision results for the students were very much in line with my expectations, with only a few aberrations.
I categorize colleges in four ways:
Wildcard (colleges with admit rates below 10%)
Reach (colleges with admitted student profiles stronger than the applicant’s)
Possible (otherwise known as target colleges)
Likely (colleges where the student is stronger than the admitted student profile.)
I advise our clients that they should not expect an admission from either an wildcard or a reach school, that they should expect an admission from most, but not all, of their possible schools, and an admission from all of their likely colleges.
The students were not admitted to any wildcard colleges but 11% of applications were waitlisted. Reach college results yielded 17% admissions, 19% waitlists and 64% denials.
The students were admitted to 72% of their target schools, waitlisted at 25% and not offered admission to 3%. The increase in waitlist decisions was notable. Finally, the students were admitted to 92% of their likely colleges and waitlisted at 7%.
Target College Results
Conclusion: Even Amid Unusual Circumstances, My Approach Prevailed
Now that the college cycle is mostly over-a few waitlisted students remain hopeful - it is clear that my usual way of advising my clients served them well. Despite the noise, uncertainty and fear, the students had good options, even though as is always the case, there has been some disappointment too.
I remain more committed than ever to the idea that identifying colleges that offer an academic and co-curricular life which will allow a student to grow, should be the overarching goal for families and that seeking prestige over all else worked no better and maybe less well this past year. There is no secret sauce or silver bullet, but when done right, the college process will yield good options.
I salute the class of 2021 for your perseverance, flexibility, optimism and resilience, and I cannot wait to see how you soar!
