NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — It's where uncertainty merges with anxiety. For high school seniors this fall, applying to college will be a changed experience--where COVID-19 could have the final say.
Newport News rising senior, Jaelyn Windham is already working on her college applications. One of her worries--not being able to interact with guidance counselors in-person for a helping hand.
"I'm not sure of the whole process, because I'm not with my counselor. My counselor can't help me and show me, so I have to take it on my own and look things up and figure out how to do it myself."
Windham is also one of the 178,000 students nationwide who's being blocked from taking the SAT August 29 because of Coronavirus safety concerns.
"It got canceled for the second time."
William & Mary, in Williamsburg, is one of more than a thousand colleges and universities that is making the ACT and SAT optional. For William & Mary, that policy will extend three years.
According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, more than 14 hundred schools are making a definitive statement that "they will not need test scores to make admission decisions this year."
Aspiring university students need to know, William & Mary's administration understands the challenges high schoolers are enduring and will take that into account when examining applications.
"They might have gone to a pass/fail grading system. They might have had to change some of their course offerings. That's information that we are going to be aware of and certainly take into consideration," said Associate Vice President for Enrollment and Dean of Admission, Tim Wolfe.
But make no mistake about it. It will be tougher for students to showcase how they stand out, as the pandemic robbed them of opportunities to buff their resumes.
"I would say to those students, more than any time in the past, letters of recommendation and those essays are going to be critical," said Access College Foundation Advisor, Mary Carter Scott.
Scott recommends students download the undergraduate college admission application know as Common App. "Their essay prompts are up there. You can start to look them over. Start to formulate a well, thought-out essay."
Other recommendations include taking advantage of the virtual tours that campuses are offering. "You will sign up and you will virtually be walked through the campus with a group of people and you'll be able to ask questions of the tour guide," Scott added.