College Update Workshop Recap

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September 12, 2020

Hey college bound folks! Are you wondering how this global pandemic affects your college future? TeachPlayLearn interviewed college counselor, Rebecca Rehfeld, to get the latest scoop. We covered everything from college deadlines to standardized testing and GPA management to what to do in order to put your best foot forward during these unique, strange times.

If you missed the College Update Workshop, never fear! We have the recording to share with you. Below are the questions we covered and some answer highlights.

Click this link to view the entire workshop. Each question is bookmarked in the video, so feel free to select “ask a question” and hop around to the questions that pertain most to you and yours!

Questions Covered & Answer Highlights

I had this plan, now what do I do?

How is the deposit deadline affected for seniors entering college in the fall?

Link to colleges and universities with a later deposit deadline

What do families need to know about financial aid at this time?

How are APs going to be handled with stay-at-home?

Will APs taken during COVID-19 count for college credit?

Should I still take the AP test?

What is happening with accommodations for the APs?

GPA management, how are grades impacted during this time?

Colleges always care about grades. If you have no reason to not be achieving at the same academic level as before, then you should be doing your best to do the same as you were before this all happened. A lot of students who feel like the world is topsy turvy think I’m just going to play xbox. Unfortunately that’s not the right move in these circumstances. But students who are having trouble with connecting to online learning or have an IEP or 504 plan and get certain assistance from school . . . colleges understand that so I really want to implore students to do the best they can with what they have right now. If their high school has become pass/fail, they will not be penalized . . . They will not be penalized if they had all As and then with online learning they have a slightly lower GPA.
For juniors, it’s sort of the same thing, but I want to make sure 11th grade students understand that if it is possible for you to maintain your GPA, please do so.

With so many colleges switching to test-optional, will the role of my grades change? If so, how?

Colleges and universities have essentially said that it's not that their grades will weigh more, they will be looking at applications from current 11th grade students on a more holistic level than they ever did before. What was your family experiencing during this time, and how did it affect you? What were you doing during this time? Were students taking part in other activities even though they were in quarantine? Did they show leadership? Did they help their community? Did they help their family? They will definitely look at GPAs as they always have, but they will also see if that GPA was affected by circumstances outside of their control . . . Without SATs/ACTs, colleges do need to look at something. They have to compare one person to another in one way shape or form.

Should students still be studying and taking standardized tests (i.e. ACT/SATs)?

In my personal practice, I work with a lot of students who have said, oh my gosh, does this mean I don’t have to study for the SAT and ACT? Sorry to be the person of reason, but if an 11th grade student has not simplified their college list, and many have not yet, they do not know if they will find a college they will later fall in love with that is not test optional. So by saying they will not take the SAT or ACT at all, they may be saying they may not be able to apply to colleges or universities that might be a great fit for them that they don't know about yet.
I want to clarify what test optional means. Test optional means for some colleges and universities they can take different tests. . . For other colleges it means they will not accept a standardized test at all. . . For most colleges and universities it means you can send us an SAT or ACT or you can not. We will not penalize you for sending it to us, but we will weigh other things more heavily. And that is what most schools are saying now.

For seniors considering taking a gap year, what are things they should know and should they still consider taking the SAT or ACT?

I heard the ACT is going to be offered online, is that true?

How has the ACT changed this year?

With tests optional and pass-fail classes, how are colleges going to get to know the students who are applying?

What are your overall thoughts about students talking about COVID-19 in their applications?

I would advise that even though this is a very unique experience for each individual student, nobody has been in a pandemic before. Nobody has been in quarantine before so with that it feels like this is such an interesting weird, unique thing to happen in my life, I feel compelled to write about it. The trouble there is that everybody is in this unique, strange time. We are all in it together and imagine being an admissions counselor at a large university who has also experienced quarantine. . . and then they read 10,000 essays about it. The ability to stand out in that circumstance is so difficult. Most students stand out simply because they are the only version of themselves in the world. . . If we all write about the same topic, I think that is going to be very hard to stand out. check out this clip to learn about circumstances when it is appropriate to address COVID

What advice do you have for essay writing now?

What can students do to stand out and/or build a more meaningful summer given they may still need to be at home?

I think that there are a lot of different ways to be creative. You don't have to follow your passion. A lot of students feel really pressured by that . . . [they think] I should be a fully formed human being who has a passion and pursues it all the time. I find that it is lucky if students do have that, but that is not always the case. Just try things–fail at them. Try different things–get bored of them . . . It's an exploratory time. It’s such a good time to try.

How do students express demonstrated interest in the colleges on their list without the ability to visit the schools?

For juniors going into senior year, any updates on early action or early decision? How will those deadlines be affected?

What actions should parents and students be doing now?