How COVID Has Changed College Admissions

The pandemic has caused shifts in virtually all facets of life – much of it involving going virtual. From businesses closing to industries like lumber and furniture soaring, we’ve all seen the changes caused by COVID. One such area of change is college admissions, something that’s incredibly important to us and our families. Many BlueSky students have been looking forward to college throughout their high school careers – and things have changed for those who are now taking that next step.

Test-Optional Applications

Standardized tests like the ACT and SAT have been essential to the college application process for years, but now that has changed. There is a new variable offered by colleges that allow applicants to apply without having taken those tests. This is a positive change for many students who are coming from underfunded schools and those that don’t have easy access to these tests. Standardized tests have long been something of a barrier that made clear the inequities of students seeking a college education across the country.

Now that standardized tests are becoming less and less of a requirement for college admissions, students who would previously not apply to a particular school because of their score or lack-there-of, have a chance to get into these schools based upon their grades and other successes in school.

Increase in Admissions Applications

In the few years before the pandemic, colleges saw a steady decline in enrollment and applications. But that is shifting in 2021. A report shows that the number of students applying to start college in fall 2021 increased 2% from the previous year. While this number may seem small, it is actually a much bigger change than expected.

The same report showed that this increase is particularly evident in students of racially and ethnically underrepresented students who are now applying to more colleges and more prestigious ones at that. Highly selective private institutions reported a 20% rise in applications from first-generation students and a 24% increase from those races and ethnicities that are underrepresented in higher education.

The pandemic has undoubtedly shifted many processes and seemingly set-in-stone practices. And this has been most evident in college admissions. While standardized tests have been used for years and years for college admissions, the difficulty of scheduling in-person exams due to the pandemic has caused a ripple effect that will likely be long-lasting.