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CAMPUS TOURS Washington University has opened its campus up for in-person tours. However, many colleges have kept their tours virtual due to COVID-19.

Virtual vs. In-Person:

Graphic by Rachel Greenberg ’22 Photo by Aidan Rogers ’22

College touring process revamps class of 22’s senior year

Izzy Sareen ’22

Staff Writer

The college process is new to the class of 2022, and it’s extraordinarily di erent than those in years past. Contrary to the pre-COVID era, college visits are currently either virtual or happening in small groups. Certain states have shut down college tours, admissions interviews and visits in their entirety, while other states like Texas and Alabama have completely reopened their colleges and universities to the public. But, the majority of schools across the country are sticking to the method of virtual campus tours that were adopted during COVID-19. However, many Staples students believe that virtual tours are helpful for gathering information, but ineffi cient for getting a true view of the school for what it is. “I think [virtual tours] make it really challenging for kids to decide whether or not they like the school because they cannot be there in person, getting a sense of what daily life is like,” Jack Rosier w’22 said.

Zoom live streams and virtual information sessions along with virtual tours have become the way of life during the past few years. Many are dissatisfi ed with the virtual college visits, resulting in an overall thumbs down for the current college process.

“For the college virtual tours, you defi nitely don’t get a sense of the college,” Olivia Marshall ’22 said. “I fi nd it really hard to judge whether or not I want to go to a school based on what the college looks like on a screen. Not all schools are doing in-person tours yet, so COVID has affected my ability to get a real sense of what [a] school is like.”

There are some Staples High School seniors, however, who believe the virtual college-touring experience comes with its advantages.

“I think college Zooms are great because it’s so much easier to see a greater number of

schools without having to go on huge road trips and miss school for them,” Sarah Toohey ’22 said. Ultimately, according to Inside Higher Ed, students who can physically get on campus and get the whole picture for what the school really is, are more likely to feel inclined to apply, especially if the school fi ts their individual wants and needs. In recognition of this fact, Holy Cross College in Indiana has recently opened its doors for in-person tours, along with meet and greets with some of the staff. Through their regulations of having only 20 people on a tour at once, only visiting certain buildings, and providing a good amount of information on the school, Holy Cross College has been able to assure the safety of their visitors through COVID-19, tours are helpful for while giving them a detailed, gathering informa- in-depth tour of the campus. tion, but ineffi cient “I fi nd it both an informative for getting a true and exhilarating experience to view of the school be able to be given an in-person for what it is. tour at a college,” Shawn Zhai ’22 said, “especially since where we go is going to be our life for the next four or more years.”

“For the college virtual tours, you defi nitely don’t get a sense of the college.” -Olivia Marshall ’22

Dropping Courses:

Guidance acommodates students schedule changes, unless deadlines are missed

Jess Leon ’22

Staff writer

As the school year began, marking a transition from hybrid learning to in-class learning, some students felt overwhelmed by increased homework and classwork expectations, and wanted to drop classes. e rst stop to make schedule changes is the guidance department, which is in charge of making sure that these class changes abide by designated deadlines and will not negatively a ect the student or a teacher. For instance, Caitlin Chu ’23 dropped her AP English Language class because she believed that she lacked time to succeed in the course. “It was too much to handle with my other diffi cult classes, soccer and clubs fi lling my schedule,” Chu said. But while some students, like Chu, were allowed to drop classes, not all were successful. Chu cited her AP English Language class as an example, as many of her classmates attempted to drop the class, but were unsuccessful.

There are multiple factors that may prevent students from dropping classes. For instance, sometimes dropping one class scheduled during one period in exchange for another class that meets in a different period interferes with too many other classes in the schedule, or it is possible that the class a student wishes to take is already at full capacity.

Director of Guidance at Staples High School, William Plunkett, also explained that if a student was unsuccessful in dropping a course, it may have been due to the fact that they missed the posted deadline for dropping and adding courses. According to Plunkett, the deadlines for switching around class schedules are posted on the Program of Studies.

The rule states that in order to drop a class and pick up a free period without it being noted on the student’s transcript, the change needs to be made by the 30th school day of the current term. Another deadline the Guidance Department makes clear is that the last day to drop a class without it being noted on the students transcript is Oct. 14. However, if a student drops a higher level class to join a lower level class in the same course, there is no set deadline. There are other situations noted with deadlines as well. Yet, many students claimed they were unaware of this information.

Jordana Latzman ’22 missed the deadline to drop an AP class without it being noted on her transcript.

“I never knew to check the Program of Studies on the Staples website, so I was not aware of this rule,” Latzman said.

Despite some vocalized frustrations from students, the guidance department claims that these drop/add course deadlines keep the school running smoothly without teachers having to shuffl e their schedule for students to come and go from their classes.

“We have to maintain reasonable class sizes,” Plunkett said, “and we need to make sure students are going to be successful if they are going to make a change.”

terferes with too many other classes in the schedule, or it is possible that the class a student wishes to take is already at full capacity. Director of Guidance at Staples High School, William Plunkett, also explained that if a student was unsuccessful in dropping a course, it may have been due to the fact that they missed the posted deadline for dropping and adding courses. According to Plunkett, the deadlines for switching around class schedules are posted on the Program of Studies. The rule states that in order to drop a class and pick up a free period without it being noted transcript, the same course, there is no set deadline. There are other situations noted with deadlines as well. Yet, many students claimed they were

“We have to maintain reasonable class sizes, and we need to make sure students are going to be successful if they are going to make a change.” -William Plunkett, Director of Guidance es,” Plunkett said, “and we need to make sure students are going to be successful if they are going to make a change.”