COVID-19 effects on College

This Year Only, Colleges Will Not Be Requiring SAT Scores, ACT Scores, Application Fees And Essays For The Graduating Seniors

— Aspen Jewkes, Opinion Editor

Due to COVID-19, colleges around the world have stopped taking ACT and SAT scores for the Class of 2021. While the application process may be the same as previous years, many colleges have stopped requiring students to pay a fee for their submission of the application. “Most colleges have identified that there were a lot of issues with students being able to take their ACT or SAT starting in the spring and into the summer,” Mandan High School Counselor Alyssa Caya said. “I think that they were hopeful that students would be able to make up some of their spring testing in the summer, but unfortunately that did not happen.” While ACT and SAT scores are important for admission, they are also very important for receiving scholarships. Many of those requirements have been waived or overlooked due to COVID-19. “Many colleges have scholarships that students can be eligible for when they apply if they have specific ACT scores, but they have also waived those and have gone to just looking at your cumulative GPA,” Caya said. There are many different changes to the admission for colleges and universities for the Class of 2021 with one being placement testing. “Colleges still have to use some kind of assessment tool to determine where students are at to go into different classes,” Caya said. “They might not be using the ACT, but then they will make them do some kind of placement testing.”

While there are changes to the requirements for applying for the Class of 2021, there are also going to be things put into place for the Class of 2022 that were previously supposed to be tried “This fall was supposed to be the first time ACT has started to offer subject tests,” Caya said. “Where if students performed well on three out of the four areas, they could just come and take the section they did poorly in instead of the entire test.” By allowing students to retake sections they did not perform well in, colleges around the United States will start looking at the highest composite scores given in that section. “A lot of colleges are going to start super scoring, which means they could take the students highest subject test scores to give them their overall highest composite scores,” Caya said. While composite SAT and ACT scores will not be used for the Class of 2021, scholarships will still be available with different requirements. “There are many different scholarships this year that will not be looking at scores, but more of your cumulative GPA.” Caya said. “In early October the FAFSA opened, which is really important to fill out because it is one easy way to get money right away.” The Class of 2021 has many changes for their upcoming college admissions journey, but the changes that were made for this year’s graduating class will not last forever. Acceptance letters from UND and NDSU represent the capability of getting into universities early.