F E AT U R E S
The Heart of the Matter: How the University High School College Counselors Are Navigating an Unusual Year — Jenny Schneider, Director of College Counseling & Kate Garrett, Associate Director of College Counseling
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n Thursday, March 12, we grabbed armloads of student files, various college resource guides, and all manner of technological accoutrements. We hugged one another good-bye and headed to our respective homes for what we imagined would be a month or so of shelter-in-place.
In those early days of the pandemic, everything felt upside down, unfamiliar, fundamentally different. In reality, though, our day-to-day activities remained largely the same. The UHS Class of 2020 got into college, and they talked with us about which offer to accept. Some of them — although not the landslide number widely reported in the media — asked us about gap years. Others asked for guidance about their financial aid awards, and we coached them on how to negotiate a better package. By May 1, just like every year, everyone was settled, and then, as happens in many years, there was a little flurry of exciting activity as some students were accepted off of wait lists. For their part, the Class of 2021 got to work building the first drafts of their college lists. We finished up the family meetings scheduled for the end of March
March 17, 2020 UHS Head of School extends campus closure through the end of Spring Break (April 6-10).
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U H S J o u r n a l | FALL 2020
via Zoom, frequently enjoying the participation of the entire family — including younger siblings practicing gymnastics in the background, cats jumping into students’ laps, or dogs barking their approval at some particularly sage bit of wisdom we offered (or maybe just at someone walking by a window). Realizing that students would be unable to explore any college campuses during spring break, our office put together a challenge we called “the virtual college tour.” Many students spent their spring break week in April visiting colleges online, diving deeply into institutions’ departmental websites, and chatting
with UHS alums who were suddenly quarantined at home and eager to share about their college experiences. The juniors were exploring and learning the way they do every year, just using different methods. And, just like every year, they were worrying about standardized testing. In the past, we’d have been talking through results from spring tests and sorting out whether further testing would be beneficial. In 2020, the conversation continues to be about whether the SAT and the ACT will ever go forward in the Bay Area, and how worried folks should be if state and county
health guidelines prevent that from happening. The uncertainty has been trying for everyone, especially the students. As one of our colleagues described the situation, it’s like Charlie Brown and the football: the kids keep getting geared up to take the tests, only to have them snatched away at the last minute. We are trying as hard as we can to convey the genuine confidence we feel that our students will have a successful college process, no matter what does or does not happen with testing. Similar to conversations about the SAT and ACT in years past, kids and families listen, and nod, and try to stay calm . . . but still feel nervous.
