and standardized tests

ON THE CLOCK

Students must contend with new changes in the college application process as collegerelated tasks begin to mount.

4

Issues

March 11, 2021

COLLEGE Rethinking the rules

After cancelled SAT writing and subject tests, there are many questions as to what college admissions will look like in the future.

This past year has played host to a number of historic changes in the college application and admissions process. With quick, sweeping changes continuing to be put in place, the college admissions landscape has become much more complex.

For one, colleges have seen a large spike in the number of applications they receive. College Counseling Director Veronica Pulido sees this surge in applicants as a new factor for college admissions offices to consider in acceptance decisions.

“More students are applying to colleges and the numbers of applications have risen tremendously for this admission cycle,” Pulido said. “The applications are definitely rising in a lot of institutions. So, it will be an interesting piece of the puzzle to figure out how the colleges have pivoted to not looking at test scores or considering them depending on how they’re doing to figure out who they’re going to admit, especially in the regular decision group, when the applications have risen tremendously.”

Moreover, the College Board recently eliminated SAT writing and cancelled SAT subject tests. Pulido credits this decision to the College Board’s wish for more practical assessment.

“They’ve eliminated the writing section of the SAT,” Pulido said. “They figured that colleges did not find that information or that metric useful in the process, or also to accessibility for tests in general.”

College Counseling Associate Director Phoebe Kingsak believes these changes may create obstacles for students’ applications to STEM-oriented colleges, but will ultimately lead to increased availability for students.

“It’s put up some roadblocks for students who wanted to apply to colleges such as Georgetown or MIT because they strongly recommended subject tests,” Kingsak said. “Now, there is no such thing. I think that it is going to be a lot more accessible to all students and Marksmen to apply with the SAT changes.”

However, Kingsak does not forecast great differences in college admission from the past.

“We’ve had pretty similar acceptances from schools that St. Mark’s boys are usually admitted to

Facts and FIGURES

College process with the same profile, so not too much has changed,” Kingsak said.

In light of current conditions, almost two-thirds of all colleges have announced they will be going temporarily test-optional. Kingsak thinks this new policy will modify the process by which colleges differentiate applications.

“Colleges started announcing that they were going test-optional throughout last summer,” Kingsak said. “It was really like pulling teeth, because colleges like having that number because they don’t have to read through every application. With a 1560 and a 1390, they are probably just going to take the 1560. Take away those numbers, and now they have to figure out how to compare those two applications.”

While tests are now optional, Pulido recognizes the large role scores still play in the admission process.

“I do think that over the next five to 10 years that standardized testing is going to be something that’s eliminated from the process altogether,” Pulido said. “But for the current term, even in the next two, three, four, five years, I do think that it’s still going to be a piece of the puzzle, because so many things have been tied to standardized testing, such as US News and World Rankings, in addition to just anything that trustees care about or that the colleges really want to emphasize to show who is on their campus.”

However, Kingsak’s advice to Marksmen who will be entering the college scene is to attempt the SAT and rival ACT at least once.

“We here at St. Mark’s definitely say to take both the SAT and ACT once just to have a base score, and you can dictate the future from there,” Kingsak said. “If the score is not within the college threshold’s fifty percent, then you can choose not to send it. If it is in that threshold, then you are welcome to send it or try to improve upon that score.”

Another factor in entering Veronica Pulido the college scene is college College visits, which were virtual. Most colleges are hosting Counseling Director informative webinars and meet and greets to get to know admission officers and professors. Pulido recommends taking advantage of these opportunities.

“It’s never too early to start visiting, but because of the virtual potential or ability at this point, we highly encourage freshmen, sophomores, juniors to take advantage of virtual programs at your own time at your own pace,” Pulido said. “Ultimately many of these are recorded and so it’s just like a podcast, you can listen to it, you can find it when you have time and you can fast forward if you really don’t want to hear the whole thing.”

STORY Toby Barrett, Shreyan Daulat GRAPHIC Jonathan Yin

10 percent increase in overall applications

9percent increase in application to applicant ratio

21.3 percent increase in Southwest state applications 6.1 percent increase in Mid-Atlantic state applications

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PROCRASTINATION

SLIPPERY SLOPE

A computer is full of easy ways to ignore a mounting pile of assignments. Try closing all tabs before beginning homework to increase productivity. up, especially when you have plenty of time to deal with it, there’s a good chance If you don’t know how to properly resize graphics, don’t even try, just text me. 469 688 2858. I will hunt you down if you fuck it up. Due date or do-date? Delete this before importing by the way While it may be nicknamed "The Marksman way" by students, putting assignments off can only you decide, ‘I can totally do this.’” Damour said. “Other times, the only way we're really lead to negative consequences in the future. It's time for students to learn to prioritize work going to accomplish something is if we have and to avoid the easy trap of pushing things off until tomorrow. time pressure — that’s where the Pomodoro technique comes into play.”

Check. Pechersky gives a wide variety of causes Junior Nicholas Koch has been time-

Clinical psychologist Dr. Lisa Damour for procrastination — poor organizational skills, segmenting his homework since eighth grade, slices her black ballpoint pen through a inability to focus, fatigue, lack of motivation and a without even knowing the strategy had a name. drawing of a little red tomato on her calendar. lack of understanding of the material can all lead to “I use an app called Forest,” Koch said. “It

Just a few weeks ago, she discovered a new putting off work until the last minute. sounds stupid, but it’s worked really well for me. strategy to avoid procrastination — the Pomodoro “We as a school try to establish some Each time you need to focus, you plant a tree and set technique, named after the Italian word for "tomato." organizational study skills over time,” Pechersky a timer. If you stay in the app, your tree will grow. The base model is simple: 25 minutes of focus and a said. “Our teachers are aware of what our kids are If you leave the app in the middle of a session, it’ll five-minute break. Stack six of these in a single day,. capable of doing developmentally. They wouldn’t die.” and you’ve got almost three hours of uninterrupted ask a fifth-grader to write a research paper without Koch and Damour both find motivation by work. breaking it down into manageable steps and giving watching the clock tick down.

Next time you sit down to do your homework, them reasonable timelines. Learning these types of “Your job is just to put your nose to the open the clock app on your phone. Navigate to the skills early allows a student to be better prepared grindstone for 25 minutes,” Damour said. “Don’t look timer section. Set a timer. later to take on a larger project more independently.” at anything else — just do the thing. When I have that

Maybe it’s an hour. Maybe it’s ten minutes. ‘Senioritis,’ as it’s referred to around campus, is moment of ‘I hate this,’ I look at the phone. I see those

The key is to give work your undivided the phenomenon of seniors relaxing their standards ten minutes and 38 seconds, and I tell myself to keep attention — you’d be surprised how fast a daunting for schoolwork after the first semester and college going because it’s really not that long.” task turns into an easy one. applications come to a close. Outside of time pressure, another way students “It’s easy to want to take a breath and just enjoy can avoid procrastination is to think very carefully To Julie Pechersky, coordinator of academic life when you finally get that college acceptance about how they approach their work. support, procrastination is a problem some — which I very much appreciate — but seniors “Some people use the ‘swallow the frog’ Marksmen face that can ultimately lead to bigger have to find ways to keep themselves motivated,” approach,” Damour said. “It’s where you tackle issues as it relates to their health Pechersky said. “An easy way is to stick to the the hardest things first and leave the easier, more By the and well-being. nightly routine that they’ve established. Hopefully, enjoyable tasks for the end of the night. I like to numbers “I feel that procrastination they’ve selected classes they have a genuine interest start with the easier tasks simply so I can thin 75 exists in every school and work environment to some extent,” Pechersky said. “Our school is in because seniors have the opportunity for a more personalized schedule.” down my to-do list. In the end, it all comes down to preference.” Cutting out procrastination can help pave percent of upper rigorous and has a consistent For people of all ages, Damour traces the the road to an easier, more relaxed life. Better school students nightly load of homework, psychological aspect of procrastination to avoidance. time management skills come with a multitude of think they have a which can make procrastination “We avoid something because it makes us advantages. serious problem more of an issue for some boys." anxious, whether it feels like a big project or a “I think the biggest plus is that it helps people with procrasti- Waiting until the last difficult project,” Damour said. “What's so tricky is feel in control,” Damour said. “On the days when nation minute affects more than just that, in the short term, avoidance alleviates anxiety I’m hitting the Pomodoros that I need to, just academic performance. because you get an immediate relief. Your brain tells crossing them off, I feel like I'm in charge of my "Procrastination leads to stress and anxiety, you, ‘Hah! It went away!’” attention. That [control is] the piece doesn't get staying up too late and not getting the sleep you That short-term relief is a fraud. Putting discussed nearly enough.” need," Pechesky said. "It can become a vicious cycle something off gives it time to grow in your mind, that can take a long-term toll on a person's ability to becoming larger and scarier. STORY Austin Williams, Keshav Krishna get through the day mentally.” “I think you’d find if you opened an assignment GRAPHIC Jonathan Yin

Chinese New Year celebrations go forward as previously planned

by Myles Lowenberg

With events in classes and a paper cutting competition, the Chinese New Year celebrations on campus continued despite problems caused by both the COVID-19 pandemic and blackouts owing to the winter storm.

The President of the Chinese club, senior Matthew Ho, helped organize the festivities.

“The first [activity] was for the entire school, which was the paper cutting competition,” Ho said. “Our second competition was only for the current Marksmen taking Chinese in Upper School and Middle School. We created this fun trivia Google Forms competition, and we chose a couple winners and had some prizes we gave out to them.”

When he was planning the celebrations, Ho couldn’t have one of the main traditions for Chinese New Year happen at school.

“With the pandemic, we had to really think about going away from our normal way of celebrating, which is usually with food.” Ho said. “But we’re not exactly able to share and give out food.”

Senior Shiv Yajnik was the winner of the paper cutting competition, a prominent form of art in Chinese culture.

“I would compare [paper cutting] to calligraphy, because it’s something that is very easily accessible. The materials for it are not hard to afford,” Yajnik said. “Of course, actually doing paper cutting is another thing.”

Yajnik had no previous experience with Chinese paper cutting, but he was still able to make his winning design in the form of a dragon.

“I cut out a dragon, and then in the middle of it, towards the head, I cut out a character which is supposed to represent the appearance of a dragon in flight,” Yajnik said. “I also inserted a character that means a roar of thunder. Dragons in Chinese culture are often responsible for bringing rain.”

Chinese instructor Janet Lin was one of the judges in the Chinese papercutting competition.

“[Yajnik] put in a lot of effort and a lot of details," Lin said. "Paper cutting can become very time consuming, and I think he crafted it in very good detail.”

In the end, the celebrations went on here despite the difficulties.

“It’s pretty tough because Chinese people would like to get together and have fun,” Lin said. “But with the pandemic, we just have to do what we can.” March 11, 2021