It seemed like last year, there was a great deal of talk about flexibility by admissions officers due to covid and it’s impact on applicants. I haven’t seen as much conversation regarding this for the class of 2022, even though for many, there entire junior year was impacted. For example, our district only had shortened days, yet still covered the full curriculum. Doors didn’t open until mid Jan, and that was for two half days a week. Do you think high schools make colleges aware of the covid plan for the year when they send the school profile? Teachers did their best, but learning was quite a challenge in some classes, and some grades naturally dropped.
I am sure colleges will factor the impact of covid into their overall admissions process this year. No doubt high schools will include basic info about how they handled this past year.
Understand though that there will be students who managed to excel despite the challenges. Every student in the country has been affected by covid, and there will be a space on the app to discuss that impact if needed.
Notice I say IF. Unless there is a compelling story behind the D on the transcript, it’s better to leave the space blank. Using the space to say “I struggled with the school structure during covid” is not compelling and might sound like an excuse, especially when there will be students who maintained their grades despite the challenges. If a family had no income, poor health, a death, etc…those are compelling reasons to put something in that space.
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