@NateandAllisMom We had our 9/26 SAT test canceled and wasn’t even local to us. The location was about 2.5 hours away outside the SF Bay Area. Our HS is looking into getting a SAT test date for seniors in the month of October, but that’ll likely happen when pigs fly.
We still have scheduled SAT test dates for October and November, but those will probably be canceled too.
@Momof0ne crickets here too. I just gave up and emailed her counselor and the assistant principal (with D21s permission!). My kid will need every day of that few weeks until 10/7 to get her stuff together and we are looking at several associated full ride or nearly full ride schools (UTD, UCF, Arizona) so it’s super important!
It now looks like all of D21’s SAT registrations are cancelled. March and August were cancelled and now September, October and November are as well.
She has a score from Sept 2019 that was intended as a baseline test. Her EBRW was very good, but she worked too slowly on the math section. We had been really hoping for another test to boost that math score.
Ugh. We’re done.
Sorry! I get it. This is us as well. S21 took it once - Oct 5 2019, intended as a baseline. EBRW 90 points higher than math. EBRW just below (10-20 points) 75th percentile at most schools on his list, but Math right at 25th percentile for most of his schools. Tests he was registered for cancelled 4 times in a row. And then one of his schools (where he was below the 25th for Math) went test blind last week, and we decided we’re done.
Would appreciate your input wrt the Covid prompt. None of the FAQ’s apply verbatim to S21’s situation but…
S21 has been in a joint public school/Vanderbilt program since Freshman yr. It is an official thing with HS credit on his HS transcript but, for common app, it is deemed an EC. It culminates with a research project that would be entered into the Regeneron Science Talent Search. Every year, 1-4 from this Vandy program are Regeneron semifinalists so there was a decent chance that S21 could have gotten some recognition.
The timeline was: Spring 2020: assigned to research Lab & develop plan for personal research project. Summer 2020: complete project. Fall 2020: prepare Regeneron submission.
He got to spend only a few weeks (1 day/wk) in the lab before shutdown. He was able to do some minor remote work with the lab but he’s essentially 6 months behind the expected timeline. And getting further behind since the Vandy lab is still remote only. We expected this research project, regardless of how he did in Regeneron, to be his Big Thing on college/scholarship apps.
Thoughts on if/how to address this in common app?
@seoace, based on the general discussion here, seems to me it it would be safest to highlight this project (and the lab shutdown) in the additional comments section. Good Luck!
Finally found the Texas list and D21 is on it! Yippee!! Nothing from school though. 
My 2 cents for what it is worth, I don’t think the COVID question is a landmine or tricky. It is not there for anyone to write what they would have done if not for COVID. They can find somewhere else to put that if it is something that would strengthen the application. It is meant to provide an opportunity for people to explain if something went awry explicitly connected to COVID that without a place to explain would leave your application with a potentially negative perspective. If your grades took a downturn because your parents had COVID and you had to babysit your siblings while they were remote schooling thereby reducing your ability to focus on your classes / studies. This would enable an AO to put what they see on the application / transcript in the context of an extenuating circumstance over and above what every other typical high school student was experiencing. Anyone else should not use this space just because it is available. It will likely produce a roll of the eyes and the AO will no doubt get a sense of the student which may be not what was intended. I would say proceed at your own risk but if you did not have significant hardship it may come across as entitled. I guess everyone needs to weigh it up. In spite of very noteworthy items that my child was unable to compete in on an international stage there is no way we are putting anything in that box.
^^ couldn’t agree more!
D21 threw me for a loop as she was heading out to work this afternoon. (Love that timing.) She said she isn’t sure she wants to go to a college that’s smaller than her high school (2200 students). That would knock off half of her top 10 list. Looking for thoughts from any of you who’ve had kids (or yourself) go to schools smaller than high school. We’ll hopefully talk when she gets home tonight, but in the mean time, interested in what you folks have to say. Thanks.
We’re in a similar boat. The plan wasn’t to enter a competition, but my D had been invited to help in a lab doing some really cool (to me) research. The lab has mostly been closed and what they are doing is Phd students that need something to graduate. She’s helped out a little, but the reality is it’s all not happening.
It looks like her plan is to talk about what she missed out on briefly and have the head of the lab write a LOR. Obviously she didn’t do anything in the lab, but hopefully this will convey what she was capable of. Yeah, not the best.
She was also invited to a free fly in program at a top school. For that one we’re trying to get the school counselor to mention it. Again, hoping it paints a picture of what could have been.
Just got notified SAT in October is canceled here…again. S21 has not taken it yet. (He’s been scheduled monthly since March). He’s very frustrated. (As am I). Many of the schools he applied to are test blind but a few are not. Also some that had waivers still said they would need a score for Merit Scholarships. This just makes it so much more complicated.
For a different perspective than the one expressed by many here regarding the COVID essay -
Take a look at College Essay Advisor’s “How to Write the Common App’s New ‘Optional’ COVID Essay.”
Also see The College Essay Guys “How to Write About Coronavirus /COVID-19 in your College Essay and Application.”
Also, Georgia Tech’s Admission Blog’s August 28 post “To Answer or Not Answer the College Admission COVID-19 Question” - and especially see number 3 in that blog post about not overthinking this.
In Rick Clark’s words - "Please do not overthink this. We’ve already gotten way too many calls and emails about this question. I’m willing to put money on these two statements at any college around the country: First, if you put something down that a reader does not think is relevant, they’re just going to move on. It’s not going to hurt you and it’s not going to keep you from being admitted…Honestly, I wish someone would develop an emoji that equates to: “I’m not BS’ing you here,” because if I had that, I’d put about nine of them here at the close. ”
I am not including links since I am not sure that’s allowed, but the above is easily found using Google. I have read other such advice as the above on other links.
Hope the above is helpful for folks.
@Creaky What timing - never a dull moment in this journey, right? I am in a similar situation where my kids are looking at LACs that are smaller than their high school. I just happened upon this thread - even though it starts out talking about athletics, there are some responses I found helpful and relevant: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/admissions-hindsight-lessons-learned/2195150-big-hs-into-small-lacs.html.
@marshmallo I’m not a big fan of Greek life but did not feel that it would be an issue at Denison. If I remember correctly, they have a significant portion of their students that participate, but the sororities are all non residential. I feel that that can make a big difference at a small school.
CWRU was a surprise to us too, but the first college we visited that she immediately took a liking to. In retrospect, I think it reminded her a bit of our hometown. We live in a small city with a high proportion of engineers but also with a thriving arts and architecture scene. Case had it all… parks, museums, STEM students, humanities students, old buildings right next door to crazy modern buildings. I don’t think I would have had the maturity at 17 to appreciate everything it had to offer, but D certainly did. She communicated with some professors before our 2nd visit and they were all very encouraging and responsive. She sat in on Psych, theatre and music classes and loved that the professors included her and that the students were engaged.
She liked but didn’t love Wooster on our first visit. I immediately thought it was a great fit for her. 8 AM on a Saturday morning, our student guides looked like they had just rolled out of bed and thrown on whatever clothes they found on the floor of their rooms. Normally, that would turn me off, but they all oozed excitement and passion for the college, their Professors, academic pursuits and extracurricular activities. There was no pretense at all, just smart, genuine, passionate kids.
We returned a few months later for an interview for the College Scholar Scholarship and that was when she knew it was the right place for her. She is a very smart, high stats student, but has ADHD and has never had to work for a grade in her life. Her organization skills are awful and she knew this could be a problem in college. She wanted a nurturing, collaborative environment and after sitting in on some classes and visiting their APEX center for advising and experimental learning, she was sold. She wanted to be able to do research as an undergrad and Wooster’s Independent Study requirement seemed perfect to her. It is a very well defined program that is the capstone of the Wooster experience, that professors seem to genuinely love participating in.
She has been there about a month now, planning to major in Psychology (with additional potential double major/minors in Theatre, Music, Philosphy, Data Science, Education … who know what else!) and loves it. Despite the COVID restrictions, she is meeting people, loving her classes and finding her people.
I would say that Richmond had the most preprofessional vibe of all the schools we visited.
Most intellectual and collaborative? Probably Grinnell. Wooster is definitely collaborative and while I don’t feel that the students all come in as intellectuals, I think they become intellectuals while there 
Phew. That was quite a book. I feel for those students trying to come to these decisions without the benefit of visiting!
@Momminit Any chance you might be able to describe the vibe at Case? I feel like I keep overlooking it.
Also, for any of you wondering about Villanova, they just opened up some on-campus in-person tours (with all sorts of limitations, of course).
@Creaky S19 at Bowdoin. Our high school has about 2800 kids. He really only looked at LACs. Only universities on his list were William and Mary (OOS) and Vanderbilt. To my husband’s dismay, he didn’t like Northwestern. We are both alums and he most likely would have gotten in if he applied ED but he really wanted smaller.
I mentioned it on the other thread mentioned above but I will say that his college experience has been what he expected. It’s been really great meeting people from all over the country. It’s very different than a high school with kids who have known each other their whole lives. So many more perspectives and backgrounds in college. (We live in a very homogeneous suburb.)
One thing someone told him while he was looking at schools was that, no matter what size college you go to, you generally end up with a group of good friends of between 5-10 people. A bigger school doesn’t mean you end up with 50 best friends. Everything else he wanted for his academic experience was clearly better at a small school. He sometimes jokes that he knows everyone but it’s just that - a joke. He went to a freshmen mixer in Feb last year and told us the next day that he didn’t know anyone but the kids on his floor and his xC teammates. 500 kids per grade is still a lot of kids!
@evergreen5 – My S and I visited Case last November and he really liked it. Agree with @Momminit 's assessment in terms of physical setting with mix or old and new. I’ll add the vibe is very diverse and students seemed serious. Reminded me of Cornell that way. I don’t think it’s a big party school and not much of a sports scene.
He liked the train that takes you both downtown and to the airport. Cute little street runs through campus with some restaurants, ice cream, etc.
The freshmen dorms were pretty ugly and 70s looking from the outside but the one we saw at least had been re-done on the inside and was nice. Small rooms but nice lounge areas. We didn’t make it to the other housing areas – except saw there are some nice senior apartments that are new.
My S is def. applying but he’d need merit to attend and not sure that’s in the cards.
That’s a tough one… it was so different from both the LACs and State Universities we visited that it’s hard to pinpoint the vibe relative to other schools. I would say that the students seemed friendly but serious. If D had not felt that it was a collaborative environment, she wouldn’t have been interested in it, but I do wonder if it might be more competitive for the premed kids? DH and I are both engineers and did not get a stressed out engineering vibe from the STEM buildings.
@AlmostThere2018 - the most merit I have heard of anyone getting at Case is $32k. There are a handful of full rides, but I honestly do not know anyone who has received one of those.
Case also is near Little Italy, which has some good restaurants and cafes. The Cleveland Symphony’s Hall is on their campus, and if I remember correctly there are student discounts available. The Cleveland Art Museum is also on the campus. Both the symphony and the art museum are world class.