Hi folks,
I’m a HS senior going through the famously lovely college application process. Had it not been for COVID-19, I would have no doubt in my mind about my academic potential (or lack thereof), and selected my schools accordingly. I can’t see myself ending up anywhere more prestigious than my mid-tier state school (FAU in this case).
HOWEVER, the virus added a whole new element to the ballgame for me…
I’m fortunate enough to attend a high school which offered the SAT for free to all seniors back in September, and even more fortunate to have scored rather well on it (760 E | 670 M | 1430 C). I also squirmed my way into an ACT exam in April and fared similar ( 26 M | 36 R | 35 E | 29 S | 32 C).
These scores are without a doubt the best thing about my application. My weighted GPA is a 3.4, and I have decent extracurriculars along with an average teacher recommendation. Nothing exemplary in those departments. Which is why had it not been for the pandemic I would’ve been eagerly awaiting an acceptance letter from FAU or, less likely, UCF.
But now I think I can do better.
As messed up as it may sound, I believe I can work this in my favor. For example, I’m aware public universities in my home state of Florida, UF and FSU in particular, are mandated to require standardized test scores despite the virus.
As a result, according to some seemingly reliable online sources UF has seen an admissions drop of nearly 25% (!!) from past years. This is no doubt due to many qualified students unable to apply because of lack of access to standardized testing opportunities.
I’m in the opposite boat. While FSU may have been a higher level target for me, if not for the pandemic UF would have been as far out of my league as Fiona (in human form at least) is to Shrek. And I intend to take full advantage of that. My UF application is coming along beautifully, and I have a good feeling about hearing back from them in a couple months.
Meanwhile, I’m seeking other colleges, universities, or systems which would have previously been beyond reason given my credentials that now just might be within reach. Who knows, I just might be able to weasel myself in somewhere out of my league. I could be the 17 year old Shrek.
I’m seeing plenty of information online about schools which have gone test-optional for the fall 2021 cycle, but fail to find any about schools which have NOT.
If you have any info on this that could help me out it would be heavily appreciated.
And if you don’t, please don’t unload on me for being a bad person for exploiting a lethal virus. I know.
Thank you