When Covid-19 arrived last spring, could we have imagined how it would disrupt our lives so completely? While education writ large has been affected, the impact on students applying to college has been magnified. Suddenly, the college planning process is hosted online. Annual rituals like college visits, campus interviews, and standardized testing are almost impossible. Campuses closed to visitors just as test centers shuttered their doors. Students are adjusting to hybrid models of learning with little opportunity to consider what it means for their college planning.
Students in the Class of 2020 skated by the worst of the pandemic – from a high school perspective. They were able to participate in most of the “normal” activities associated with college choice, minus the “one last revisit” to a favored campus in the spring. But 10th and 11th grade students have not had the opportunity to begin planning for college as their older classmates had. Instead, a new reality has emerged: college planning via Zoom.
So how are our students fairing? Remarkably well, my colleagues in the College Counseling Office and I have concluded. The students’ resourcefulness in combining rigorous academic work with co-curricular activities continues apace. They are demonstrating what it means to be “citizens of courage and culture,” and we couldn’t be prouder.
You are building powerful, lifelong muscles of adaptability, resilience, and vision of the future that will provide critical strength…well into life after graduation. – Rick Clark, the Director of Admission at Georgia Tech
Even if late 2021 offers a return to a modified “normal” world, what can you do now to support your child? Here are five useful tips:
- Reduce the stress: The Lycée’s College Counseling Office will begin to work with 11th grade students in earnest in the second semester. There is plenty of time to discuss college lists, virtual or in person visits (if possible), and country choice. No one is late in the process now!
- Eat, sleep, and play: Let’s put the accent mark on all three of these aspects of a healthy lifestyle. Watch for signs of undue stress in your child. Make sure they eat and get at least eight hours of sleep. And even in confinement, teenagers need to be teenagers! It’s hard without the normal social outlets, but encourage their involvement in activities they like. Community service opportunities abound online and in-person, and they are a great way for your child to “pay it forward” for those who need help now.
- Explore (gently!): Since the pandemic, colleges and universities have added so much content to their websites. You’ll find virtual tours, interviews, snippets of lectures and glimpses of campus life. Even if you can’t tour a campus in person, you can be a tourist at a distance -and with no pressure to make decisions about applying or not!
- Talk as a family: Ask your child how things are going. Know what their challenges are. Find time to laugh and relax together. It’s an old recipe, but family “game nights” (Monopoly, backgammon, etc.) can provide a chance for everyone to breathe a little easier.
- Read our College Counseling Newsletter: Later this fall, you will begin to receive it. Right now, it is delivered to 12th grade families with a focus on preparing college applications for post-secondary education. But soon, it will be your turn! You’ll find announcements of relevant virtual events to attend along with special programs offered at the Lycée, including our annual forum on preparing to apply for college, online this year, with recent Lycée graduates.
This is an extraordinary period of time, unlikely to occur again in our lifetime. It’s important to acknowledge what it means and how it has affected our students. Let me leave you with some important thoughts offered by Rick Clark, the Director of Admission at Georgia Tech, who sums it up very well:
“…take some time to appreciate all you have adjusted to over the last six months (six months!). You have demonstrated phenomenal resilience. Nobody would have chosen this situation. Any adult will tell you how sorry they are that your high school experience has been truncated or altered because of the pandemic.
And yet…and yet… you are here. You haven’t lost sight of your goals. You are undeterred. You are resolute. You are building powerful, lifelong muscles of adaptability, resilience, and vision of the future that will provide critical strength and skills as a college applicant, a college student, and well into life after graduation.”
About the Author :
Gail Berson comes to the Lycée with more than 35 years of experience in college admission and counseling. A magna cum laude graduate of Bowdoin College, she earned her master’s degree at Emerson College. She served as Vice President for Enrollment/Dean of Admission at Mount Holyoke and Wheaton Colleges, as Director of Admission at Mills College (CA), interim college counselor at Rocky Hill School (RI), and has consulted widely at a variety of colleges and independent schools. Gail, who has been a frequent speaker on college admission, is a former trustee of the College Board and currently volunteers for the World Leading Schools Association (WLSA) where she presented sessions at their summer programs in Shanghai, Jeju Island, Seoul and Prague. She also served as a past president of the Bowdoin Alumni Council. During vacations, she enjoys spending time with family and friends at her home on Nantucket.