Page 12 - aruba-today-20220113

A12 TECHNOLOGY
Thursday 13 January 2022

Transcript gaps? Strong college

application remains possible

By COLIN BERESFORD of SO WHAT ARE COLLEGES look the same as they did
NerdWallet undefined LOOKING FOR NOW? pre-pandemic. Hawkins
Applying to college typi- As applications have says that in some cases,
cally comes with some un- changed, so has what ad- how students spent their
certainty, but this year's ap- missions officers are looking free time during the pan-
plicants are tackling one for. demic is taking the place
additional question: What A transcript filled with "pass" of the extracurricular sec-
should you do when a pan- or "credit" grades won't be tion of an application, at
demic has limited what counted against you, ad- least in the eyes of admis-
goes into your college ap- missions officers say. What sions officers.
plications? will be considered are the Some applications, includ-
Many extracurriculars, in- letter grades that are on ing the Common App a
cluding sports and clubs, your transcript, along with standardized college ap-
couldn't go on during the the classes you've taken, plication accepted at
pandemic. And many says Steve Robinson , senior roughly 900 schools can
school districts across the associate vice president for offer space to write about
country, recognizing the enrollment management your experience during the
challenges the pandemic at the University of Utah. pandemic, such as hard-
has posed, offered the "I think a lot of schools are ships you faced or a new
option for students to not looking at the academic skill you learned.
receive letter grades for rigor of what a student at- "The other thing that I've
classes they took. tempted," says Robinson. heard from admissions of-
That choice has left some "In a rural high school, may- ficers is that they've been
students with "pass" or be there aren't as many pleasantly surprised, and
"credit," or "fail" or "no (Advanced Placement) in some cases, amazed at
credit," rather than actual opportunities, or none, what students continued
grades on their transcripts. but what I can tell is that to do even while in lock-
College admissions officers the student took every- down," Hawkins says.
have been ready for these thing possible that the high YOUR BEST APPLICATION
changes since before the school offered academi- PLAYS TO YOUR STRENGTHS
current admissions cycle cally they really tried, even With the option to com-
began, says David Hawkins, if they (have pass grades)." plete certain essays or
chief education and policy As grading has changed, submit test scores, a strong
officer at the National As- so have testing require- application is one that best
sociation for College Ad- ments. Even before the shows what you've ac-
mission Counseling. pandemic, colleges be- complished.If you took the
"Admissions officers clearly gan to make submitting ACT or SAT and received
understand the challenges standardized test scores, a score that'll help bolster
that these students have such as from the ACT and your application, send it
faced because they had SAT, optional. The practice to the college you're ap-
the experiences them- spread to more schools plying to. But if you didn't
selves," Hawkins says. "They due to the difficulties the get a score you want to
were locked down just as pandemic has posed. include with your applica-
the students were." Extracurriculars also don't tion, don't include it, says
Christine Harper, associate
vice president for student
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Overall, the pandemic has
forced college admissions
officers to reevaluate their
expectations of students,
particularly since high
school students had dif-
fering access to their usual
activities, says Keri Risic, in-
terim executive director of
admissions at the University
of Minnesota. q