Navigating college with learning differences

Navigating college when your child has learning differences can be challenging. This piece highlights some of the important skills students need to be successful academically. Most critically, students need to understand how they learn and be willing to ask for what they need. The right support will help students scaffold the skills that they need and are developing.

https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-college-accommodations-academic-services/

Virtual college visits during the pandemic

As families and colleges rely more heavily on virtual visits, some schools are working hard to make the experiences more personal. They have increased their availability and increased both staff and students to be able to answer questions and give prospective students a better sense of the school. Colleges are starting to understand that in the pandemic, they must do more to stand out, since traditional visits are challenging. Worcester Polytechnic Institute is doing a particularly good job at revamping their virtual tour and accessibility. This article is makes some good points about how colleges are responding to the pandemic this winter and what some implications are for issues like college visits and standardized testing.

https://www.highereddive.com/news/colleges-get-a-crash-course-in-digital-recruiting-during-the-pandemic/594236/

Implications of colleges suspending testing requirements permanently

Many colleges became test optional last year and this year because of Covid-19 and students' inability to reliably access testing. More colleges are making that change permanent which has a direct impact on who applies and the number of applications that colleges receive overall. This article is a good discussion of the impacts of colleges pulling back on requiring standardized testing for admission.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/harvard-uva-sat-act-requirement-college-applications/2021/01/29/90566562-6176-11eb-9430-e7c77b5b0297_story.html

Early applications are up again: implications for current admissions cycle and other trends

As the coronavirus continues to impact the college application and selection process, some patterns have emerged over the last year and suggest implications for the 2021 admissions cycle and perhaps beyond. Most notably, colleges have received a much higher number of early decision and early action applications, resulting in both a lower acceptance rate for early applications and fewer spots for regular decision applicants. Many colleges are currently test optional, prompting students to apply who might not otherwise do so if test scores were required. As recently as last week, the College Board announced that both the essay portion of the SAT, and SAT subject tests, would no longer be used. Finally, it is notable that applications from low income households are down and colleges are working hard to try and draw in those applicants for whom college might not be affordable, especially given the effects of the coronavirus. Several of these issues are discussed in the article below:

https://www.road2college.com/early-decision-acceptance-rates/