How the Pandemic has Affected College Applications

Due to the pandemic, the college application process has arguably changed quite dramatically. People’s fears became reality, and some of these alterations will prevail while some will not. 

One prominent change is the fact that almost every college switched to standardized test-optional for this year. The pandemic is expected to affect next year as well, and even the most traditionally rigorous colleges, such as MIT and Stanford, have announced their test-optional policy for this cycle’s applicants. 

Even before the pandemic, strong rumors regarding test-optional applications were floating around, and the virus served as an impetus, prompting some schools to make shifts. For instance, in May 2020, the University of California system declared its entire change to a test-blind system.

Many students are in favor of this move due to the difficulties of test-taking and the general anguish associated with SAT and ACT. 

“I hope the standardized testing policies in most colleges stay so that people don’t have to deal with the tests; it’s a really poor form of judging intellectual strength,” PVHS senior Aaron Guo said. 

To look at the more empirical aspect of the changes, it helps to look at some early statistics from colleges.

Analyzing MIT’s numbers for early admissions, the number of applicants significantly grew from 9,291 applicants last year to 15,036 this year, marking a 62% increase, presumably thanks to the elimination of standardized test requirements. 

Moreover, although the percent acceptance did decrease from 7.4% last year to 4.8% this year, that figure alone is somewhat misleading. 

MIT actually accepted 719 applicants this year compared to 687 last year and 707 the year prior, meaning that the raw number of acceptance actually increased–at least for its Early Action.

MIT is not alone in this trend. Colleges like Yale and Brown show similar tendencies. Though not all institutions increased their raw number of acceptance, the common theme is that the number of applicants significantly grew.

Of course, COVID-19 had a rather insidious effect on the overall application process.

“Not having a senior year this year took away some of my opportunities to work on things and clubs that would have benefitted my application,” Guo said, whose plans to make himself an even greater candidate were unfortunately thwarted.

The pandemic also influenced people on a more mental, emotional level.

“Being alone most of the time mde it boring and difficult to come up with ideas and write my essays, and it felt more like a heavy burden than a recall of my experiences,” Guo said.