Last week, fourteen presidents from various colleges around the U.S. virtually met with Vice President Mike Pence and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The conversation was about what kind of support college campuses will need in order to safely reopen in the fall. We know that colleges are risk-averse, but they’re also large financial institutions that need money to keep the wheels in motion. It’s a difficult balance to strike, and making decisions about reopening is forcing colleges to factor in issues and outcomes that they have not previously dealt with.
Gap Year Because of Coronavirus?
With the world turning upside down and questions of how universities will safely open for the fall semester growing by the day, a lot of families are considering taking a gap year. Many students considering whether or not they should take a gap year or defer are wondering what the colleges are saying. To be frank, no one has concrete answers on what the future holds for incoming college freshmen (at least not in the immediate future.) But we can offer some advice as to what we think the next year should (or shouldn’t) look like for your student:
Common Application Essay Question About the Coronavirus/COVID-19
On May 12th, College Board announced that the 2020-2021 Common App application would be different. In addition to the standard Additional Information section, there will be an additional optional 250-word question focused on COVID-19. We think this is a very important and necessary move to make the college application process fairer. All students are dealing with extraordinary circumstances, and many need room to explain how their situation is particularly trying.
College Admission Essay Topics to Avoid
The college essay brainstorm process can be overwhelming when you feel as if there are so many different directions that you can head towards. In an effort to help you cross some ideas off of your list, we put together a list of topics that should be avoided. Keep reading if you’re hoping to fine-tune your list of thoughts:
Advice and Analysis on Forming a College List During Covid-19
We have written at length about creating college lists. It’s a long process that requires an honest look at your grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities – and a healthy dose of introspection about what you’re really looking for in a college experience. And in the age of the Coronavirus, a lot of new information is circulating. Cornell went test optional, the SAT is on hold for the next few months, and it’s safe to say that the college admissions process is going to look slightly different this year. However, when it comes to creating your final college list, conventional wisdom still applies. What does that mean? It means that you shouldn’t necessarily tier yourself up a notch and create an unrealistic list of schools to apply to just because you’re a junior during Covid-19. If you didn’t have the grades and scores to apply to Harvard in January, you’re not suddenly viable because of a global pandemic. We realize this may sound harsh. But we tell you this so that you can apply to suitable schools and not waste your time on applications that won’t result in an acceptance letter.
Best Online Summer Computer Science Classes 2020
In addition to extracurricular activities and applying to jobs and internships, we have always encouraged our TKG clients to enroll in online courses in their areas of academic interests. A lot of high school students overlook them because they feel that they don’t get “credit” for taking them, when it reality taking an online course is an excellent way to further your passions. When you’re interested in a broad discipline, at some point you’re going to need to define your niche. Online classes help to do that, while introducing students to new topics they might not have heard of before. They’re also free, and are an especially great tool for anyone who is curious about basically anything.
Best Online Summer Courses 2020 for High School Students Interested in Biology
We’ve written about the benefit of enrolling in online courses in the past. We’ve always known that colleges care about how you spend your free time, and that is especially true in the age of Coronavirus. If you take a look at how you’re spending your days during this new normal, we’re willing to bet that you could allocate a few of those hours you spend learning Tik Tok dances to advancing your skillset. Start by thinking about what you enjoy learning about when no one is forcing you to do so. If the answer to that question is biology, this blog post is for you. Below you’ll find a few of our favorite biology courses that are being offered online right now, meaning that you can sign up today.
Should I Study for the SAT or ACT?
These are incredibly uncertain times. For students in particular, it might be difficult to get through knowing that the four years of high school you had pictured your whole life are altered and that the prospect of college hangs in the balance, too. But even as the world around us is changing and simultaneously pausing before our eyes, we strongly recommend avoiding the tendency to rest on your laurels. A lot of parents are wondering whether or not it’s worth their sophomores and rising juniors to study for SATs and ACTs in the fall. After all, we don’t know if they’re going to happen as planned. We recommend students stay the course. Here’s why:
Colleges Reopening in Fall 2020
A few days ago, the Harvard Crimson published an article titled, ‘Harvard Will Be Open for Fall 2020,’ Provost Writes, Ruling Out Delay Until Spring. The piece lays out Harvard’s current status on reopening campus, the different options they are considering, and how there is one thing they are definitively not going to do. Harvard will not be delaying the fall semester. “Whether on campus or virtually,” the Provost wrote, “Harvard will resume teaching and research in fall 2020.”
Should I take the AP Tests for AP Courses I'm Not Taking?
Advanced Placement, or AP, courses began in the 1950s and quickly became an opportunity for American high school students to take “college-level” courses while before going to college. Depending on how you performed on the AP exams associated with each course, you could even get college credit or skip ahead, bypassing entry-level classes for more challenging coursework once you were on campus.
Colleges Should Become Test-Optional During the Coronavirus/COVID-19 Pandemic
Standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT are not fortune-telling devices. We know this. Standardized tests do an okay job, at best, measuring what a student can remember in a given moment under a particular set of testing conditions. However, the ability of the SAT or ACT to measure academic potential is very much in question. We know that these tests do not show what students are capable of achieving when they have access to the time and resources necessary to succeed.
How to Study for the SAT and ACT During Coronavirus/COVID-19
It was only a few weeks ago that College Board insisted that the June 6th SAT test date was set in stone. A lot has changed since then, and, unsurprisingly, the June 6th test date was tossed in the trash. ACT is also having to think on their toes, and while they still have two summer test dates scheduled, we would be surprised if they happen. Students most likely won’t be able to take either of these two crucial tests until the fall — and even that isn’t guaranteed! We’re getting a lot of questions about how to deal with SAT and ACT prep given the frequent schedule shifts and test date uncertainty, so here is our best advice:
How to Build a College List During the Coronavirus/COVID-19
Coronavirus/COVID-19: Will College Start in the Fall?
On April 12th, Kim Weeden, Professor of Social Sciences and Chair of the Sociology Department at Cornell tweeted out some pretty jarring visualizations. Professor Weeden and fellow Cornell Professor Ben Cornwell had decided to put the concept of Six Degrees of Separation to the test on college campuses. When Professor Weeden shared the summary of their findings on Twitter, complete with colorful data visualizations, people took notice.
How Going Test Optional Affects Colleges
As we mentioned earlier, a number of colleges have opted to go test-optional for this year’s round of applications. As more and more upcoming SAT and ACT test dates are canceled, scheduling and access issues are becoming more widespread.
Summer Internships During the Coronavirus/COVID-19 Pandemic
Our students have had some pretty spectacular internships. We’ve had students work in labs conducting scientific research, join the engineering team at ground-breaking start-ups, and serve at nonprofits. They’ve spent their summers contributing to published papers and working alongside well-known artists. These activities and opportunities grew their interests and augmented their applications. As usual, we helped our clients line up some pretty awesome internships for the summer of 2020.
Cornell University is Test-Optional because of Coronavirus/COVID-19
While many schools--including many highly competitive institutions like Williams, Amherst, and Tufts--have announced that they will be test-optional for the 2020-2021 application season, the Ivies were staying silent on the matter. Until Wednesday, when Cornell announced that they were following suit. This is big news. But what does it all mean?! How do we contextualize this? Here are our thoughts:
Creating Hobbies in Quarantine When You’re a Junior in High School
Junior year is stressful enough, so to add a global pandemic to your junior spring seems like a real rotten cherry to throw on top of a truly melted ice cream sundae covered in rancid nuts. Weird imagery, but we’re kind of right? We really feel for all of the juniors who had epic spring break college tours planned and who now are stuck at home wondering how to fill their time when they aren’t teaching themselves AP Calculus. We want to convey something to you and we really hope you hear us when we say: IT IS GOING TO BE OKAY. It really is. Take a breath. Repeat it with us: it’s going to be okay. And here’s why:
Creating Hobbies in Quarantine When You’re a Sophomore in High School
Hi and welcome to day 500 for Quarantine. How are you? You just started to get used to high school and now THIS. So fun. Sophomore year is sort of a weird year to begin with, are we right? You’re no longer a freshman, so you *get* what this is all about. But the pressure of junior year isn’t quite on. And to top it off, the end of your sophomore year is being spent in quarantine. Or while social distancing and remote learning. It’s a limbo period for our psyches and our spirits, for sure. But, it’s important to not think of this time as a limbo period for your interests, hobbies, and extracurricular pursuits. We hear you rolling your eyes. We know.
Creating Hobbies in Quarantine When You’re a Freshman in High School
Welcome to 2020. It’s an odd time. You’re stuck at home, learning and getting graded via Zoom or something similar, probably doing the dishes and way more chores than you’d anticipated, and you’re a freshman in high school. What a weird way to start off your high school experience, huh?! We’re right there with you.