GineersNow Power Water July2020, COVID-19 coronavirus, quarantine water tanks, pipes, pumps, dewatering, wastewater, water treatment, utilities, utility, desalination, reverse osmosis, filtration

N E W S
S T O R I E S
How COVID-19 Is Changing College
Admissions Cycle in 2020
One of the spheres highly impacted
by the SARS-COV-2 pandemic
emergency in 2020 is higher
education. While some universities
and colleges introduced online-based classes,
a lot of the institutions lack funding to do it or
are not able to react quickly enough. At the
same time, not all of the students have constant
access to the Internet regarding that their
parents are obliged to work remotely.
Even more confusion is reserved for those who
were going to enter a college this year or make
a transfer: standardized tests SAT\ACT are
being postponed till undefined time. It is hard
to predict whether the class of 2020 will be able
to attend campuses in real life, or the academic
year will start online. Of no less importance is
the fact that international students might not be
able to get their visas since the borders are still
closed.
Standardized Tests Are Postponed, but
Some of Them Can Be Taken from Home
In order to apply to a college or a university
in the States, you need to pass one or more
standardized college admission tests. The
spring wave of SAT and ACT, tests required
for undergraduate admissions, has been
canceled, same as the national SAT previously
scheduled in early June. The destiny of the
ACT planned for June 13th remains indefinite.
The College Board is now considering the
possibility of launching at-home standardized
tests similar to the Advanced Placement
students’ examination. This approach is
effective in ensuring that the tests are held,
not depending on when the situation with the
pandemic crisis becomes more definite.
The idea of online tests has been quickly
realized by ETS, the organization providing
English assessment. Students from outside of
the States need to pass a TOEFL, and, starting
from early March, they are able to do it at home
from any part of the world. The developers of
the tests claim that the Home Edition of TOEFL
iBR is no different from an offline version of this
test as many people question themselves if it is
easier to take this test at home or not. The only
difference is that you have a human proctor
watching you through a webcam.
62