Inspiring Women Magazine May 2021

SPONSORED INSIGHTS PROFILE
How COVID-19
Redefined US College
Admissions!
Bill Short, of The Short List,
discusses the current challenges of
college admission
US COLLEGE ADMISSIONS
“Some Elite Colleges Review an
Application in 8 Minutes
(or Less)”
Wall Street Journal
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic altered US
college admissions in ways experts agree will have
long-lasting effect. Last spring, just as 2020 high
school graduates were receiving admissions
decisions, high schools and colleges went into
lockdown for the remainder of the semester. It
quickly became clear lockdowns would extend well
into the 2020-2021 academic year.
2020-2021 A YEAR OF UPHEAVAL
Internationally-based families hesitated having their
children start university studies virtually from home.
Those who could travel to the USA were denied F-1
student visas if their school of choice was not
operating in-person learning. The result was a
staggering 43% drop in new enrollments as students
opted to take gap year deferrals. Harvard, the most
selective university in the world with just 1,500 first
year students, saw 354 of their accepted applicants
defer to fall 2021, reducing the number of spots
available for 2021 high school graduates by more
than one-fifth.
This was happening while 2021 high school
graduates were entering the process and being
assigned a high school college advisor. The
challenges were immediate as administrators,
students and teachers struggled to adjust to virtual
technology, experienced connectivity issues or found
it near impossible to build personal relationships.
Families felt unsupported and adrift in a sea of
confusion. Independent counseling services like The
Short List were suddenly in great demand as families
struggled to understand and navigate a rapidlychanging
virtual process.
TEST OPTIONAL POLICIES
The first impact was immediate as standardized
testing sites closed worldwide, and colleges and
universities responded by implementing testoptional
policies. These policies were largely
responsible for generating a 24% increase in
international applications as the class of 2021
viewed the elimination of testing as an opportunity
to apply to schools they otherwise would never have
considered. NYU alone received over 100K
applications.
The Short List saw a different opportunity. We
advised students to work with our test prep tutors
and register for any open test site possible. Most
were able to take the test at least once. We
encouraged those who scored well to submit their
scores, while advising those who did not score well
to take advantage of the test-optional policy. In the
2020-2021 cycle, only 44% of all applicants
submitted test scores vs. 77% the previous year. Just
as we suspected, those who did submit competitive
test scores were admitted at much higher rates,
despite it being a test-optional year.
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