Whenever I am stressed or things around me are uncertain, I rely on two things for clarity: FACTS and ACTION. The coronavirus has thrown a monkey wrench into things; here is what you need to know and what steps you can take to cope, move forward and yes, even thrive.
Testing
In addition to affecting your school schedule, the coronavirus has also impacted SAT and ACT test dates. See below for announcements from these organizations. If you were/are registered for a canceled or rescheduled test date, you should receive communication directly from the testing agency regarding next steps and options. Your best course of action is to register NOW for upcoming tests. There is good news: there are still several test dates on the calendar that will work for students and more and more colleges are moving to “test optional” decisions. Overall, it’s likely colleges will be flexible in the upcoming admissions season given the disruption the virus has caused.
For now, there have been no changes to the schedule for AP testing, but the College Board is considering in-home testing and other changes so that students can continue learning and test. Here is the latest news on AP testing: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/about-ap/news-changes/coronavirus-update. Students should check email regularly for any additional updates.
High School Classes & College Planning
Many of you are now doing online school, some for the first time. While it might feel odd, I’m thankful that many of you can continue classes at home. This will at least help you keep some sense of routine, which is helpful during a crisis like this. But will being out of school affect your journey to college? The short answer is, we don’t yet know exactly what will happen, but remember that this is affecting EVERYONE, including colleges and their admissions staffs. Colleges won’t hold against you anything that is out of your control - but they WILL hold you accountable for things that you CAN control.
Things you can control:
How you use your time during this period
The choices you make
Your level of effort
Your attitude
So, what to do?
Keep up with your studies. If you find it challenging, connect with your friends, teachers, and counselor (virtually of course) for support.
Stay current with your college planning & assignments. Have you finished your YouScience assessment (or do you know what you do well and what your career interests are)? How’s your research going on what majors you find interesting? Have you come up with your top 10 criteria for your college search? How’s your college research coming? There are lots of steps still to come in your college journey and now is a great time to make some progress. If you’re not sure what you’re supposed to be working on, reach out and ASK me (or your high school counselor if you’re not a client).
Teacher relationships: This spring, juniors will ask at least two teachers to write letters of recommendation for them. Your teachers are available now like never before; reach out to them and engage with them. Ask questions. Teachers can be a lot less intimidating online than in person!
Practice: Even though SAT and ACT test dates might be up in the air, use this extra time to prepare. Take practice tests. Use online resources to prepare, including Khan Academy.
Stay connected: You may be physically isolated from your friends and classmates but here is where your digital life will work for you. Reach out to friends and share what’s happening with you. We were created to be social beings so make sure you are feeding that need.
Explore: You might find that you have some free time on your hands now that your activities are limited. What to do? Here are some suggestions:
Go to YouTube, type in “tutorial” or “how to” and learn how to do something
Call a distant family member
Reread a favorite book(s) from your childhood
Find an Excel tutorial. Knowing advanced Excel functions (VLOOKUPs, Pivot tables) is a huge resume booster and no one learns them, for the most part, until they start work. You’ll be way ahead of the game.
Learn something through online classes: MOOCs from EdX, MIT Open Courseware, Saylor, Coursera, Open Culture, Outschool, and or get a Google Cloud certification in G Suite.
Find an online discussion group like Brave Writer, which has some cool movie discussion groups for high schoolers (though those aren't free)
Read books (especially literature). It’s good for your college applications and your brain!
Watch Ted Talks.
Watch films on the American Film Institute’s Top 100 List (The Criterion Collection is available for streaming).
Learn to code through Udacity.
Take a virtual museum tour.
Develop fundamental life skills, like cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, financial literacy, sewing, ironing – all of those things that you’re going to learn in a crash course in your first year of college!
Pick up old hobbies you haven’t had time for once you started high school. Drawing, painting, or playing chess or Scrabble are great places to start.
Start a new hobby: grow a hydroponic vegetable garden, build an aquarium, organize your room like Marie Kondo, or develop an app.
Write! Did you know that many of our world’s greatest works came out of enforced “social distancing”? Look at Nicolò Machiavelli, Sir Isaac Newton, Dante Alighieri, Ernest Hemingway, Victor Hugo, Albert Einstein, and many, many more greats!
Create a YouTube channel showcasing your hidden talent.
Go for a walk in nature.
Learn how to meditate.
Build a Rube Goldberg Machine that opens the front gate for the postman.
Watch a Broadway play
Other good suggestions Social distancing doesn’t have to doom your weekends - CNN article
And finally, one of my favorite suggestions: keep a journal. Writing has many benefits, including improving your writing, spelling, and grammar, relieving stress, boosting memory and inspiring creativity. It is also very likely that the coronavirus and its aftermath will be the topic of some college supplemental essay prompts, so this is a great time to collect your thoughts and impressions.
Looking for topics to get you started? Here are some thoughts and the positive qualities that you can demonstrate with your answers:
Creativity - what problems have you encountered since COVID-19 started? What solutions have found to those problems?
Resilience - What lessons are you learning from this situation? How will those be useful to you in the future?
Service - What challenges do you see others facing? How can you help them?
Curiosity - What do you think could have been handled differently in facing this challenge? What do you want to know more about?
The bottom line: do SOMETHING. Staying engaged is critical to your mental health and well-being and has the added benefit of being something you can talk about in your college applications, interviews and beyond.
Meetings
The CollegeMadeClear office is open during this time but ALL meetings will be held by Zoom videoconference until further notice. Please choose this option when scheduling your meeting. Contact me here if you would like guidance for your student.
This virus (and its aftermath) are unprecedented but it doesn’t define you - it’s what YOU do in response that is what matters. I’m here to help you weather this storm. Contact me if you have any questions.
Stay calm and stay CLEAR!
Anne