Making the big decision of choosing a college -- or not -- in the age of COVID | Bemidji Pioneer

BEMIDJI-choosing a university-or not going at all-has never been an easy choice. In the age of COVID-19, there are more factors to consider when making this major decision.

The tour is virtual, the tour has nothing to do with social interaction, and many courses are conducted online. Nowadays, there is almost no romantic "typical university experience".

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One of the biggest decisions in many high school students' lives-whether to go to college-and how this choice is affected by the pandemic is a consultant.

Close your eyes and imagine a typical university visit. Is today a crisp autumn? Will the tour guide go backwards, perhaps paying too much attention to the behavior of the university squirrel? Did you buy a general-purpose sweatshirt marked with "school name"?

Well, things have changed. Although some universities still provide tour services, some universities only allow admitted students to tour, while others tour completely virtual, so you can browse the cafeteria and dormitory on a comfortable sofa.

Barry Cervenka, BHS College and Career Resource Consultant, said: “You can click on the virtual tour to know the appearance of the dormitory room, the food court, the appearance of the administrative and education building-so you don’t need to be on campus to get a good one. Idea."

, But there are some restrictions. Some schools like LLTC, whose campuses are still open to the public, do not offer personal visits at all.

It is strongly recommended that you make an appointment.

"We still provide tour groups. Due to different restrictions, we have to suspend tour groups in many cases. (When we visit) they are limited to two students and two guests per student." Bemidji National Admissions Bureau Director Ann Dee Wright (Andy Wright) said. "In the fall, we restrict those trips to admitted students, but starting from January this year, we will be open to all students who are interested in taking trips, because we know that there are many high school students who are trying to lead the decision-making process. "

Raymond Burns, president of LLTC, said: "The campus is physically closed, so students are not allowed to enter the campus.

. We are continuing to try to find ways to introduce the campus to students virtually, and I think what we realize is that at the right time, we will no longer need it, which is a good thing. "

Wright said that in addition to traditional tours, everything else at BSU has been conducted online from preview day to academic open day, university exhibitions and department visits.

These college visits are two-way—a large number of college admissions representatives visit high schools in the state each year. This has also changed.

Cervenka explained that zoom calls have replaced traditional high school representative visits.

He said: "During the traditional'incoordination' period, I will hold 30 to 50 games according to their schedule." "Students will be forgiven from the classroom to enter the university they are interested in and visit. Instead of actual Visited in person, and many representatives made Zoom calls."

The scope of these calls may be one student or a few students or many students talking to a representative, which Cervenka said also happened in person.

Wright said he saw this change coming, “I’ve been in the admissions field for 20 years, and when I was interviewed, I was an admissions recruiter at my first school. They said,'You see Will it change in the future? I said, “Sometimes we don’t go to high school in person. We meet them through the computer. They sit in the classroom and we sit in the office. "Now, I don't think this will cause a pandemic."

"I still think these visits are valuable. We can establish one-on-one connections because reading facial expressions and participating is very easy, but I do see an opportunity that we can continue to use the format we have," he added Up.

Both Wright and Cervenka praised universities for their flexibility and creativity when moving things online, but they both said they couldn't wait to do it in person.

Wright said: "Almost everyone in the admissions field can't wait for that time. We can communicate face to face again."

"In general, the universities have done a great job in making up for 1. The inability to visit and tour the campus. 2. Make up for their representatives' inability to come to our middle school to study," Cervenka added, but mentioned that it still cannot be compared with the real Things are on par.

Some students who might have had a vision at a large state university before COVID may now be looking for something smaller and closer. Smaller schools take note of this.

Burns said that LLTC is trying to shift the focus from what they can’t provide to what they can offer-for example, some of their main selling points (such as events and student cultural activities) cannot be achieved, but they are indeed affordable options. this time.

He said: "Some of our biggest selling points-we can't do it now." "Some students are taking advantage of the fact that universities like ours have very low tuition fees compared to other universities. They can get from our courses. Lots of (general education) credits."

Oak Hills offers face-to-face courses during this time, which is an attraction for some students whose online learning may pose a challenge. The school can still provide a smaller “college experience”.

"We are lucky that we have a great outdoor campus. It is not that huge, and because of our small size, we can still do something without breaking any rules," Leesa, vice president of development and marketing Drury said. In Oak Hill.

Wright said that in the past few years, there has been a nationwide trend of students staying closer to home when choosing college.

Oak Hills tries to take advantage of this latest trend. Drewry said: "I think it is more attractive to parents and students now."

Generally, third-year high school students in Minnesota have to take at least one ACT test in the spring of school day. Students usually have the opportunity to take the ACT or SAT on their own before or after this. However, this year is also different. Starting last spring, the opportunity to take standardized test exams has been limited.

ACT and SAT are not easy tests that can be taken online, so many students did not have the opportunity to take the test, or at least took the required number of tests.

The vast majority of universities conduct "entry test selection" in 2020 and 2021, which means that students will be considered for admission based only on their GPA, class ranking, essays and other application materials.

Both BSU and Oak Hills have conducted optional testing for at least 2020-2022. LLTC has never required ACT or SAT test scores for admission, because the school will conduct its own entrance test upon admission.

Wright said of BSU: "Most of our students have not sent us test scores." "We realize that this will be the case, so we can still choose the test-we haven't asked for it."

Wright said this option is likely to be available at BSU for many years to come.

One thing that many universities fail to consider first is whether or not test scores are needed to award scholarships, which many students rely on.

Cervinka said that one of his biggest goals is to save money for students-avoiding lifelong student loan debt. Drury from Oak Hills was satisfied with this and smiled and said that she remembered going to Cervenka’s office to advocate for universities, and he showed her a complete cabinet. The end is full of different scholarships.

"One of my jobs is to help children apply for college.

Cervenka said: "Help them complete the financial assistance program and guide them gradually from the beginning of the senior year to the end of the year."

BSU quickly realized that the test score requirement might be a problem and revised it.

"We have revised the scholarship requirements and provided an optional exam version. BSU said: "No matter which version (with or without test scores) can make students look the best, this is the version we want to use. ""It is very likely that we will give

Higher than ever before, because students in the past may not score high on the ACT/SAT, now, if we only look at their GPA, there is a chance to get the scholarship. "

BHS students do have the opportunity to participate in the ACT at school this spring-juniors can sign up until February 1st, and on March 30th at the BHS gym for $73.

With all the recent changes in the university field, some students decide not to go at all, or postpone their decision for a semester or a year.

Chervinka said some BHS students choose to wait a few years before entering university.

Cervenka said: "Due to COVID, we have seen students change their minds." "I am now very busy helping many students who helped last spring. These students graduated and applied to certain universities, and finally decided sometime this summer. "You know what, when I don’t go to the first year of university, I will spend a blank year," he said. "There is a small group of people who decide to change their university or choose to even go to university, but now they want to do it again."

Burns said that based on his experience, many students who choose to postpone do so because they feel they will miss opportunities during this time.

"I think a lot of students are just saying:'I don't spend the same money to get a completely different experience.' You can't blame the students. They want something from the university. If they don't want it, they can choose." Say.

Wright said that the number of students entering BSU is more than usual, and many people choose to postpone it for financial reasons.

"We saw more students, and they either told us that they had decided to postpone them for a semester or a year, and we also saw some students go through the entire registration process, and then because a month ago, or in some cases, The day before a semester, for various reasons, he said: "I actually won't go to university this semester. I have to wait. "

Wright said that the most common reasons for this situation are: inability to live on campus, health problems or concerns about going to college, but he believes that the most affected students are those with poor academic performance and therefore don’t get much Scholarships for learning opportunities.

"Students with stronger GPA and test score standards are more likely to continue to college, while students who perform well but are not as strong are more likely to postpone it. This may be due to financial conditions, it may be because it is only due to Generally considered," he said. "The number of outstanding scholarships we provide this year to the fall of 2020 is the same, even if we did not change the (test score) criteria at that time, (meaning) non-scholarship students did not." Sign up. "

Cervenka agreed with this and explained that the long-term decision of students who intend to go to university has not wavered, but those who want to go may have been skeptical.

He said: "Those students who track their studies in high school by taking certain courses-it can be said that someone always knows that they want to enter a certain medical field," he said. "Regardless of the use of COVID, they are continuing."