PERRYSBURG, Ohio — Applying to college has changed drastically over the course of the past two years due to COVID-19 impacting many high schools across the country.
Perhaps one of the biggest changes college advisors have noticed is that many colleges and universities aren't requiring ACT or SAT scores to be submitted. In the past some schools have required a certain score for admission, which really put an emphasis on testing.
"It means that there is much more of an emphasis on a student's high school grades now than they were before! Colleges will be looking at the rigor of a student's curriculum. Have they taken advantage of advanced placement or honors classes, how did they perform in those classes?" said Lindsay Czech, a College Advisor at Perrysburg High School.
Additionally changes to in-person and remote learning have impacted how colleges and universities look at a student's grades and involvement.
Some are putting more of an emphasis on letters of recommendations or admissions essays because those cannot be influenced by COVID-19.
"Colleges are very aware of how COVID-19 has impacted high school life! I think there is kind of a big star next to last school year with so many high schools doing remote learning, and colleges are very aware that many students struggled with that" said Czech.
One thing that has not changed in a students favor, the price of college. While there might be more scholarships becoming available, prices are either staying the same or increasing every year.