Should I wait to apply to college until the end of my senior year?Answered
My school dicked me over. With the start of this pandemic, we got canceled almost immediately, and students were given the Non-Traditional Instruction day packets (we get a huge packet full of work for our classes, they are worth grades and you have to turn them in). I didn't have a way to reliably access the internet at the time, I was given paper packets. I also live far away from my school so a woman was showing up to pick them up. But she wildly inconsistent. She would drop off a week worth of packets then show up two days later and ask where the hell it was at. After I would tell her it wasn't done, she would then not show up for two whole weeks. She drops off the last week of packets and then never shows up again. Just never. This was in late May and I was hoping all throughout June she would show up. Never did. I try contacting someone at my school and nothing. I can't reach my student email so there goes emailing anyone and I've tried calling the school and nothing. Nothing at all.
This was all long before our first case in my county and even then, there were none in my town.
Since I am a rising Junior, I'm debating waiting until near the end of my senior year and applying then when I have a chance to improve my GPA, SAT/ ACT scores, and extra-circulars. Is the right course of action to take?
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2 answers
Apply before winter break as you can email the admission office at the schools of your choice and explain the situation but be formal about it and it should not be counted against you.
This is probably not good advice for ivy caliber schools but any school that isn’t Michigan or Harvard caliber you should be fine.
If using common app use additional info
Colleges will most likely be understanding if you had a drop in grades due to the pandemic. Some may weigh Spring 2020 less, or throw them out entirely. If you have a plan for what you'd do in a gap year and actually want to take one, then you can apply later, but there's no need to not apply because you were negatively impacted by the circumstances. You can explain the situation in the Additional Information section of the Common App. While it's certainly nice to have more time to boost your grades, test scores, and ECs, remember that many students are in the same boat as you - they also didn't have as much time to improve those components due to the pandemic.
Hope this helps, and good luck!
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Oof, I'm a rising Junior too. This summer is probably the best time for us to try and boost our SAT/ACT scores (I would say use the Khan practice, but if internet is still an issue, get a huge practice book and try to do those instead). My extracurriculars were sparse these past two years, but with the ones I've had so far, I'm trying to collect my thoughts. That way it'll be easier for future me to write about them! Good luck with the packet thing, that sounds really stressful... :/