Hott off the Press

A blog about college insights and more.


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Should seniors take SAT/ACT?

By Karen Hott, August 2020
This year more and more schools went test optional, at least for the class of 2021. With so many SAT and ACT tests getting canceled and with so few seats available in upcoming administrations, students haven’t had access to the tests. Some haven’t had even fr one shot, let alone three or more to get the highest super score possible.
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NCAA Announces Tests Not Required for Eligibility

By Karen Hott, August 2020
NCAA Eligibility Center announces flexibility in initial eligibility for 2021-22 Changes address uncertainty caused by COVID-19 August 17, 2020 11:00amMichelle Brutlag Hosick Students who initially enroll full time during the 2021-22 academic year and intend to play NCAA Division I or II athletics will not be required to take a standardized test to meet NCAA initial-eligibility requirements. ”Given the continuing
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UMD goes test optional

By Karen Hott, July 2020
The University of Maryland has joined more than 1300 other four-year universities and colleges–including Princeton, Yale, Harvard, and the University of California and Cal State systems–in making standardized test scores (ACT or SAT) optional for the class of 2021. UMD has entered this pool late, deciding to take this path just July 17, but it is perhaps inevitable as students
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Online classes to predominate this fall

By Karen Hott, July 2020
According to the July 7 journal Inside Higher Education, the University of Southern California, Harvard, Princeton, Rutgers, and Georgetown have announced that fall classes will be held primarily online, with a reduced number of students invited to be on campus. In related news, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said that immigrant students will not be able to stay in
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Common App adds special COVID-19 essay question

By Karen Hott, May 2020
Common App essays have remained unchanged for a while now, but they just added an optional essay question that will give applicants a chance to explain how the pandemic has affected them. This will be in addition to the “Additional Information” optional essay covering circumstances not otherwise addressed in the application. Below is the question applicants will see: Community disruptions
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The Future of Higher Education

By Karen Hott, May 2020
Jeff Selingo: The Future of Higher Ed—and Admissions—During and After the Coronavirus May 13, 2020             Noted author, columnist, and higher education strategist Jeff Selingo spoke at a webinar today with Mark Sklarow of the Independent Educational Consultants Association about the future of higher education in light of the coronavirus pandemic.             “All of our crystal balls are bit cloudy
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ACT plans to offer summer testing dates, online options

By Karen Hott, April 2020
ACT, Inc. published this report on April 16, 2020. Check act.org for continuing updates. ACT’s test-at-home remote proctoring launches this fall/winter for students in the U.S. IOWA CITY, Iowa—In response to uncertainty and school cancellations due to COVID-19, ACT announced today it will offer a flexible schedule for summer 2020 test dates and test-at-home options for fall/winter 2020. “Our mission
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Updates in the Age of Coronavirus

By Karen Hott, March 2020
Important updates for students planning on college: 3/25/20 (WJZ) ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland public schools will be closed through April 24, State School superintendent Dr. Karen Salmon announced on Wednesday during a press conference with Gov. Larry Hogan. . . . “We may look at extending the year,” Salmon said, when asked about summer school. She also said that officials are looking
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Canadian schools may save you money

By Karen Hott, February 2020
Florida-based IECs in August of 2019 set up a virtual conference with admissions representatives from three Canadian schools–McMaster University, University of Waterloo, and University of Toronto. Here’s what we learned. McMaster University: https://future.mcmaster.ca/ McMaster University is in Hamilton, Ontario, 45 miles west of Niagara and Toronto. The school backs onto Lake Ontario and is near 126 waterfalls. McMaster has 50
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Major drop in 2019 PSAT scores

By Karen Hott, February 2020
Art Sawyer of Compass Education Group just published a report on a precipitous drop in PSAT scores for those who took the October 2019 administration of the test. Compass found that the average score for juniors dropped 10 points, as compared to 1 or 2 points in previous years. College Board has not explained the reason for the drop in