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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

UGA, with its 34,000 students and 200+ majors, seems at first like any other large state university, but its 95% freshman retention rate beats the average rate of 75%, putting University of Georgia in league with Boston College, William & Mary, University of Maryland, and UC San Diego. Georgia’s admissions staff–many of whom had 10 to 20 years with the

Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, just outside Atlanta, provides women with a nurturing and challenging environment within their core curriculum. The students who spoke to the counselors from IECA all said they chose Agnes Scott on its merits, and it just happened to be a women’s college. The Agnes Scott curriculum covers four areas: leadership development, global learning, digital