COVID-19 FAQs

We’re offering both in-person and virtual tutoring and counseling sessions. However, in-person sessions are limited and based on staff availability and location. No matter the platform, we remain committed to providing an effective, personalized experience for students to get the best results out of each session. Our proctored exams are primarily being administered remotely at this time.

To our knowledge, testing centers, schools, and companies administering standardized tests are no longer restricting testing availability or canceling tests due to COVID-19. If you register your student for a specific test for a specific date, it is safe to assume you will be informed by the company administering the test (for example, College Board or ACT, Inc.) of any changes affecting that date and location.

It depends on how you test. If you are capable of scoring on the upper end of a college’s average range, you should absolutely include your scores with your application. However, if you are unable to score within a college’s average range and your scores will be the weakest part of your profile, it is best to omit them. Simply put: if you can give colleges yet another reason to be impressed by you, do it! Additionally, please see one of our company blog posts, “Avoiding the Test Optional Trap,” for more information on test optional schools.

It is more difficult for students to differentiate themselves than ever before. Without test scores, extracurricular accomplishments, or summer activities, admissions officers can’t turn to their normal factors to compare students. College essays will be more important than ever before for students to paint a picture of who they are and what they can offer.

Give admissions officers as many reasons to accept you as possible. Meaning, if you can score well on the SAT/ACT, provide test scores no matter whether they are required. Study for your AP exams to show them your mastery of college-level coursework and give context to any online-learning grades. Continue to build on projects/activities that you started during quarantine instead of dropping them now that you can hang out with your friends. As always, colleges want to admit students who go above and beyond what is required, so show them that you put in the extra effort.

As a general rule, only write about the pandemic if your experiences were more extreme than those of your peers — for instance, if a parent lost a job because of COVID-19, which required you to move or switch schools, that is a disruption worth noting. However, if you would simply talk about learning to appreciate the little things, missing your activities and face-to-face interactions, or what you did to keep busy, it’s best to avoid this topic.

Things have gone back to pre-COVID, in terms of recruiting rules and regulations. The NCAA has dropped all the COVID-specific recruiting restrictions and reopened to the general recruitment calendars, by sport.