COVID-19 FAQs

We’re offering both in-person and virtual tutoring and counseling sessions. However, in-person sessions are subject to current health guidelines and staff/client comfortability. 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 exclusively being held remotely due to continued restrictions for indoor public spaces.

Recently, there have been plenty of available test dates and locations, so your timeline should not be impacted. However, because of capacity limits and other COVID-related guidelines, it is a good idea to register for your test dates as early as possible. Additionally, it is important to stay up-to-date on any testing center closures or requirement changes as your test approaches.

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!

First, reschedule your test date as soon as possible! Seats are limited and fill up quickly. Also, keep in mind that test centers make individual decisions about whether or not to administer the SAT/ACT based on CDC and local guidelines. If you are registered to take an exam in a city that is considered a COVID-19 "hotspot," you may want to explore testing outside your county or even state, if/when it is safe to do so.

Second, stay prepared! You should continue working on your skills so they remain as sharp as possible come test day. We recommend shifting your test prep plan and schedule based on your next official test date to stay focused and avoid losing momentum.

It is more difficult for students to differentiate themselves than ever before. Without test scores, extracurricular accomplishments, or summer activities -- and with a large portion of grades based on unreliable and uneven online learning -- 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.

It depends on what you would do with it! While it seems less desirable to spend your freshman year under COVID restrictions, a lot of students don't know what they would accomplish with their time off, especially considering persistent travel restrictions, labor disruptions, and suspended internship programs. However, if you have a small business that you’ve wanted to get off the ground or an artistic endeavor you’ve been trying to find time for, a gap year might make a lot of sense. Keep your options open until the spring, when we’ll have a better sense of what the world looks like in the fall of 2022.

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. Only restrictions moving forward will be on a school-by school basis on allowable outside visitors to campus and Athletic Department-specific restrictions on staff travel.