Consider the Implications of a "No Grade" Spring on College Admissions

As the bizarre 2019-2020 school year comes to a close, it is worth zooming out and considering the lasting implications of how it ended. COVID-19 upended nearly every aspect of high school students’ educational and extracurricular lives.

For many students, stay-at-home orders meant months without application-boosting extracurriculars. No sports seasons. No spring plays, concerts, recitals, or art shows. No volunteer opportunities. No after school jobs.

Ultimately, the more significant consequence may be the fact that most schools have been forced to alter their grading policies - primarily due to all the uncertainty, unfamiliarity, and inequity associated with distance learning.

Some districts shifted to a college-style pass/fail system, while others abolished grading altogether. Schools that did choose to issue grades had to invent ways to do so that would be compatible with their hastily adopted new teaching and learning formats.

For upperclassmen in the throes of college-application season, these unexpected changes have torpedoed years of careful planning and coordination between students, parents, and counselors to craft acceptance-worthy resumes. For many students, years of challenging course selection with an eye toward differentiating their applications may have been undone in a single, critical semester spent at home.

It’s not just juniors and seniors who were affected, however. First and second-year students now have a semester-sized hole in their transcripts, devoid of the experiences and academic rigor that would have ordinarily been part of their high school story.

Sure, students will still have GPAs that include spring 2020, but what will they mean?

Weakening the Value of an Already Challenging Admissions Metric

Comparing student GPAs is a delicate dance, even under normal conditions. What constitutes an “A” or a “B” varies by country, state, district, and - in some cases - classroom. While colleges do their best to interpret a student’s GPA by including transcript-related weights and intra-district applicant comparisons, it’s far from an exact science.

COVID-19 has thrown 10,000 wrenches into the works. On very short notice, high school teachers around the globe had to transform their syllabi and pedagogy to deliver nearly half a year’s worth of content in an entirely new way. To meet that challenge, schools were forced to make concessions: course material was pared down, at-home assessments were given with the understanding that students would receive outside help, and some students were left adrift as a result of unequal access to technology or support at home.

We should credit schools and teachers for their heroic efforts to keep their promise to deliver one of the most vital services under extreme conditions. Most did everything they could to maintain a sense of normalcy; however, true normalcy was never really a possibility. In the end, the necessary changes had the effect of diminishing not only the amount of content students were exposed to, but also the depth to students they were able to explore that content.

With this mess of a school year behind (or nearly behind) us, the ink on student transcripts is nearly dry — right down to the asterisks beside each letter grade. And just like that, the challenge of determining what an ‘A’ means will be passed along to the college admissions staff at colleges across the country. How and when a grade was earned can (and probably should) change its inherent value.

Consider, for example, a pre-coronavirus ‘A’ versus a distance-learning ‘A’ versus a ‘pass’ versus whatever grades will look like for the coming semester and beyond. How do they stack up against one another? And how do the student applicants who earned a few of each stack up against one another? I don’t envy those charged with deciphering transcripts that look as though they were transmitted via an Enigma machine.

Remember as well that all of these challenges have sprung up at the very same time that colleges have struggled to respond to the persistent and growing effects of high school grade inflation. As we have noted in previous posts, the average high school grades have continued to rise over the past 20 years. Standardized test scores and decreasing literacy rates have consistently demonstrated that these inflated grades do not correlate with an overall increase in student growth or understanding. And predictably, colleges report every year that first-year students are unprepared and in need of remediation.

Given that colleges across the country facing massive budget-crunches and that our overreliance on remediation costs our nation more than a billion dollars annually($1.3B in 2016 alone), this is no longer an issue we can afford to ignore.

Making matters worse, studies have shown that students from wealthy school districts tend to earn higher GPAs than students from less-wealthy districts. As such, the overall devaluation of high school GPA as a predictor of college success shows no sign of stopping. That concerning trend, like so many others in college admissions, it is nothing new. Indeed, these trends are neither new nor mysterious. They are long-running and well documented. They are merely getting more attention because the SAT® and ACT® had to be sidelined, along with so many other vital elements of our daily lives as the United States continues to suffer the deadly and demoralizing consequences the disjointed and self-defeating COVID response.

The Standardized Aspect of Standardized Tests Matters - Even in the “Test-Optional” Era

Now that most colleges have suspended their ACT® and SAT® requirements for the year, the perennial challenge of interpreting each student’s GPA has become even murkier than before COVID forced colleges to temporarily do without the one standardized tool they have steadfastly relied upon. Without a standardized test or valid end-of-course metric, there is arguably no way to reliably determine whether a student’s grades accurately reflect the student’s subject-matter mastery (i.e., college preparedness).  

Conversely, students who opt to submit test scores (despite not being required to) are offering additional support for their academic performances and adding a crucial dimension to their application package. Now, more than ever, strong test scores matter. That said, with test dates in short supply, test prep now matters even more, as well.

If the first half of 2020 has taught us anything, it is would have to be that we must learn to live with an elevated degree of uncertainty. For example, nobody can say for certain whether or when students will have the opportunity to take the ACT® or SAT® later this year. For the time being, that uncertainty is simply an unfortunate reality in the world of college admissions.

There are, however promising signs. Just days ago, Harvard signaled that it may accept test scores through February of 2021. Reading between the lines, the university’s statement is a strong affirmation of the predictive value of the tests. This can also be read as a powerful statement that Harvard (and by extension, top universities in general) would greatly prefer that students submit test scores if there’s any way they can. And just today, ACT® released a statement confirming its intention to proceed with the July 18th ACT®.

As a test prep professional, you must do your part to ensure that students hear the message that colleges are broadcasting with regard to the “test-optional” policies they had no choice but to adopt in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic.

Students need to understand that the choice of whether or not to submit test scores is not really a choice at all. Every student who is interested in attending a selective university should do everything they can safely do to sit for one or more ACT® or SAT® tests. This is the best way for students to differentiate themselves from the tens of thousands of students they’re likely to face off against.

And because there’s no point in taking an SAT® or ACT® unless they’re adequately prepared to put up an impressive score, it follows that test prep is quite possibly more important now than during any previous admissions cycle.

Therefore, students should absolutely seize the opportunity to prep for one or both college admissions tests using the best test-prep system available. And that, test-prep enthusiast, is where you come in, ready to provide a uniquely exceptional test prep experience. You must make sure that you have all the best tools to confidently model and encourage focus and resiliency amid the chaos of the moment. Your poise is a prerequisite to your ability to fill learning gaps, introduce new test-taking skills, and prepare your students to achieve their highest potential - whenever the opportunity to take the SAT® or ACT® arrives.

Clear Choice provides you with all the tools and curricular materials to deliver high-quality ACT® and SAT® prep to clients both in-person and remotely. Despite all the challenges of the moment, your students have a unique opportunity to separate themselves from their competition - they just need your help to do it.

Click the link below to schedule a free demo of how our 100% custom-branded physical and digital test-prep products can help take your tutoring business to the next level. You can help your students maximize their chances of success, no matter the limitations of our current times.