Covid-19 & College Counseling

The Cannon School College Counseling department is committed to providing the Upper School community with timely information and updates regarding the impact of Covid-19 in the realm of college admissions. Students and families should, however, be consistently checking emails, following Twitter and other social media sites, and confirming information on the official websites of ACT, College Board and individual colleges students are researching for their application process.

College Board & ACT Updates


In lieu of this week’s announcements from ACT and College Board (see below), the Cannon School College Counseling Team recommends every student in the Class of 2021 sign up for at least one of the tests being offered by ACT and/or SAT beginning in June. Even if, as of now, you are only considering colleges that offer a test optional process we still encourage you to sit for at least one standardized test. If you are unsure of where you fall within this context, email your college counselor.

College Board:

College Board shared an update on April 15th. Their post details a plan to provide students with additional opportunities and formats to take the SAT in 2020. 

3 Important Take-Aways:

1 – The SAT scheduled for June 6th has been cancelled. 

2 – There will be more opportunities to test. College Board will offer at least one Saturday exam every month this fall with the addition of a September test date. Students who registered for June and those in the high school class of 2021 who do not have SAT scores will have early access to register for the August, September, and October administrations. Test registration is scheduled to begin in May and the College Board will communicate directly to students with details on registration, fee waivers and testing locations.

3 – College Board is in the process of developing an eSAT. Similar to the upcoming AP exams, College Board has developed an at-home version of the SAT which they are prepared to use in the fall if necessary.

ACT:

ACT posted an update today, April 16th, on their website where they shared that they are “committed to providing options and flexibility to ensure that students can test and schools will have scores.”

2  Important Take-Aways:

1 –  Summer test dates have been updated from June 13th to June 20th and from July 18th to July 25th. Students may make changes from their originally scheduled June or July test date without additional fees.

2 – There will be more opportunities to test. ACT will administer in-person, group tests in September, October and December. Additional opportunities to complete “test-at-home” assessments will be available in late fall and early winter 2021.

Wake Forest University moves their Summer Immersion Program Online

Due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, WFU has moved their on-campus Summer 2020 Immersion Program and Summer 2020 Exploration Program to online programs. To find out more about the 12 topics they offer to rising sophomores through seniors visit their site. 

All students who have signed up for a summer program, camp or class should contact the hosting organization to learn the status of the program and to understand policies regarding refunds.

Additional Colleges Opt to go Test Optional for Class of 2021

Colleges continue to make temporary adjustments to their standardized testing requirements due to the impact Covid-19. The following colleges announced this week that they will offer a test optional process for at least one year:

To keep abreast of the complete list of colleges who support test optional admissions visit FairTest’s master test-optional database. Institutions temporarily suspending standardized testing will be updated periodically to a supplemental file on the FairTest site.