03 May Road Map for May: Freshmen

We’re coming up on two months of remote learning, depending on exactly when your school closed. With a few more weeks left, how is it going? I don’t really expect many people to say “awesome,” but beyond taking care of yourself your academic priority should be to do as well as you can in your classes.  This looks very different among different schools, classes, and students, but communicating with your teachers about your specific needs is especially important now.  I also recommend these tips for online learning from study skills expert Paul Rivas.

With respect to college, one thing that hasn’t changed amid the uncertainty and disruption is that grades matter more than any other factor in admissions.  At the same time, another constant is that context counts, and when you apply to college, admissions officials will look back on the spring of 2020 and be very understanding of the challenges we are all experiencing now.

Summer plans are unclear now, but we should know more in a few weeks about what activities, camps and programs will be running in-person, which will be online, and what the restrictions will be on businesses where students might be looking to get jobs and internships.  I recommend developing a list of summer goals and options for various degrees of social distancing so you’ll have a plan for whichever scenario we find ourselves in.