Thoughts for seniors as you navigate the college process, Liz Kinsley

A couple weeks back, I was chatting with a colleague about the upcoming application cycle: “This is the last pandemic class,” he remarked.

“Interesting,” I replied. “I think of them as the first pandemic class: the first class to feel the effects of Covid throughout each year of high school.”

We both took a minute to reflect on the other’s perspective:

Yes, the public health situation is stabilizing. And yours will be the last class with high school transcripts, extracurriculars, and family circumstances deeply impacted by the early pandemic. 

But the pandemic has left an indelible mark on society that won’t go away any time soon, and your class will be the first to graduate with all the stressors, challenges, pivot points, and hopefulness of the past three years imprinted across your high school experience.

Truth is, we were both right—so I’ll write the rest of this blog from (and for) both perspectives. I hope both will prove useful, regardless of whether you identify as the last or first pandemic class. (Insert “class half full or half empty” quip here.)

For the “first pandemic class,” who look back and wonder how your unpredictable, sometimes messy high school experiences will translate to your college applications (a.k.a. square peg, meet round hole):

The important takeaway is that the pandemic has shaped the opportunities you had available, the challenges you’ve overcome, the ways you’ve learned about the world, and the ideas you have for the future. We will read your applications with a sensitivity to this Covid context, even as we begin the school year more fully and whole-heartedly in person than the previous two.   

I’m right there with you: having started in my role as director of admission in fall 2019, I’ve never led our team through a Covid-free application cycle. And here’s what I’ve learned: regardless of what’s going on in the world, no matter how ugly or disruptive, our admissions committee will find a way to engage and admit remarkable students from around the globe. Because no matter what’s going on in the world, no matter how ugly or disruptive, you and your peers have created countless outlets for your curiosity, compassion, community-mindedness, and innovation. You’ve maintained focus amidst major distraction, and you’ve kept working hard through uncertainty. You’ve stayed civically engaged and committed to learning across social difference throughout national tragedies, global exigencies, and ongoing political polarization.

And nothing was compromised in our process despite unprecedented challenges, for our applicants and, frankly, for our admissions team. In fact, we’re especially proud of the classes we’ve brought to Northwestern in recent years. They are brilliant across a stunning range of disciplines. They are remarkably diverse, representing record numbers of undergraduates who identify as first-generation college students, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latina/o/x, and/or Native or Indigenous, and/or lower income students. They are talented and supportive of one another’s interests and ideas. And they are invested in making our community, and the world around us, a better place.

Throughout the pandemic, I’ve taken to our blog to offer reassurances as seniors navigate the college process through all manner of bumps in the road. As unpredictable as the past few years have been, I’ll stand by many of these reassurances with full hindsight and want to offer them here to you for what they’re still worth:

Understanding Our Holistic Review Process

We know schools responded in various ways to the pandemic—remote courses, no courses, self-guided study, grades, no grades, pass/fail grades…you name it. And you may be worried about how this will reflect on your transcript. The good news is that our admission readers always strive to understand an applicant’s academic context before evaluating their academic record, so our process is built to weigh the diversity of circumstances you’ve experienced over the past few years. . . .Finally and most fundamentally, we seek out narratives in data points as a rule of practice: grades are never just letters or numbers, but a story of your path through high school, and we’ll do our best to interpret it with understanding and compassion. (April 2020)

Holistic review means we connect the dots between different parts of your application and make our best judgement based on the picture that emerges. . . . Indeed, many “dots” will look different in light of the pandemic: disrupted courses, pass/no pass grades, extracurricular commitments put on hold, unforeseen family circumstances, and more. Rest assured, we will nevertheless bring your full picture into view, assessing your application thoughtfully and fairly given all available information and context. (June 2020)

Our Continuing Test-Optional Policy 

You can visit our online FAQs for specifics on how to approach your Northwestern application, but the bottom line is simple: Northwestern applications for the coming cycle can stand strong without any external exam scores. 

With or without test scores, Northwestern’s review process will remain grounded in a holistic approach coupled with a commitment to college access. We will continue to evaluate your academic and intellectual fit for Northwestern as we always have: through a comprehensive assessment of your grades, course rigor, recommendations, academic honors or awards, personal essays, and other information specific to your own experiences and high school setting. (June 2020)

Applying To College In A Time of Social Unrest

The college process is fundamentally optimistic: you are beginning to square who you are now with who you see yourself becoming. You are looking ahead, investing in the idea that learning on a residential campus alongside different people from across the globe will benefit both you and society. Times are especially tough right now, but if you’re reading this as you explore Northwestern and plan for college applications, then you possess imagination and a future-focused mindset—two qualities that are sure to help you, and those around you, navigate any challenge. (June 2020)

And finally, on your distinct super-power in the college application process (and beyond):

Above all, applying to college is an imaginative process, and the most compelling applications draw admission readers into that forward-looking perspective. Of course, this demands considerable self-reflection for students as you ask: How will I bring my talents, ideas, questions, curiosity, and compassion to bear in a new setting? Today’s students had a head start in confronting these big questions, as the pandemic entirely reshaped your high school experience. In other words, you had a test run navigating transition that we arguably haven’t seen the likes of in our applicant pool before—and though we won’t necessarily have all the usual metrics by which to assess your readiness to thrive on our campus, we’ll have new and enormously insightful information to draw on as we build a remarkable incoming class of Wildcats. (August 2021)

And now, for the last pandemic class: as you start senior year with the most severe limitations of Covid behind you, here are some updates to guide your college process:

We have fully resumed our on-campus visits and would love to see you in Evanston if geography, time, and/or finances allow. We offer daily campus tours, along with Admissions & Affordability Q&As and information sessions specific to our undergraduate schools. We also offer general self-guided tours, as well as an array of specialized self-guided tours that explore Northwestern’s history, culture, and community. Details and registration are available online here.

Of course, even before the pandemic, campus visits weren’t a given for prospective students (a reality that we always take into consideration when reviewing applications). But the pandemic did spur enormous creativity around digital college searches, and the result is a vast range of dynamic resources for those of you who want to learn more about Northwestern but can’t travel to Chicago: digital panels, informal “office hours” where students and admissions directors answer your questions live, online information sessions with admissions staff and one-on-one “Purple Preview conversations” over Zoom with current undergraduates, and live premieres of video tours, admission director dialogues, and more. You’ll find most of our digital content archived on our YouTube channel—a deep dive here will connect you with more people, places, and perspectives than a single trip to campus ever could.

Advice For Your College Application Essay

Finally, as you set to work on your applications and inevitably reflect on your high school years, know that there is no expectation that you share stories of stress, challenge, or trauma. Our applications leave space for these stories because some of you may feel they’re central to our understanding of your academic or extracurricular context, how you’ll engage and contribute to a college community, or your values and worldview. Or you may feel you need to detail how community disruptions specific to the past few years have affected your daily life so our committee can fully and fairly assess other aspects of your application. If the story matters to you, by all means share it. But a college application is not necessarily designed to be a confessional space, and sometimes rehashing these circumstances can be painful. Trust that successful candidates need not demonstrate how they’ve overcome some great challenge (even if you have). Again, the goal of an application is to help us imagine what kind of college student you might become—if that means delving into a favorite author, your big ideas, friends or family members who inspire you, traditions you’re grateful for, personal qualities you’re proud of, courses you love, experiences that made you think differently about the world, or whatever else makes you tick, then you should unabashedly take that route.

Ways to Connect With Northwestern

As always, please feel welcome to connect with us in the months to come. We’ll be traveling to visit high schools and community organizations this fall, so we may be in your area. Our regional teams have also planned online programming so you can engage with admissions directors in a live setting and get answers to your questions about the college process. That said, if you have general questions, you can email ug-admission@northwestern.edu, and if you want to learn more about the undergraduate experience, sign up for a Purple Preview Conversation with a current Northwestern student.

Most importantly, enjoy your senior year. And if you choose to apply, we’ll look forward to reviewing your application. 

 

Warmly,

Liz Kinsley

Associate Dean & Director of Undergraduate Admission