The Admission Process in the COVID Era

Some universities canceled their entrance exams; others have made them optional, leaving millions of students uncertain about their chances to get into a university.

More than a year after the first cases of the coronavirus outside of China happened and without an expected date for the end of quarantines; universities around the world face not only the difficulties involved in academic continuity during these extraordinary circumstances but also with the problem of how to carry out the university admission process in times of pandemic.

Since 2007, all community colleges and four-year universities in the United States require the result of the Academic Aptitude Test (SAT) or the American College Test (ACT) as part of an application for admission. Due to the pandemic, test managers have had to cancel test prep sessions and move tests to later dates. As a result, many universities have eliminated the SAT as a requirement for admission to these institutions.

Even before the pandemic, about a thousand institutions had already eliminated the SAT as a college entrance requirement, leaving it in some cases as optional, not required, to attract a more diverse student body. According to Robert Schaeffer, Acting Executive Director of the FairTest organization, the number of universities that have joined this trend already exceeds 1,686 institutions. Among these universities are Cornell University and Harvard, which suspended the requirement to present SAT or ACT results as part of the admission application.

What does it mean that the SAT is optional for applicants?

The SAT measures the reading, writing, arithmetic, and writing skills necessary for college academic success; thus, not having the results forces colleges to shift emphasis elsewhere on a college application, such as their high school grades.

In addition to this, institutions are forced to consider both qualitative and quantitative factors. Among the factors that are analyzed in the admission process are: the grade point average in their last year of high school, the high school curriculum, letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities, admission interviews, among others are also taken into consideration. Although colleges considered these elements, they have never mattered as much as they do now, especially if they do not take the SAT or ACT.

On the other hand, considering standardized university admissions tests as optional has generated criticism and skepticism. The argument is that by making this requirement “optional,” minority and low-income students who normally cannot cover the expenses involved in taking this type of test or hiring private preparation classes are at a disadvantage over those who do. That is why more than 500 universities signed a statement before the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC) assuring that they would conduct a fair admission process without benefiting those who submit SAT results.

The ‘Suneung,’ the South Korean university entrance exam

South Korea is another country whose universities decide who to admit based on a national standardized test. This test is called Suneung, or the College School Aptitude Test that measures six areas: Korean, math, English, history, social studies, and a second foreign language. Although it looks similar to the US SAT, this test is typically nine hours long and has become even heavier due to the pandemic. Students prepare from kindergarten to respond, and it is said to be the first and last step towards a successful life.

Although the country was facing its third wave of infections, almost half a million South Korean students came to present the strenuous test last December, but how can the government ensure that this will not become a spread event of the coronavirus? Before the exam day, more than 31,000 classrooms were disinfected. On the day of the test, each candidate’s temperature was taken before entering, plastic dividers were placed on each desk, and face masks were made mandatory during the nine hours of the exam.

The government also administered health clinics that evaluated the students the night before to detect any infected person at the last minute and send them to separate rooms. Even with symptoms such as fever or sore throat, they could take the test. The test is so important that hospital rooms were even set up so that sick students could take the exam.

Admission day of great importance, so much so that the population puts their lives on pause to support the applicants. All businesses, including banks and government offices, open later to reduce traffic, so applicants arrive on time. Even airplanes do not fly, and military weapons are silenced for half an hour to prevent them from being distracted in their listening tests, such as English.

Admission process in European universities 

Adapting to the new normal has not been easy for any country; European countries are no exception. In England, given many registered infections in this country, the educational authorities decided to use an algorithm to evaluate the applicants in March of last year. The Office for the Regulation of Grades and Examinations in England (Ofqual for its acronym in English) tried to use Artificial Intelligence to evaluate the tests to avoid them being inflated; this generated a national controversy since the students received an average of 39 % lower, preventing many from entering the university.

However, the story has been very different for many other countries in Europe. Due to the low infection rate in Austria and Hungary, the university entrance exams continued as usu
al. The only difference was taking the optional oral test in Austria and canceling it in Hungary. The latter did not allow more out of ten students to were in the same classroom and were required to be 1.5 meters apart. In both countries, these admission test results are considered together with the grades obtained during the last school year to decide whether they are accepted. In Germany, they also went ahead with the exams regularly in May the previous year. They presented the tests in larger venues, such as gymnasiums rather than using ordinary classrooms, to ensure adequate safety distance.

In France, the end of high school exams was canceled for the first time in this country’s history. Instead, this test was replaced by the average grade for each subject. Besides, local juries evaluated performance, past test records, attendance, and the national average. These extraordinary changes resulted in a higher pass rate than previous years, forcing colleges to create 10,000 additional places in the most popular majors. Students take the Evaluación del Bachillerato para el Acceso a la Universidad (EBAU) in Spain, also known as selectivity. This exam tests high school knowledge and critical thinking, reflection, and maturity through open, semi-open, and multiple-choice questions. Like many other places in Europe, the young people took the test in person in June last year. Despite the pandemic, there were 6 thousand more students than last year in Madrid, and 92 % approved.

The case of Mexican universities

Unlike other countries, in Mexico, the admission process does not depend on a national standardized test. Instead, each university establishes its admission requirements and the exam that students must take. For example, in Tecnológico de Monterrey’s case, its entrance exam has been online since the middle of last year. The same occurred for admission to undergraduate degrees at the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (UANL).

However, other institutions insist on carrying out the tests in person despite the complications that can arise when performing these tests in person amid a pandemic. The University of Guadalajara (UDG), for example, had to cancel the admission test that was scheduled for February 6 due to the increase in infections and hospitalizations in recent weeks. The Autonomous University also made this decision of Aguascalientes in July of last year. At the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), applicants must present the test in person, but the date has been postponed due to increased infections.

Almost a year after the interruption of face-to-face classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, countries and their higher education institutions continue to struggle to adapt as best they can to the challenges posed by the coronavirus. Millions of students have prepared throughout their lives to take that university entrance exam. If the preparation for it was already exhaustive, fear and uncertainty have skyrocketed with the pandemic’s arrival. Is it time to rethink standardized tests and the university admissions process around the world? And if so, what should be the requirements or what should be taken into account? Leave your opinion in the comments.

Translation by Daniel Wetta.

Paulette Delgado

Share

This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0