Early Applications Are Up at Colleges and Grad Schools, Snow Days Are Out at Cornell, and Early Decision Notifications Are In

This week, with some early figures released for graduate school applications and some colleges already releasing Early Decision notifications, the numbers are in and applications are up — sometimes quite a bit — at the schools our students tend to apply to. The national picture, however, tells a different story.

Applications are up 18% at medical schools this year over last year. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, applicants are inspired by public health workers and, particularly, Dr. Fauci. This surge has been named “The Fauci Effect.”

Inside Higher Ed reports that according to a Kaplan survey of admissions officers at more than 100 business schools across the United States, 82% said that, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, they have made their admissions process more flexible this cycle. That said, graduate business school applications are up 21% after falling for five straight years, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council.

With six weeks until the application deadline, Virginia Tech reports that more people have already applied for the Class of 2025 than all those who applied to the university last year. VA Tech is one of thousands of schools that waived their testing requirements this cycle and national data suggests that schools that have waived testing are seeing strong interest from first-year applicants. And yet…the University of Florida saw its largest applicant pool ever, even though Florida’s State University System is the lone holdout in still requiring test scores this year.

Ohio State’s Student Advocacy Center is offering up to $3,000 for students who cannot afford mental health treatment during the pandemic, hoping to help ease the mental and economic burden on students.

In a less serious side effect of the pandemic, Cornell University announced an end to old-school snow days. Going forward, they will switch to remote learning on “snow days” instead.

As always, we end on a high note. Our internal deadline for application essays has now passed and our seniors can finally feel the relief of having the essay-writing process behind them. Some have already started hearing good news from their ED and EA colleges (congratulations to our Emory and Colgate admits!). Tonight kicks off a big week for decision releases. Until then, we wait…