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I think universities are necessarily going to rely more on the "soft" aspects of applications to select students. It won't be a problem for top colleges - they

I think universities are necessarily going to rely more on the "soft" aspects of applications to select students. It won't be a problem for top colleges - they could probably toss out the entire admitted class twice over and still select a world-class pool of students from the application pool. I think it might be problematic for T2-T3 schools and state schools that are generally lenient when accepting AP credit. As for graduate and professional schools... that's going to be a mess. Harvard Medical School will only consider COVID Pass/Fail grades if colleges make those grading schemes mandatory for students; otherwise, students will have to submit letter grades. That's (1) completely heartless and (2) an arbitrary advantage for students who went to schools where P/F is mandatory.

ghaff 6y ago
Presumably a lot of admittance decisions have already been made. These are about AP exams--basically placing out of college courses--so not a huge deal overall (especially at more selective schools). Honestly, the bigger issue for a lot of students at the moment is the uncertainty over the degree to which schools will open up for physical classes in the fall. What makes sense under those circumstances? And, of course, a lot of the usual gap year options aren't going to be available either.
- MattGaiser 6y ago
  The issue is for applications next year when these courses should have been at the centre of applications.
  - lonelappde 6y ago
    Those kids could retake normal proctored tests November, assuming the world stops burning and CB seta up testing.
Spooky23 6y ago
I think we are going to see that it means nothing. Andy Grove got his education at City College when it was open admission. Missing a semester of grades isn’t going to ruin SUNY Stony Brook it whatever.
- JackFr 6y ago
  Andy Grove got his degree in 1960. City College went open admission in 1969. City College was tuition free, but fairly competitive. (12 Nobel Laureates graduated from City College before it went open admission, none since.)
koheripbal 6y ago
Those "soft" sides of the applications are even easier to game than cheating on a home test. Virtually NONE of it is ever verified. ...and I wouldn't worry about the top colleges. Having worked in admissions at one of them - a majority of the students are there due to family connections.

ghaff 6y ago

Presumably a lot of admittance decisions have already been made. These are about AP exams--basically placing out of college courses--so not a huge deal overall (especially at more selective schools). Honestly, the bigger issue for a lot of students at the moment is the uncertainty over the degree to which schools will open up for physical classes in the fall. What makes sense under those circumstances? And, of course, a lot of the usual gap year options aren't going to be available either.

MattGaiser 6y ago
The issue is for applications next year when these courses should have been at the centre of applications.
- lonelappde 6y ago
  Those kids could retake normal proctored tests November, assuming the world stops burning and CB seta up testing.

Spooky23 6y ago

I think we are going to see that it means nothing. Andy Grove got his education at City College when it was open admission. Missing a semester of grades isn’t going to ruin SUNY Stony Brook it whatever.

JackFr 6y ago
Andy Grove got his degree in 1960. City College went open admission in 1969. City College was tuition free, but fairly competitive. (12 Nobel Laureates graduated from City College before it went open admission, none since.)

koheripbal 6y ago

Those "soft" sides of the applications are even easier to game than cheating on a home test. Virtually NONE of it is ever verified. ...and I wouldn't worry about the top colleges. Having worked in admissions at one of them - a majority of the students are there due to family connections.