New York City Public School seniors are well into their second semester, historically a time to take a breath after completing college applications. But many students are still scrambling to submit essays and complete financial aid documents, as the pandemic thrusts new burdens upon young people in a city devastated by the COVID-19 crisis in myriad ways.
“A process that would have ended completely in December is now being pushed into January and February,” said Angelique Figueroa, director of college counseling with the nonprofit College Bound Initiative at Bronx Latin high school.
That is just one of the ways the pandemic has transformed the college process. Another: fewer students from low-income families appear to be applying at all.
According to data from the nonprofit Common App, total applications to its 900 participating schools are up overall, in some cases way up. Some elite universities that suspended SAT and ACT requirements this year saw applications skyrocket. But applications by students who qualify for fee waivers decreased by 2 percent this year. Applications by students who would be the first in their families to go to college are down 3 percent. The majority of New York City’s public school students are from low-income families.
Eric Waldo, Chief Access and Equity Programs Officer at Common App, said the numbers are deeply alarming, but not surprising — given how much many families are struggling financially right now. In addition, the health crisis may be encouraging more students to stay home, in many cases to help take on more responsibilities in households hit hard by the pandemic.
“We've seen how the pandemic has really ravaged low income communities and communities of color, [with] higher unemployment rates, more COVID deaths,” he said. “So that sort of stress we know in some ways is dampening college expectations or college desire.”
Meanwhile, although applications to many elite private universities increased dramatically, applications to more affordable public colleges are down. At the State University of New York, which has one of the lowest tuitions in the country, applications have declined approximately 20%.
In addition to the economic impact of the pandemic, simply applying has become more difficult this year.
Joshua Senior, a Brooklyn Technical High School senior, said he missed being able to pop by the college office to ask questions. “There's no one to bounce ideas off of when it comes to writing college applications,” he said. “It's very much me in front of my computer … in the early morning hours.”
He said he spent all of Christmas week holed up in his Bed-Stuy basement feverishly writing and submitting essays. “I don't even think I heard a Merry Christmas or I even said Merry Christmas,” he said. “I did not leave my basement. It was crazy.”
With no traditional college fairs or in-person campus visits taking place, it also has been more difficult for students to choose which colleges to apply to. “It was way harder to research schools [virtually],” said Aury Fernandez, a senior at Bronx Engineering and Technology Academy.
Then there was navigating financial aid without a counselor bending over his shoulder. “Everytime I hit the submit button I worried I made a mistake,” he said.
“I thought that I would never say this, but I miss my office,” said Figueroa, who is counseling 70 students this year through the College Bound Initiative, which places counselors at schools that don’t have them. “It was an opportunity for me to create a safe space ... to talk not only about the college application process, but also about what genuinely is going on in their lives. And you really can't do that being on Zoom.”
But Figueroa said perhaps the biggest challenge has been helping students find time to work on applications amidst the new responsibilities they have taken on during the pandemic. She said some of her students are earning money to help their laid-off parents, serving as proxies during health crises, or tending to younger siblings struggling with remote learning.
“Things that, you know, as a 16, 17, 18 year old they shouldn't be dealing with,” she said. “Like having to serve as a translator, having to serve as a caretaker… kids are wearing many different hats right now.”
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Senior said that in addition to a full course load and extra-curriculars, he has been caring for his 98-year-old grandmother and helping his younger sister who has autism with her homework.
“Just the other obligations that I had dealing with the pandemic in my household, it felt like college was kind of going to take a backseat for the time being,” he said. “I wouldn't say my dreams about going to college were ever lost, but it felt at some points like, was I ever going to get into a college?”
Waldo with the Common App said the fact that the pandemic may be deterring kids from applying to college is especially concerning because the virus has also underscored the benefits of a college degree. “People with a college degree have done so much better during the pandemic,” he said, from unemployment rates to overall safety. “It's actually the difference between life and death, the privilege to be able to stay home and work from home because you have a college credential.”
Senior finally finished his last application this week, and he is already getting some acceptances. He said he considered sticking close to home next year to continue helping his family, but his father is encouraging him to explore outside the city. “My father is adamant that I go away for that college experience,” he said.
Whichever school he chooses, he said he’s looking forward to widening his world beyond the confines of his basement walls. “I definitely want to immerse myself with new people,” he said. “I want to learn about new things. I want to have conversations nonstop.”
