I hope this note finds you well amidst the beautiful spring-like weather, the crush of holiday "let's get together" invites, and all the homework/projects/assessments that will inevitably be piled on your juniors between now and December. I saw a meme (or a gif? I don't know which is which) that said, "Welcome to the 'let's circle back after the holidays'" time of year. Unfortunately -- or fortunately? -- this email is not going to say that.
Earlier this fall, my parents' street in Morgan Park was resurfaced. At some point, perhaps about 20 years ago, the City of Chicago installed speed bumps. Now, Lothair Avenue isn't necessarily a well-traveled street, but for those who used it as a shortcut from 111th to 115th, the speed bumps were an unfortunate discovery. After the resurfacing this fall, Lothair was without speed bumps for a few weeks, and I can't begin to tell you how odd it was to drive down the freshly paved street -- I caught myself strategically breaking where they used to be before unnecessarily accelerating in advance of the next one, rinse and repeat.
As you've probably heard, the Class of 2024 finalized their November 1 and November 15 deadlines. They're the class I feel the most empathy for: they started high school in COVID, went back and forth between online and in-person learning, and ended up dealing with a Common App crash on October 31 to cap things off. In addition, a million other minor roadblocks have come up.
Much like driving on Lothair recently, it hasn't been an easy road. They knew the milestones their peers had hit, knew theirs would be different, and then had to pivot and reassess when the milestones (suddenly) returned.
I feel like the college admissions process will be Lothair Avenue without speed bumps for the next few years. Things are changing -- but not so much that it will make a huge difference, but at the same time, you'll still be breaking because of muscle memory.
What does this mean for underclassmen? They must be ready to pivot if and when necessary. Demonstrated interest isn't going anywhere. Standardized testing might be back, but I highly doubt it. Yield will continue to be the high watermark of a good year for an admissions office. What won't change is that when your students' values align with the institutions' values, they can more easily demonstrate why they are a good fit, resulting in better success in the admissions process.
Talk soon.