When high school senior Grace Martin was thinking about applying to college, she envisioned the process involving campus tours and official visits at a few schools as she considered where she could best pursue rowing at a collegiate level. However, her reality this fall has looked very different as she juggles sports, school and applying to college in the turbulent time of COVID-19. Seniors like Martin across the world are in the position of trying to decide where to apply without being able to spend any time on campus or even talk to admissions officers face-to-face.

Scott Bressler

Claire Hargrove, a senior in Charlotte, N.C., is another student who is considering Washington University, but has struggled with applications. “[Applying to college] is confusing as it is. And it’s even more confusing with all the COVID stuff around it,” she said, explaining that while there were virtual resources available, she hadn’t been engaging because she’s still trying to narrow down her options.

Hargrove worried that “a lot of [the process] is just firsthand experiences, like just stepping foot on the campus and falling in love or just hating it.” And while her high school has had admissions officers visit virtually, she has been in class during many of the visits she would have wanted to attend. Instead, she has resorted to looking at the TikTok trend where other college students show off their college to get a “vibe check,” she said.

Martin echoed a similar sentiment, saying that she felt more comfortable applying to schools in her vicinity because they were a known quantity, and she knew people who had gone there.

Washington University’s admissions team is acutely aware of these barriers, and they have been attempting to expose students to the University’s atmosphere in the best way that they can. Programming directed at high school seniors for the fall includes mock classes, virtual campus visits, online high school visits and academic theme days, where students can take the opportunity to learn more about curriculum.

In addition, they have been working to connect current students with prospective students, as “[prospective students] want to engage with current students a lot more than they want to engage with us,” Tiara Wair, director of the visit experience, said.

The statistics for the number of students connected with is strong—a report shared by Wair showed that the University’s feedback has been exceedingly positive. Where typically summer admissions programming sees about 600 people per event, the virtual event had four times the number of participants. After the Virtual Summer Theme Day, one student said that, “now after attending this event, Wash. U. is my top choice,” according to a quarterly report provided by Wair. The increased accessibility has allowed students with underrepresented backgrounds in rural areas to engage with the University, which has been exciting despite the unfortunate circumstances, Wair said.

However, Adam Litwin, a former tour guide, doubts that virtual tours can give the same quality of information to students that an in-person experience can.

“You can certainly get the surface-level ‘This is what it looks like,’ but you can’t really get the feel as much, especially when you could walk around and go up to students and interact with other people,” he said. “[What’s valuable about on-campus tours] is that it’s not the same thing every time, and you can divert based on the actual space.”

In terms of applications, the University has adopted a new test-optional policy “driven by our interest in being accommodating to students given the impact of COVID-19,” said Emily Almas, assistant vice provost & director of admissions. Both Hargrove and Martin said that they planned to take advantage of the policy.

In addition, Alms said that the University will continue their holistic application review and dedication to meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need.

Ultimately, however, the University is not completely sure how much of an impact the unprecedented removal of campus visits will have, and they acknowledge that visits are extremely influential in decision making. Wair said that until Early Decision applications are received, University administrators won’t know how this new programming will impact the number of applications.

“We’re all kind of holding our breath to see what really stuck in our efforts this fall,” she said.