COVID-19's Effects On College Around the World

The dozens of well-intentioned reminders to attend virtual college events have turned what were supposed to be helpful accommodations into sources of stress.

Evyn Appel (12-1) noted that “the majority of virtual events by colleges are only happening now during weekday evenings (when we have tons of homework)”. Like the other negative impacts of COVID-19, the ones surrounding college aren’t limited by national borders, either. High school seniors Vicky Venkataya and Lucas Kiewick, along with Masterman alumni and college freshman, Isaak Popkin, share their stories of how COVID-19 has influenced college around the world.

The admission tests that were delayed by the nationwide lockdown, specific to each college she is applying to, were postponed even longer after she returned to in-person school. She was finally able to take her first admission test two months ago (three months late), but she’s completely in the dark about when she’ll be taking her second. “They haven't talked to us about it at all. They should, but they won't. They kind of keep a lot of things secret from kids. The [New Zealand Qualifications Authority] and the principal don't tell the kids anything.” While Venkataya is suffering, she thinks that those who have been affected the worst are the “tradies”—the students who drop out after completing 10th grade to pursue a trade. About half of the grade drops out at that time, and the other half normally completes high school. But this year, more and more of Venkataya’s grade has begun joining the tradies’ ranks. They are convinced that they have no way of passing their Level 2s, because of all the time lost from their lockdown, and want to try to secure a job as soon as possible, before competition spikes even further. While this narrows down this year’s pool of applicants, Venkataya is still worried about her chances of acceptance. Even after the setbacks from her lockdown, her grades aren’t the problem: the number of deferred students that have already been admitted means that colleges will inevitably have to accept fewer students, to avoid an overflow. Even if they’re accepted, Auckland students have yet another problem that the rest of the country may not need to worry about. While they are with the rest of New Zealand at Alert Level 1 right now, their region has the highest probability of reentering Level 3 and having inter-regional travel restricted. While Venkataya has experienced other setbacks from living in the Auckland region, being physically unable to travel to other parts of the country will be the only setback that she can’t overcome with her skills as a student. Another of her concerns is for her friend, Lynette. Before COVID-19, Lynette had plans to study in the United States on a Volleyball scholarship at Columbia University. Venkataya knows that while she may face some travel restrictions, they’ll still be looser than if she was planning to travel internationally. Lynette has even less wiggle room than her peers in one of the key deciding factors of her future.

cancelled three times before he could take it, and his subject tests were postponed until November. But, unlike most American high schoolers, none of Kiewek’s schools are part of the 900+ American schools that have gone test-optional. All the countries that he’s applying to handled COVID-19 better than the United States, so they never had to deal with the same problems of standardized test cancellations that the U.S. did. They don’t see the need to make an exception for U.S. students (when so few of them apply each year), whose country’s mishandling of COVID-19 led to all their test cancellations. Despite the gravity of this situation, Kiewek’s SATs aren't even his main concern—he’s more worried about the 4 Advanced Placement (AP) tests in Physics, Statistics, Computer Science, and an advanced form of math he needs to take. But, Kiewek knows that he’ll manage; he’s no stranger to adapting to new and uncomfortable situations. In fact, he’s even excited for the uncertainty that comes with fully submerging oneself into a completely alien culture (the only right way to experience a new one, according to him). He’s looking forward to the unknown element so much, that while researching his schools’ programs, he purposely tried avoiding any other information about the area. “I’m not really looking too much into what those colleges will be like… in terms of what it’s going to be like to live there. I want to be thrown into it, flipped around, jumbled up, and kind of crash my way through it until I make it… I’m pretty excited.” He’s not even worried about having to learn a new language. He thinks that the American system of learning a language in school “makes it seem a lot harder than it actually is.” Concerning difficult experiences with learning new languages, Kiewek especially knows what he’s talking about. When he moved to Shanghai, he not only needed to learn Chinese, but he also needed to learn English so that he could understand the lessons being taught in his American school. The college process, which seems completely normal to most Americans, has been the most uncomfortable part for Kiewek. And while moving to a completely foreign country may seem scary for most Americans, that process is the reward waiting for Kiewek at the end of the tunnel. “My whole life has built up to this moment. My mom was like, ‘have you considered college in Europe?’ That’s just weird enough for me to pursue. Going to college in the U.S. seemed just too normal for me. I’ve always prided myself on not being normal. Why be normal? There’s too many of that.”

something that he thinks that his peers (and the rest of the country) are failing to understand. Contrasted to the country’s iron-lockdown policies from the spring of 2020, the government has shortened their mandated shutdowns from 14 days to 7 days, with Popkin’s school following suit. “I think that the French went through a really strict period of quarantine, and they now have this mindset that they can’t be affected by COVID because they’re young. People that had COVID a week ago definitely still have it, but we’re opening campus again and people are just going to continue to spread the virus. I think that it’s going to be a cycle of campus opening, people partying, thinking that it’s gone, and then campus is closed, and it’s going to feel like it’s back. It’s going to be a cycle of partying and quarantining. And that sucks.”