The Lion's Den

Seniors, college is right around the corner and it's time to prepare. Many of you have already determined the college you’re attending and submitted your statement of intent. Still, the process of preparing for college is far from over.

1. Collect Financial Aid: Colleges include many forms of financial aid on their financial aid package. Your college may give you money directly from their college, so it's important to tell them what parts of their financial aid letters you plan on accepting. Yet, grants and loans from the state and federal government (Cal Grant and Sub/Unsub Loans) may have to be accepted not through the college, but through the government website. For Cal Grant visit the California Student Aid Commission, and for federal loans visit the Federal Student Aid website. As always, Ms. Valle is your best option for further guidance or even your college’s Financial Aid Office.

2. Stay In Contact: Colleges are very busy trying to graduate their senior class so it is important to stay in contact with specific people at your college. Be in contact with the Financial Aid Office, Admissions Office, and more importantly, your Admissions Counselor. They can tell what you need or direct you where you need to be. If you do not know your admissions counselor, you can search them up on the college website, or ask the Admissions Office for their contact information. Public colleges will likely be harder to reach, so you have to stay on top of things!

3. Textbooks/Registration/Orientation: Because of the virus, colleges will vary on approaches to textbooks, registration for classes, and orientation. Orientation and Class Registration is likely to take place late summer, but how they are handled will vary. UCs and Cal States will follow similar procedures, as they are run by the state. Privates will be more similar to each other than public schools but will vary. It is important to contact your admissions counselor to determine what is going to happen to these events and how you should prepare.

4. Online Schooling: Public universities and community colleges may not resume the following year on campus, but rather online. Due to public schools being densely populated, the chance of contracting COVID-19 is higher. On the contrary, Privates are smaller, making them a lower risk in comparison. Some privates are already considering reopening their campus in the fall or shortening the fall semester. Still, nothing is set in stone in any school. Once again, ask your admissions counselor.

College is going to be tough, which is why we’ll need support and help from those around us to get started. If you have any questions, ask your college admissions counselor or Ms. Valle for help! Good luck, Seniors!

As for the juniors, with the seniors graduating and going off to college soon, juniors will soon begin the process of applying and preparing for college. However, it is no surprise that there is a little bit of confusion as to how college applications will be affected due to the current circumstances. Thankfully, some colleges and universities have adapted their requirements to ease some of the stress of applying to college.

Due to the current circumstances, many previous requirements for applying to colleges in previous years have been suspended or made optional. All of the spring and summer SAT test dates have been canceled in order to slow the spread of the virus, so, in response to this, the University of California system, which includes schools such as the University of California Los Angeles, University of California San Diego, and the University of California Irvine, have become test-optional. By becoming test-optional, they no longer require applicants to submit an SAT score for admission purposes. However, this does not mean that the test should be ignored. It can still be used to determine who will receive scholarships - plus submitting a score will not hurt your chances of admission. Additionally, colleges in the United States will not be looking at the letter grade for the spring semester, and instead, they will be looking at whether a class was passed or failed, but letter grades can still be submitted with the West Covina Unified School District’s Letter Grade Petition Form. With these adjustments, the college application season should be a little easier in our current situation.

All in all, the class of 2021 will have an interesting time applying to college in the fall, but hopefully these adjustments will make it a less stressful experience. The only thing that we can do now is hope that college admissions officers continue to understand the struggles and stress of students due to quarantine.