Many seniors are overwhelmed as the second semester starts and graduation draws closer, considering the previous year was our first full year of in-person school for class of 2023. As a lot of high school for me and my peers was completed online, it can be challenging to feel prepared for college when we haven’t even completed all of high school in-person. Many people find it challenging to navigate college applications considering having missed a full year in person that could have helped them prepare for and learn about the college application season.

Due to the COVID-19 quarantine for a large portion of our four years of high school, most seniors lost structure in our routines and struggled academically when we were learning online. In addition to having our freshman year cut short and missing out on sophomore year, many people questioned their college readiness during our current school year. The transition into this year, according to senior Ebyan Abdullahi, “Made me feel like I missed out on so much given that I spent so much time getting back on track and I’m still processing it.” Adapting back into socializing/interacting was difficult because many students felt unprepared to take higher-level classes because the prior year had no structure and no accountability to finish assignments.

Many people struggled academically, and their ACT and SAT scores reflect this. My own experience with standardized testing was challenging because I had to review a lot of material after an entire year with little learning. Statistics show that the current senior class had one of the lowest average ACT scores, so COVID-19 had a significant impact. For the first time since the 1990s, classes 2022 and 2023 fell below 20 in overall composite score. Despite many students’ efforts, completing prep courses prior to the test does not compensate for the time lost since the pandemic. This doesn’t speak for everyone’s academic abilities, rather, it relates to the fact that many people lacked resources during that lengthy gap period to properly prepare or consider standardized testing. College expectations are important to learn about and apply for throughout all four years of high school. It seemed like I was learning through the college application process for myself when it was something I could have discovered in my sophomore year.