A Reimagined College Admission Process

By Bradley Hoppenstein

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – As with all else in the pandemic, college admissions had to be reimagined in order to be COVID compliant. For Syracuse University, that meant moving traditional campus tours and information sessions to a virtual format. 

For the foreseeable future, Syracuse is offering a variety of virtual sessions, including virtual tours of the campus and its schools. Still, for those involved in the process, the new experience leaves much to be desired. 

“We’re trying to tell them what’s so great about Syracuse…it won’t be as good as it could be, but I think it will still mean something,” said Brycen Greco, a student tour guide at Syracuse. 

Even with the University doing all it can to help prospective students, it seems that the virtual admissions process still cannot match the in-person experience of the past. 

In another effort to extend a hand to prospective students, Syracuse announced in February that it has waived SAT and ACT scores for the 2021 application year, with no disadvantage to students who are unable or choose not to submit these test scores. 

“[COVID] did make the situation harder because I wanted to visit again,” said Peter Kucharczuk, a first-year student at SU. Even though Kucharczuk was applying to schools last year, he got a glimpse into the COVID restrictions that would soon plague the college admissions process. 

Even with the U.S. rounding a corner in the pandemic, it seems the best colleges and universities can continue to do is continue with the virtual process until it is safe to be face to face again.