SU’s College Admission Process during the Pandemic

By Lindsey Fine

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse university’s office of admissions released the first wave of regular decision admissions for the class of 2025 last Friday.

“The first thing I thought when I saw that ‘congratulations’ in the gold text was that every single good, bad, great, horrible thing I went through in high school and before became worth it. Everything just fell into place in that moment,” incoming broadcast and digital journalism student Audrey Glynn said.

Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, many prospective students could not physically visit SU’s campus before deciding if they wanted to attend college at SU. However, the university held virtual information sessions and tours to try and give students a feel of campus and answer their questions. Prospective students also learned about the campus life at SU by talking to alumni, looking at SU’s social media accounts and watching YouTube videos about it.

“I’ve never been to Syracuse before; it doesn’t make me nervous to come in the fall because I trust the opinions of so many other people I’ve seen on the internet who have just loved it,” incoming communicative sciences and disorders student Oliva Webb said.

Even though high school seniors could not visit college campuses, universities across the country received more applications than ever. SU saw 24% more applications for the class of 2025 than the class of 2024 according to Shannon Andre, an author for SU’s news website said in an article. The increase in applications nation-wide is credited to standardized tests being canceled which made schools become “test optional,” meaning students can choose if they want to submit a standardized test score with their application or not. Students applied to more schools because they did not need to spend more money to send their test scores to each college they apply to.

“I applied to 16 schools overall which is a lot,” incoming communications and rhetorical studies student Dylan Oratz said. “If I had to submit my test scores it would’ve probably been less, so it would have been about 14 or 13 probably, if there was no test optional.”

Now with the changed college decision process in their past, incoming students can focus on the transition from high school to college.

“I’m just super excited to come on campus and meet new friends, I’m ready to start the college life,” incoming dual television, radio and film and management student Ruby Mendelson said.