Curious about the pandemic’s impact on the college admissions process? Ivy Coach was featured live on WGN America’s NewsNation this past weekend discussing test-optional admissions, financial aid policies, gap year students, and rising applications to our nation’s elite universities. And, yes, we of course led with the zinger recently delivered by Cornell’s admissions czar in The New York Times. For those not familiar with the quote, Cornell’s vice provost for enrollment essentially openly acknowledged that lots of applicants applied without test scores thinking they had a chance. We can’t imagine why they’d think such a thing. It couldn’t possibly be because admissions leaders told these students they had a chance (we, of course, told students at the time that students with great test scores would always have an advantage over students with no scores).

As Amelia Nierenberg writes for The New York Times in a piece entitled “Interest Surges in Top Colleges, While Struggling Ones Scrape for Applicants,” “Prestigious universities like Cornell never have a hard time attracting students. But this year, the admissions office in Ithaca, N.Y., is swimming in 17,000 more applications than it has ever received before, driven mostly by the school’s decision not to require standardized test scores during the coronavirus pandemic. ‘We saw people that thought ‘I would never get into Cornell’ thinking, ‘Oh, if they’re not looking at a test score, maybe I’ve actually got a chance,'” said Jonathan Burdick, Cornell’s vice provost for enrollment.” Who ever would have given students that funny idea?

In any case, check out the segment on WGN America’s NewsNation to learn more about how the pandemic has impacted the highly selective college admissions process.