Supporting Your College-Bound Students During the Coronavirus Crisis

Spring is normally an exciting and hectic time for high school students making plans for college. This year, things are a lot different, with the coronavirus pandemic affecting every aspect of daily life and business. 

For your students who are off to college soon, stress is probably high. Here’s how you can be supportive: 

• Remind them that this is temporary. It’s uncertain and scary, but it will not last forever. Yes, school is moving to a remote learning model for the next several weeks and the SAT and ACT have been postponed until summer. Yes, the home stretch of high school for seniors will be much different from what they expected. But all of this will be behind them at some point in the future. And thus far, colleges and universities are adjusting appropriately, so seniors can still expect contact about acceptance, financial aid, and more in the months to come.
• Offer up a positive take. Right now, it is easy for students to feel like life as they know it is over, but for those getting ready for college, the delay in college entrance exam dates means they will have more time to prepare. This extra study time could mean better scores and more opportunities for juniors taking the SAT or ACT for the first time and starting to think about where they’d like to go.
• College will still be an awesome experience. For seniors, the finality of everything right now and the loss of some of the end-of-year high school milestones that they were planning on are certainly upsetting. But your students have likely been looking forward to college, and there’s no reason to stop doing so. The high school class of 2020 will start college during one of the most memorable years in our world’s history. They will learn and grow from this experience and never take their ability to learn and go to school (or anywhere) for granted again. 

For juniors taking the SAT or ACT in June or July, test prep will help them work toward an important goal. Huntington can help. If your students want support while they prep for either or both of these exams, encourage them to call us at 1-800 CAN LEARN. If nothing else, your students can take advantage of their less hectic schedules and do something good for their futures.