The college application season is well underway, and seniors all across America are confused as ever.

The college process is stressful under normal circumstances, but due to the pandemic, many changes have needed to be made. To begin, many students have not been able to take their standardized tests because they have been canceled several times. This common difficulty has prompted most colleges and universities to go test-optional, where applicants do not need to submit test scores in their application. However, not all schools have decided to go test-optional, which has forced students unable to take the ACT or SAT to maybe not apply to their dream school.

One of the most exciting parts of applying to college is visiting the schools that you are interested in. For the most part, schools are not allowing any off campus visitors this year in order to try and control the spread of COVID. This means that most seniors are applying to and could possibly attend colleges that they have never been to before.

Most schools offer virtual tours and information sessions, but you never get a true feel for a place unless you have been there before. It is a scary thought that students could be paying thousands of dollars to attend a school that they have never seen in person.

There is a major amount of uncertainty surrounding the 2020-2021 school year, but it also extends into next school year as well. Who knows if colleges will return to normal next year, or as normal as they can. Good luck to all of the seniors this year applying to college, we are all in this together!