By Katie Park ‘21
After the remote learning period of my fifth form spring, I thought it was all going to be downhill from there. Since my third form year, I was well aware of the rigor of the fifth form year at St. Mark’s as the upperclassmen always talked about it. However, when it came to sixth form year, all I thought about was senior spring and how awesome those days are going to be for me.
In fact, senior fall is as stressful or even more so than junior year because there is a lot to manage. There is only limited time, but seniors have to find time to work on their college applications, do school work, and have fun with friends. Although all the previous senior classes went through similar experiences in this regard, the Class of 2021 had an especially challenging and remarkable senior fall.
Most, if not all, schools went test-optional, meaning they do not require their applicants to submit their test scores as part of their applications. Because test centers were closed starting from March, many seniors this year did not have the opportunity to take standardized tests during their junior year, which is typically when students take their tests. Test optional was relieving news, but at the same time, there is also ambiguity surrounding the test-optional policy, which to some people, caused a lot of confusion.
Although interests are subject to change, a lot of people have a general idea of what they enjoy doing by the end of junior year. Most people planned to do something amazing over the summer before their senior year, be it a research program, internship, or a summer job. However, most of them were canceled, which was disappointing because they were looking forward to pursuing their interests over the summer.
St. Mark’s does not report first window grades on the transcripts, but they still send them to colleges if students apply early. St. Mark’s explains to colleges that the first window grades are simply intended for students and parents as progress reports. Nevertheless, especially because junior spring ended with a pass and fail, seniors were looking forward to maximizing their academic potentials and showing that through their first window grades. However, seniors who were fully remote in the fall faced numerous challenges while navigating through another remote learning period.
Applying to colleges is exciting because it is a way of presenting all the hard work we have put in for the past three years, and envisioning how our lives will be after high school is indeed an inspiring process. Although the Class of 2021 is faced with unprecedented challenges in the college process, the exciting aspect of the process still remains.