Alison and Anna had a great chat yesterday on our Zoom webinar about the latest developments in college admissions.

Among other things, they talked about:

• This whole mess known as SAT/ACT/AP/Subject tests this year: should you take them? Are they worth it? How will admissions officers interpret them?
   

• What constitutes a score that is good enough to submit if a school is test-optional?
   

• If current high school seniors defer, what does that mean for rising juniors and for this summer's waitlist?
   

• The pickle that the heads of enrollment are in at selective colleges after the deposit deadline and some possible, counter-intuitive outcomes
   

• How will the admissions standards change this coming cycle?
   

• How will so-called "non-cognitive" skills factor into the admissions process?
   

• James Bond movies. Really!
   

• What kinds of activities are going to catch an admissions officer's eye?
   

• What not to write about in your application essay?
   

• Where should you talk about the context of your life in our application (legitimate difficulties with digital access, a class that had to get discontinued, etc.)?
   

• What will happen with Early Decision / Early Action options this coming season?
   

• Notre Dame. Oh my.
   

• When can a creative / arts supplement hurt you?
   

• Why you should avoid the "scrapbook mentality" in your applications.
   

• How to get a good teacher recommendation for a reach college from a large public high school
   

• What do you do if your school-based college counselor opts out of writing counselor recommendations for students?
   

• What to do if your high school doesn't routinely feed applicants to a particular college and therefore doesn't have a strong pre-existing relationship with that college.
   

• Photo (video) bombing by my dog.

Enjoy!