College Counseling During a Pandemic

Gretchen Arguedas, Director of College Counseling, reflects on college counseling during the COVID-19 pandemic and Riverstone’s Class of 2021.

“As I look back at what Riverstone and our seniors accomplished this year, I am proud and profoundly grateful. The Class of 2021 started the year with hybrid learning, some even attended completely virtually. We were adapting to being masked. Anxiety and pressure loomed over so much of what we did in those early months of the academic year.

Over and over, I received comments to the effect of, “What is going to happen with college admissions? Is it going to be okay?” Major news outlets ran stories about how much more competitive admissions would be and speculation about how masses of students taking gap years and the lack of access to standardized testing would affect admissions.

While I lacked answers backed by official sources to some of these questions, I knew that everything was going to be okay. This may be my first pandemic, but luckily this fall wasn’t my first rodeo as far as college applications go. Our students had resources, a positive community, and were willing to work. Over and over again, I found myself sharing these axioms that have always guided my approach to college counseling.

1) The fundamentals are imperative. I knew that our students would succeed because they have an excellent academic grounding. They’re enrolled in the IB, the most universally respected curriculum in the world (or at least that is what college admissions reps have articulated to me). While COVID-style hybrid learning was far from perfect and I for one won’t miss it when it’s gone, we maintained high academic standards. We showed up. We worked. We did a hard, unglamorous thing day in and day out, and it paid off as our seniors continued to receive a world-class education despite the difficulties.

2) It takes a village. I also knew that our students had a lot of adults here at Riverstone who care about them. Despite doing so much extra work to pull off virtual learning, our teachers wrote beautiful, detailed, heartfelt, personal recommendations. Speaking for myself, I valued the connections I’ve had with students in ways I had taken for granted in the past. Escaping isolation and working together here at school as a community was a privilege. We pulled together as a community to support the students and I was moved by the encouragement and guidance our whole faculty offered throughout the application process.

3) We are more than scores and numbers. COVID forced colleges to rely less on standardized test scores. The majority went test-optional, a trend that had been quickening in recent years. Since many students couldn’t submit test scores, their essays and recommendations were read with more attention. Our students are interesting people who engage in a rich range of extracurricular activities outside of school. I knew that the students who lived rich lives in addition to their academic pursuits would be okay without scores. So, my strongest message to students was and remains: “Get out and live.” Be outside, read, create, care, give back to your community. Learn an instrument, bake, compete, tutor, and do what makes you happy. The best way to be an interesting applicant is to get interested in the world around you.

I’ll always remember the Class of 2021 with particular fondness. Here’s to celebrating their tremendous accomplishments.”

Learn more about Riverstone’s College Counseling here.

Learn more about College Placement for the Class of 2021 here.