Change Brings Opportunities for Prospective Rose-Hulman Students
Friday, August 21, 2020
Prospective students have started taking in-person and virtual campus tours, and started their applications for the 2021-22 school year.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought revolutionary change to the college admissions process that opened August 1 for prospective students to Rose-Hulman.
As the pandemic has impacted opportunities for students to take the SAT or ACT, Rose-Hulman has made a one-year exception to its requirement of a standardized test score for admission.
Also, students’ academic transcripts may be impacted as many high schools have either switched to pass/fail grading, had classes and labs provided only online or had schools close doors entirely in the spring. High school extracurricular and athletic activities have also been canceled or significantly restricted for most of 2020 in many cases.
In response, Rose-Hulman admissions officials will be paying closer attention to students’ experiences, behaviors, and characteristics that come through application essays and letters of recommendation.
“We’re taking a holistic view of the entire college admissions process,” says Thomas Bear, Rose-Hulman’s vice president for enrollment management. “We’re reviewing non-traditional avenues to evaluate whether a prospective student has the specific skill set to be successful in the rigorous science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) academic environment that we offer.”
Rose-Hulman will continue to maintain its same high academic admissions standards when reviewing students’ applications, including expecting rigorous coursework and successful completion.
Bear adds, “If a student can arrange to take the SAT or ACT, that’s encouraged, but we’re not going to penalize any student for not having those scores this year. Really, those scores have always been one of several criteria that we consider. We’re retraining our staff to look at other factors when making these important admissions decisions.”
Rose-Hulman’s Early Action application deadline is November 1. Apply here.
As the pandemic has impacted opportunities for students to take the SAT or ACT, Rose-Hulman has made a one-year exception to its requirement of a standardized test score for admission.
Also, students’ academic transcripts may be impacted as many high schools have either switched to pass/fail grading, had classes and labs provided only online or had schools close doors entirely in the spring. High school extracurricular and athletic activities have also been canceled or significantly restricted for most of 2020 in many cases.
In response, Rose-Hulman admissions officials will be paying closer attention to students’ experiences, behaviors, and characteristics that come through application essays and letters of recommendation.
“We’re taking a holistic view of the entire college admissions process,” says Thomas Bear, Rose-Hulman’s vice president for enrollment management. “We’re reviewing non-traditional avenues to evaluate whether a prospective student has the specific skill set to be successful in the rigorous science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) academic environment that we offer.”
Rose-Hulman will continue to maintain its same high academic admissions standards when reviewing students’ applications, including expecting rigorous coursework and successful completion.
Bear adds, “If a student can arrange to take the SAT or ACT, that’s encouraged, but we’re not going to penalize any student for not having those scores this year. Really, those scores have always been one of several criteria that we consider. We’re retraining our staff to look at other factors when making these important admissions decisions.”
Rose-Hulman’s Early Action application deadline is November 1. Apply here.