8 Tips for NOLA High School Seniors During the COVID Crisis

High school seniors all around the country just lost most of their last semester. Prom, graduation, etc. From all of us educators, we’re sorry this has happened. We promise there’s a small army of us trying our best to help you through this.

In the meantime, here are a few tips to help you out with your postsecondary planning.

TIP #1: If you don’t have the ACT score you wanted, you still have many options available to you.

Some 4-year colleges have gone test-optional. If you were counting on the Spring ACT to help you get the ACT score you wanted for college next year, you’re not alone. Many colleges are responding to this crisis by going “Test-Optional,” which means you don’t have to share your ACT/SAT score with them to get in. Rather, they’ll base admission decisions on course load, GPA, extracurriculars, letters of recommendation, and other materials you provide.

There are plenty of programs that do not require an ACT or SAT score, but still lead to a high earning career. Every program on explore.wherewego.org does not require an ACT or an SAT score. Rather, they care that you are passionate about what it is that you are going on to study. That’s why we’ve organized everything on explore.wherewego.org to be by program of study instead of by institution.

TIP #2: Keep an eye on changing and rolling deadlines.

Deposit deadlines have been pushed back at many colleges. “Accept” is a company founded by New Orleanians that supports people applying to college and they’ve put together this resource link that shows you which colleges have extended their deposit deadlines to June 1st. 

Most programs on WhereWeGo already have rolling deadlines.

TIP #3: Make a list of programs that you’d be pleased to attend if your primary plans don’t work out.

This time may be stressful, but not everything has to be. WhereWeGo’s programs cover many different types of learning styles, interests, and all of them are low-cost. If you go to explore.wherewego.org, you’ll be able to create a list and share it with important people in your life, including your college counselor.

TIP #4: Gratitude is a great stress reliever.

You know who is working their butt off right now trying to make sure you can navigate this change? Your college counselor. They’re hustling. Hard. If you want WhereWeGo to send your college counselor a secret bundle of thank you flowers, we’d love to do that. Nominate your counselor for a Thank You bundle by emailing info@wherewego.org with your name, what you want it to say on the card, and your counselor’s email address. We’ll sort out the rest. We’ll send one bundle per counselor, so nominate yours first if you want you and your friends’ names on it ;)

TIP #5: A lot of new programs have opened this year in New Orleans that offer 1-2 year certifications for free. You can use these to get a more affordable head-start to your 4-year degree or pursue careers immediately after the programs.

LAUNCH: Launch is located on Poydras St, run by YouthForce NOLA, and is totally free if you attended a New Orleans public high school this year. They offer certifications that take less than two years in a variety of fields. You’ll find them at explore.wherewego.org.

Trellis Hybrid College: Trellis is also located on Poydras St and is working with Southern New Hampshire University to provide certifications that are totally free if you are eligible for a Pell Grant. They’ve made their tuition cheaper than a Pell Grant, so all of the costs can be covered. This is a great opportunity for New Orleanians of all ages. So, if you know someone who wants to go back to school, they’re designing their program to be very flexible.

TIP #6: Spend this time exploring what you want to study.

You know something interesting? Researchers compared 2 groups: People with high academic scores and people with low academic scores. They found that… When people loved their new field of study, their academic scores in the past didn’t impact whether or not they successfully graduated. That’s great news, and means that determining what you’ll love to learn about is a wonderful use of time. It’s completely normal to not know, or to only have a vague idea right now. On explore.wherewego.org, you’ll see things organized by the program of study. Use it as a way to sort of “shop” for careers you might be interested in. If you want to take a quiz on what careers you might be suited for, try out this link: MyNextMove . It’s not the prettiest website, but it very creepily told me that my best-matched career was the one I already had…. weird.

TIP #7: Help keep others in the loop.

It’s really normal to feel out of the loop when everything goes digital. Fact of the matter is, individuals under 25 are way better at navigating the online world than grown-ups are. As you try to stay in the loop with all that’s going on, try to pay it forward each time. And, if you haven’t checked on your emails or connected with your college counselor in a while, take a moment to do that.

TIP #8: For the love of yourself, your friends, your family, and your friend’s families… Stay at home as much as you can.

Most individuals who are positive for the coronavirus do not have any symptoms. So, you may feel and look healthy and awesome, but the surfaces you touch and the water droplets you leave behind in the air through breathing, coughing, sneezing, etc can get others very ill. Also, you don’t want to get sick either and who knows where others have been?

Still have more questions than answers? Email info@wherewego.org and we’ll compile more answers. We’d love to hear from you.