For many foreign applicants to American colleges and graduate schools, COVID-19 created an additional challenge. Where the Educational Testing Service promptly adapted to the pandemic reality by offering a take-at-home GRE exam, and GMAC is expected to follow the suit soon with the GMAT to take remotely, applicants who are not native English speakers are still waiting for take-at-home options for the TOEFL or IELTS exams.
Traditionally, foreign applicants are required to take either TOEFL or IELTS to prove fluency in English in order to enroll in American schools. Two largest origins of international students in the US are China and India. India alone sent 750 000 students abroad. However, this year the numbers are expected to be extremely low.
The eruption of COVID-19 in China got in the way of many local applicants. Even more candidates worldwide have been affected by the cancellation of standardized tests.
Most will have to skip an academic year. Many recent high school graduates who aspired to enter American colleges have not looked for jobs, because they anticipated to be full-time students, and will now have to adjust their plans amidst the crumbling economy.
American schools are looking into options to accommodate domestic and international applicants. Top schools such as HBS and Kellogg School of Management extended the application deadlines in their last rounds, but so far all hesitate to waive the exams altogether. Schools in the UK and Canada began offering deferred admissions.
