The disrupted spring term has offered many lessons to college leaders trying to plan for the fall. But one unheralded takeaway: The powerful role incidental and impromptu interactions play in the college experience—and how hard it is to replace them.

Photo: Martin León Barreto

Overnight, many of the most useful tools and tactics employed by college admissions officers were swept off the table because of the coronavirus. No more campus visits. No more widely shared and commonly observed deadlines. No more predictive models carefully calibrated using years of granular data to predict the size of the entering class in the fall. 

Admissions leaders explain how they are now reaching potential students in this volatile new environment.