Covid-19 Updates

Tutoring at Mo Prep

We are excited to offer in-person sessions, meeting all local and state guidelines, to students who wish to have them. In-person students have the option to receive tutoring in-home or in our office in Sorrento Valley.

All sessions currently occurring remotely may stay remote and will be the default unless otherwise requested. New students may request online or in-person sessions and may use a hybrid model as they desire and the schedule allows.

Most of our online sessions occur via Zoom, and they are confirmed with a link sent the day prior.

For remote sessions, all practice materials are physically delivered to your doorstep in advance of your sessions, and your tutor will have a copy of everything you’ll be working with. We utilize whiteboards, virtual and physical, as well as our proprietary materials and supplemental materials to keep the learning process strong.

Practice Tests at Mo Prep

All practice tests are physically delivered to your doorstep and administered utilizing Zoom remote proctoring. We currently host remotely-proctored practice tests every Saturday morning (excluding major holidays) from 8:15am-11:30am.

During the pandemic, we are holding an in-person practice test the Saturday prior to each official ACT or SAT exam date. If you are interested in an in-person practice exam on a different date, please let us know so we can arrange one for you.

Test Optional & Blind Movement

The test-optional movement was alive and well before Covid-19 started, and the pandemic can be attributed to many schools going test-optional in the wake of massive test site cancellations.

Most selective schools decided to go test-optional for a range of 1 to up to 3 years, while some have opted to go test-blind for only the current class of high school seniors (Class of 2021).

Test optional has always conferred an advantage to students with strong scores. Because distance learning has rendered grades less meaningful and less standardized from school to school, in addition to knocking out many extracurricular and volunteer opportunities, test scores will be even more significant than in prior years. The admissions decisions from this past fall reflected this concept, with students who submitted test scores accepted at significantly higher rates to test-optional schools.

UC and CSU Admission Policies

The UC schools have released that they will not be considering test scores for admissions decisions for the class of 2021 or 2022.

However, the implications of this decision are unclear. Though the UC schools also claimed to not consider test scores in admissions for this past admissions cycle (Class of 2021), they do allow you to submit test scores for scholarship and course placement purposes - information they have access to on your application regardless of if it has a numerical effect on your application strength.

The CSU system has suspended the requirement of standardized tests for the class of 2021, but has not released any information for the following classes yet.

Official Tests

The first ACT to occur in San Diego county since the beginning of the pandemic occurred in October at a pop-up test site downtown at the Sheraton San Diego. Pop-up test sites have been the most reliable throughout the pandemic, able to follow regulations and allow students to sit for exams without the restrictions imparted on school test sites.

There has not been an in-county SAT since the pandemic began, though there have been multiple in nearby Riverside, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino counties this fall.

Admissions experts have generally advised that if you are able to take a test within 100 miles of your house, you should do so.

The MCAT has resumed in-person testing with social distancing and masks required.

The GRE, LSAT, and GMAT have all moved to online administrations for the time being.

The “Covid Slide”

The results from impromptu spring remote learning were significantly worse than normal in-person learning, and for many classes and grading policies, a huge disruption altogether. Educators anticipated a 30%-50% loss of material during the initial “Covid slide” in the spring of 2020. With many school districts in San Diego continuing remote learning into the fall and spring, the state of California has already released money to school districts to help mitigate the effects of this learning loss.

While we cannot make up for class time lost, we have created skills sessions in Reading, Science, and Mathematics that will build necessary skills for testing, high school classes, college, and your career. We have always seen a deep need for these skills, and an even greater one during this time period as many students fall behind. See how we’re supporting students through pandemic-related learning loss here.