Acceptance into an MBA program may be especially challenging in 2021 due to the alignment of several factors, Wall Street Journalreports.

At the start of the pandemic, applications to MBA programs for fall 2020 surged as students looked for ways to ride out an unstable job market. Full-time residential MBA programs continue to report more applications for fall 2021.

A former pharmacy owner in Union City, N.J., pleaded guilty to his role in a multimillion dollar conspiracy to pay kickbacks and bribes to physicians and defraud the IRS, according to the U.S.

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These programs also expect to have fewer spots for 2021, since many offered enrollment deferrals to international students in 2020 due to travel restrictions caused by the global pandemic, WSJ reports.

The deferral rate for all MBA students climbed from 2 percent in 2019 to 6 percent in 2020, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council.

Some programs are expanding 2021 class sizes. Harvard Business School, for example, plans to enroll about 1,000 students for the next two years — up slightly from its typical 930 enrollments.

But the constricted resources of smaller MBA programs make it difficult for them to accommodate more students, especially after some had already reduced class sizes after several years of fewer applications.

'Everything points to this being the most competitive year ever for MBA applicants,' Jeremy Shinewald, founder of admissions consulting firm mbaMission, told WSJ. 'I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if schools crush their records for application volume.'

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Veronique Seguin and Vanessa Gareau are both on the same page.

Their children attend Evergreen elementary, but have not physically been in school for weeks.

They said since mid-November, there have been multiple cases of COVID-19 at the school, and according to them, the situation is out of control.

Read more: Quebec government outlines holiday plans with schools to close early to allow for 4 days of family gatherings

'I don't think that the kids are safe in any way,' said Seguin.

According to the Lester B. Pearson school board, there have been 21 cumulative novel coronavirus cases at Evergreen, 11 of which were students and 10 staff.

As of Friday, they say there are still four active cases, involving two students and two staff.

Read more: Coronavirus: Quebec to start testing air quality in schools next week

'Despite the fact that public health has been informed of the cases at Evergreen, and at the board, they never asked us to close the school,' said Darren Becker, director of communications at the school board.

'In other words, they just told us to continue doing what we're doing.'

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But these parents say they don't understand some of the decisions that are being made.

For example, in an email they say was sent to all parents on Nov. 16 and provided to Global News, it states that a staff member had tested positive, but children 'can still attend class as usual, because the individual was diligent about wearing the proper PPE.'

Read more: Number of COVID-19 cases in schools on the rise in Quebec

In another email dated Nov. 29, it explains that two staff members have tested positive, but have been cleared to return to work because these 'people have already had COVID and are likely to continue testing positive for subsequent weeks/months.'

The school board said that decision was made on the advice of public health.

'I was floored,' said Gareau. 'I couldn't believe it. I thought this was a joke.'

Parents aren't the only ones feeling confused. The teachers union says staff are feeling it, too.

Read more: COVID-19: Quebec warns that schools could close in a region that becomes high risk

'The overall feeling is one of extreme stress and uncertainty and just not fully understanding the answers they are getting from santé publique,' said Matt Wilson, president of the Pearson Teachers Union.

Global News reached out to the Quebec education ministry for comment, but they referred us to the regional public health department.

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In an email to Global New, a spokesperson for the CISSS de la Montérégie-Centre said there was no reason to shut down the school as the illness had only spread in a limited number of groups.

'Measures have been added to limit transmission,' said Chantal Vallée, 'There is no evidence of general transmission in the school.'

Vallée noted that three classes were closed and students of two of the classes have since returned to school with the third class set to return on Monday, Dec. 7.

In response to parents' concerns over teachers returning to school after subsequent positive COVID-19 tests, the health board said its priority is to ensure the safety of students and staff.

'People can test positive for a long time even when they are no longer contagious,' Vallée said. 'We apply the criteria that are recognized and applied throughout Quebec to determine when a person is no longer contagious.'

Vallée explained that an affected person should be in isolated for a minimum of 10 days after a positive COVID-19 test or after the onset of symptoms.

'As a rule, a person can resume their activities after this 10-day period, when they have been without a fever for 48 hours and have noticed that their general condition has improved in the past 24 hours,' she said.

Vallée added those guidelines make it possible to control outbreaks not only school settings but in health-care and other settings as well.

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-- With files from Global News' Annabelle Olivier