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We study the results of applicants' preparation for admission in the university on the programming-related faculties under conditions of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, when applicants studied the programming languages individually. The attempts to enhance the high school courses of computer science with IT knowledge gained in the last 20 years causes the amount of time spent on the development of the students' programming skills to decrease gradually. Accordingly, the initial IT-related qualifications of the university applicants are com-promised. Training of a professional programmer comprises studying programming as a mathematical science and obtaining competencies that allow for a quick transition from one programming language to another. High school students' interest in programming manifested itself due to liberation from the regulations of the school curriculum and to the possibilities real-life application of computers that became obvious during the pandemic. The necessity to enhance the school curriculum with a separate course of Programming (or with an optional course, besides the general Computer Science course) aimed at studying the basic concepts of programming, similarly to the study of the basic laws of addition and multiplication in mathematics, comes to the forefront. Such course, first of all, would allow a student to decide on the choice of their future profession of a programmer, which is interesting and currently in great demand, to understand their capabilities in studying this science and mastering their future specialty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]