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Colleges and COVID-19 (1 Viewer)

Kiddnets

Footballguy
My oldest is starting college at Rutgers in the fall - we still don't have a decision on what they are going to do.  Seems awfully late to not have a plan released.....

I am interested in anyone's experience or thoughts related to college and COVID-19 -

it's hard enough to have a kid in college but this is really tough - it seems colleges are taking this on a case by case basis.  

Id like to hear whats going on out there......

 
My nephew is going to Bowling Green in Ohio.  Still no word on how classes will go.

Students do not HAVE to stay in dorms their freshman year, so that's a change.

 
My nephew is going to Bowling Green in Ohio.  Still no word on how classes will go.

Students do not HAVE to stay in dorms their freshman year, so that's a change.
Thx - 

Ive heard some colleges are starting earlier than usual and ending by Thxgiving - anyone else have that?  

 
My oldest is starting college at Rutgers in the fall - we still don't have a decision on what they are going to do.  Seems awfully late to not have a plan released.....

I am interested in anyone's experience or thoughts related to college and COVID-19 -

it's hard enough to have a kid in college but this is really tough - it seems colleges are taking this on a case by case basis.  

Id like to hear whats going on out there......
Friends daughter is starting RU...they've been trying to convince her to just go to a CC for freshman year 

 
Both my kids are starting early, no breaks, on campus school ends the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Finals are online in December. Campus "closed" from that Wednesday till mid January. Masks "required", limited size labs and classrooms. Lots of testing, plans to re-work dining halls, etc. 

It all sounds good. I see no way it comes off. Just the news from Universities of Georgia and Washington, on summer session show just hard this going to really be.  At this point I am planning on having to pull the chute a second time.

I know I don't have any good answers. 

 
Both my kids are starting early, no breaks, on campus school ends the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Finals are online in December. Campus "closed" from that Wednesday till mid January. Masks "required", limited size labs and classrooms. Lots of testing, plans to re-work dining halls, etc. 

It all sounds good. I see no way it comes off. Just the news from Universities of Georgia and Washington, on summer session show just hard this going to really be.  At this point I am planning on having to pull the chute a second time.

I know I don't have any good answers. 
Lots of testing? 

 
Here’s the latest communication from my son’s school, which is planning to offer most classes only online and encouraging students not to come to campus in the fall. I can understand the approach they are taking, particularly because they are in a hotspot, but it is going to be an extremely challenging experience for those kids who do end up on campus. We’re leaning towards keeping him home for the fall semester.

We hope this letter finds you safe and well. As we get closer to the start of Fall 2020 and the return of residents to USC Housing, we want to be fully transparent about how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will impact your living experience within USC Housing and on campus.

The purpose of this letter is to inform you of the increased health and safety guidelines which will be required for all USC Housing residents to follow to allow for a safe and healthy community environment.  We are hopeful this information will allow you to make an informed decision on whether an on-campus living environment or an online experience from your permanent residence is the better choice for you to succeed academically and thrive as an individual during the fall semester.

In their July 1st letter Provost Chip Zukoski and Senior Vice President David Wright recommended all undergraduates take their courses online, and reconsider living on or close to campus during the fall semester. We will honor current contracts, but room assignments and building locations will change, in order to adhere to the one student per bedroom requirement. Therefore, we encourage all students holding contracts as well as new incoming freshmen and transfer students – particularly those who do not have any in-person classes or who live in the greater Los Angeles area – to reconsider on-campus housing.

The following policies are based on city, county, state and federal guidelines and best practices for health and safety, and will be strictly enforced as part of your USC Housing agreement.  Please read through them carefully.

Daily Requirements

Residents are required to complete and submit a daily symptom screener.

Residents are required to wear a mask at all times when outside your room/suite/apartment.

Residents are not permitted to bring any guests/visitors into the residential community.  This includes parents, guardians, siblings and other relatives.  This restriction will be in place for move in days.

Residents are not permitted to have any person in their room/suite/apartment that is not an official occupant of that space.

Common spaces (i.e. lounges, recreational rooms, gyms, etc.) within the community will be closed. Some of these spaces will only be available for telehealth meetings.

Laundry rooms and elevators will be limited to no more than one person at a time.

In residence halls, residents are restricted to designated bathrooms on their floor as well as specific stairwells and entrances for accessing their building.

Quarantine & Isolation Plans

If a resident tests positive for COVID-19, they will be required to quarantine or self-isolate for a minimum of 14 days from exposure or onset of symptoms. This may require relocation to an appropriate designated quarantine location in another building.

Residence Hall: If a resident tests positive in a residence hall, other residents who share restroom facilities and common walkways will be quarantined either in their assignment or potentially another location in another building.

Suite: If a resident tests positive in a suite, all residents of the suite will be quarantined in their suite.

Apartment: If a resident tests positive in an apartment, all residents of the apartment will be quarantined in their apartment.

Quarantine in these cases mean residents will not be allowed to leave their assignment at all until released by Student Health.  Meals would be delivered to residents in their assignment.  

Residents who do not follow quarantine restrictions and all direction from Student Health and Student Affairs would be subject to disciplinary action including, but not limited to, permanent removal from USC Housing and/or denial of access to USC campuses and properties.

Community Expectations

In addition to the requirements listed above and in the USC Housing agreement, we expect all community members to uphold the highest level of healthy behavior, including the following:

Residents should frequently and consistently wash their hands and use hand sanitizer containing 60%+ alcohol.

Residents should frequently clean their own room/suite/apartment using EPA registered household disinfectants.

Residents will maintain a six-foot distance from other individuals outside their housing room/suite/apartment.

Your commitment to following these policies will be critical to maintain a safe environment for yourself, your residential community, and the entire USC community. If required, disciplinary action will be taken to address any policy violations or directives put in place to address the ongoing pandemic. Failure to abide by the health and safety policies and guidelines can lead to a cancellation of your USC Housing agreement.  We cannot afford to take the policies lightly and all of us must possess the discipline and integrity to do our part to keep the community safe.

Cancelling your USC Housing Contract or Pending Application

We fully acknowledge that this living environment may not be what you were anticipating, but we hope this sheds some light on what to expect while living in USC Housing in the Fall. There are additional videos and information available at resed.usc.edu/covid.  We hope you will be able to decide whether you can be fully committed to complying to this type of living environment, and if this is the best option for you to succeed academically and thrive as an individual in the fall semester.

USC Housing is allowing all students to cancel their current/pending application without penalty and will return application fees.  You will receive an additional email soon regarding the process to cancel your pending application by the July 15th deadline.
 
I'm directly involved in this sort of stuff, and I can tell you with certainty that nearly all colleges are scrambling right now.  We're about six weeks away from the start of the fall semester, and we are still have a lot of uncertainty hanging out there.

My university is planning for students to be back on campus in the fall, but a ton of our classes are going to be moved online anyway because we don't have anywhere near enough classroom capacity to offer our curriculum face to face while maintaining social distancing.  Most of our face to face classes will use some sort of hybrid ("hyflex" is the popular term for these) where a third of the class shows up on Monday, a third on Wednesday, and a third on Friday for the typical MWF class -- everybody else watches remotely.  We're trying to get our fall class schedule tweaked so that most students have a meaningful in-person experience in at least half their classes, but realistically we're unlikely to hit that benchmark for anybody but incoming freshmen and folks in very specific majors.

Like a lot of other schools, we're ending on-campus instruction at Thanksgiving and will finish the semester remotely.  We also abolished all three day weekends, so stuff like Labor Day, Veterans Day, etc. will all be normal class days.  

My daughter will be a freshman this year at a school in another state that is pretty similar to the one I work at -- it's on my school's list of self-identified peer institutions that we benchmark against.  I can tell that they're in the same spot we are.  They still haven't given us a firm date for move-in, and she was warned at new student orientation that her schedule might get adjusted later this summer if they have move some classes around (they will).  I feel legitimately bad for her because her first year of college isn't really going to be all that college-like.  It's different for my son, because he's a senior this year, has lived off-campus with his buddies for a while, and is deep enough into his major that covid doesn't disrupt things quite so much, but it's bad for freshmen.

If you have a kid in college and his or her school has announced that they will be open this fall, you would be wise to start making contingency plans for what happens if the school changes its mind in late July or early August, reverting back to closed campus / online-only instruction.  Many states are in for a brutal July, with cases and deaths on pace to peak a couple of weeks before campuses are supposed to re-open.  There is a lot of chatter in higher ed circles nationwide that if a few high-profile schools reverse course, there will be a ton of pressure on other college presidents to follow suit.  Subjectively, I'd put the odds of that happening at something like 20% or so -- unlikely, but likely enough that you should probably plan for it.  (For example, my daughter really wants to be out of the house and is completely bought in to her chosen school, so my wife and I have scoped out apartments in her city-of-destination that we could move her into for a year.  Having her live at home while taking online classes from an out-of-state school is kind of dumb IMO).    

 
My daughter did not like the online experience this last year at all.  Her major is somewhat lab-heavy and she really enjoys the hands-on stuff.  Maybe it will be better this time around not being so rushed.  I will feel bad for her if her last semester at this university ends up online only.

 
OP probably saw but Rutgers just announced that the fall semester will be a majority of online courses with limited in person classes. I imagine most schools will do something similar. Hard to come up with a way to allow 200-300 person lectures to be in person while it's more feasible to find a way to make the smaller, more advanced classes work. 

 
I'm directly involved in this sort of stuff, and I can tell you with certainty that nearly all colleges are scrambling right now.  We're about six weeks away from the start of the fall semester, and we are still have a lot of uncertainty hanging out there.

My university is planning for students to be back on campus in the fall, but a ton of our classes are going to be moved online anyway because we don't have anywhere near enough classroom capacity to offer our curriculum face to face while maintaining social distancing.  Most of our face to face classes will use some sort of hybrid ("hyflex" is the popular term for these) where a third of the class shows up on Monday, a third on Wednesday, and a third on Friday for the typical MWF class -- everybody else watches remotely.  We're trying to get our fall class schedule tweaked so that most students have a meaningful in-person experience in at least half their classes, but realistically we're unlikely to hit that benchmark for anybody but incoming freshmen and folks in very specific majors.

Like a lot of other schools, we're ending on-campus instruction at Thanksgiving and will finish the semester remotely.  We also abolished all three day weekends, so stuff like Labor Day, Veterans Day, etc. will all be normal class days.  

My daughter will be a freshman this year at a school in another state that is pretty similar to the one I work at -- it's on my school's list of self-identified peer institutions that we benchmark against.  I can tell that they're in the same spot we are.  They still haven't given us a firm date for move-in, and she was warned at new student orientation that her schedule might get adjusted later this summer if they have move some classes around (they will).  I feel legitimately bad for her because her first year of college isn't really going to be all that college-like.  It's different for my son, because he's a senior this year, has lived off-campus with his buddies for a while, and is deep enough into his major that covid doesn't disrupt things quite so much, but it's bad for freshmen.

If you have a kid in college and his or her school has announced that they will be open this fall, you would be wise to start making contingency plans for what happens if the school changes its mind in late July or early August, reverting back to closed campus / online-only instruction.  Many states are in for a brutal July, with cases and deaths on pace to peak a couple of weeks before campuses are supposed to re-open.  There is a lot of chatter in higher ed circles nationwide that if a few high-profile schools reverse course, there will be a ton of pressure on other college presidents to follow suit. Subjectively, I'd put the odds of that happening at something like 20% or so -- unlikely, but likely enough that you should probably plan for it.  (For example, my daughter really wants to be out of the house and is completely bought in to her chosen school, so my wife and I have scoped out apartments in her city-of-destination that we could move her into for a year.  Having her live at home while taking online classes from an out-of-state school is kind of dumb IMO).    
Thanks for the insight, and please keep us posted on developments. Regarding the bolded, this has happened for my son’s school.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-02/usc-will-move-most-undergraduate-classes-online-cancels-reopening

 
Appreciate the information being shared and it seems consistent with my son's school. Challenge for me is this is his senior year, so kind of a bummer with it being his last bite at the apple so to speak. He lives off campus, and plan is for him to do that for the year and follow the rules of engagement provided by the school. Has promised the house will not turn into party zone and fortunate that most of his roommates are from the same geographic area (Northeast), so have been following the rules a bit more closely than their South Carolina location. Time will tell I suppose.

 
Probably not a bad time to take that year off.  Probably wouldn't travel Europe though, lol.

 
Virginia Tech and George Mason are doing a mix of online and in-person classes. I think they are both planning to finish class work by Thanksgiving and having final exams online. Not sure what Virginia Tech is doing for on campus housing since my daughter has an apartment off campus. George Mason is supposed to announce their housing strategy next week. They’ve previously said that all freshmen and all returning students who signed up for housing before the end of last semester will be guaranteed a spot, but we’ve also heard that they are leaning toward making all rooms singles. I don’t see how they make that math work. 

 
We have a HS senior who will probably attend community college or a trade school next year (starting 2021)  Visiting campus is really difficult right now, beyond just walking on the grounds anyway.

My wife is starting Masters classes in the fall, those will be almost 100% online, which works for her better anyway. After being out of school for over 20 years, she's been using the free classes with Sophia to get back into the swing of things. 

It's been said, but I can definitely see a turn to more online classes and it may become more difficult to charge high tuition as online becomes more prominent.

 
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Harvard is going online-only for 20-21, with some but not all students returning to campus.  Harvard is not at all representative of most colleges, but still it's worth noting.    

 
I'm directly involved in this sort of stuff, and I can tell you with certainty that nearly all colleges are scrambling right now.  We're about six weeks away from the start of the fall semester, and we are still have a lot of uncertainty hanging out there.

My university is planning for students to be back on campus in the fall, but a ton of our classes are going to be moved online anyway because we don't have anywhere near enough classroom capacity to offer our curriculum face to face while maintaining social distancing.  Most of our face to face classes will use some sort of hybrid ("hyflex" is the popular term for these) where a third of the class shows up on Monday, a third on Wednesday, and a third on Friday for the typical MWF class -- everybody else watches remotely.  We're trying to get our fall class schedule tweaked so that most students have a meaningful in-person experience in at least half their classes, but realistically we're unlikely to hit that benchmark for anybody but incoming freshmen and folks in very specific majors.

Like a lot of other schools, we're ending on-campus instruction at Thanksgiving and will finish the semester remotely.  We also abolished all three day weekends, so stuff like Labor Day, Veterans Day, etc. will all be normal class days.  

My daughter will be a freshman this year at a school in another state that is pretty similar to the one I work at -- it's on my school's list of self-identified peer institutions that we benchmark against.  I can tell that they're in the same spot we are.  They still haven't given us a firm date for move-in, and she was warned at new student orientation that her schedule might get adjusted later this summer if they have move some classes around (they will).  I feel legitimately bad for her because her first year of college isn't really going to be all that college-like.  It's different for my son, because he's a senior this year, has lived off-campus with his buddies for a while, and is deep enough into his major that covid doesn't disrupt things quite so much, but it's bad for freshmen.

If you have a kid in college and his or her school has announced that they will be open this fall, you would be wise to start making contingency plans for what happens if the school changes its mind in late July or early August, reverting back to closed campus / online-only instruction.  Many states are in for a brutal July, with cases and deaths on pace to peak a couple of weeks before campuses are supposed to re-open.  There is a lot of chatter in higher ed circles nationwide that if a few high-profile schools reverse course, there will be a ton of pressure on other college presidents to follow suit.  Subjectively, I'd put the odds of that happening at something like 20% or so -- unlikely, but likely enough that you should probably plan for it.  (For example, my daughter really wants to be out of the house and is completely bought in to her chosen school, so my wife and I have scoped out apartments in her city-of-destination that we could move her into for a year.  Having her live at home while taking online classes from an out-of-state school is kind of dumb IMO).    
Pretty much the same here at the local U. 

Semi-organized chaos at this point. 

 
Our youngest daughter was all set to be a freshman and go off to college this year, but since everything is moving to online classes and virtually all of the activities she was excited to experience at college have been canceled, she's going to go to CC this year and then transfer to her original college if everything is ok by then for her sophomore year. I don't blame her, and it saves a good amount of money. The key will be in keeping her motivated since by staying here she'll be living at home and still working her part time job.

 
Our youngest daughter was all set to be a freshman and go off to college this year, but since everything is moving to online classes and virtually all of the activities she was excited to experience at college have been canceled, she's going to go to CC this year and then transfer to her original college if everything is ok by then for her sophomore year. I don't blame her, and it saves a good amount of money. The key will be in keeping her motivated since by staying here she'll be living at home and still working her part time job.
Doesn't sound like a bad idea at all. Probably would do the same if I had that choice as well given the circumstances 

 
Our youngest daughter was all set to be a freshman and go off to college this year, but since everything is moving to online classes and virtually all of the activities she was excited to experience at college have been canceled, she's going to go to CC this year and then transfer to her original college if everything is ok by then for her sophomore year. I don't blame her, and it saves a good amount of money. The key will be in keeping her motivated since by staying here she'll be living at home and still working her part time job.
Is her college allowing her to defer admission, or will she have to reapply?

 
My daughter's school is in southern CA and has a plan for kids being on campus, but it's dependent on the State of CA and LA County both lifting applicable restrictions.  Even if on-campus attendance is offered, it will look a lot different than before CV-19:  dorms will single rooms only; on-campus housing priority will go to Freshman, then Seniors, then Juniors; dining hall hours will be limited and eating areas restricted and social distancing tables in effect; no more on-campus school parties; kids will all have to sign an agreement to social distance on campus - those are just some of the many changes facing the kids on campus this year.

Because of the nature of the on-campus restrictions, and the very likely possibility that the school switches to on-line classes only, my daughter and her friends are looking into renting a large house (far outside LA County, where it is much cheaper to live) where they can all live together and attend on-line school together.

 
I feel like I'm missing something obvious here but what's the advantage of starting earlier and finishing before Thanksgiving?

 
I feel like I'm missing something obvious here but what's the advantage of starting earlier and finishing before Thanksgiving?
I suspect the thought is "get the kids off the campus before the flu season hits". The timing of a "second" wave is anyone's guess, but the consensus says we'll see that sometime in late fall too. Add in the suppressed immune system response due to end of semester tired and stressed kids and I think the decision becomes an easy one to make.

 
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Is her college allowing her to defer admission, or will she have to reapply?
Good question, she just decided to go to CC so her college hasn't been notified yet. I'll check with the Mrs. and see if they've looked into that yet. 

 
Thanks for the insight, and please keep us posted on developments. Regarding the bolded, this has happened for my son’s school.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-02/usc-will-move-most-undergraduate-classes-online-cancels-reopening
My older daughter is in law school at USC and so far they're planning for in person classes.  I'll be surprised if that stands, though.  

My younger daughter is due to start her junior year at a very small school in the middle-of-nowhere Minnesota so we're hopeful they will be able to be in person but they have yet to make a formal announcement.

 
Our youngest daughter was all set to be a freshman and go off to college this year, but since everything is moving to online classes and virtually all of the activities she was excited to experience at college have been canceled, she's going to go to CC this year and then transfer to her original college if everything is ok by then for her sophomore year. I don't blame her, and it saves a good amount of money. The key will be in keeping her motivated since by staying here she'll be living at home and still working her part time job.
Tough decision, but a good one IMO. Her major is more important than her choice of school. 

 
OP probably saw but Rutgers just announced that the fall semester will be a majority of online courses with limited in person classes. I imagine most schools will do something similar. Hard to come up with a way to allow 200-300 person lectures to be in person while it's more feasible to find a way to make the smaller, more advanced classes work. 
Just saw - its still a bit vague as it leaves a sliver open since he will have a lab course....but I think its pretty clear that it will be online.  He would have to fit into one of the small exemption categories and re-apply for housing but its pretty clear it isnt happening.  

The only upside is he saves a lot in housing and he is paying in state tuition so its not that bad......Id be really upset if he was going to Lehigh and paying 3 times the tuition for online.  

It really stinks that he is losing his freshman experience - I have heard of people seeing if they could defer acceptance for a year and go to community college or take a year off to keep the 4 yr experience intact but I think we are leaning toward just going fwd with online....I dont see much hope for spring as well....very bummed

Thx for everyone posting their experiences - as a 1st time college dad its helping me out.....

 
Just saw - its still a bit vague as it leaves a sliver open since he will have a lab course....but I think its pretty clear that it will be online.  He would have to fit into one of the small exemption categories and re-apply for housing but its pretty clear it isnt happening.  

The only upside is he saves a lot in housing and he is paying in state tuition so its not that bad......Id be really upset if he was going to Lehigh and paying 3 times the tuition for online.  

It really stinks that he is losing his freshman experience - I have heard of people seeing if they could defer acceptance for a year and go to community college or take a year off to keep the 4 yr experience intact but I think we are leaning toward just going fwd with online....I dont see much hope for spring as well....very bummed

Thx for everyone posting their experiences - as a 1st time college dad its helping me out.....
I'm in the same boat. I'm really bummed out that she's missing her freshman experience as well, but am thinking she's better off going to CC and keeping in the "I'm going to college" mindset than taking a year off.

 
I feel like I'm missing something obvious here but what's the advantage of starting earlier and finishing before Thanksgiving?
2 reasons.

1, the expectation was that a 2nd wave will hit in late fall.  So, starting early gets kids in the classroom.  Even if they have to close earlier than Thanksgiving because the wave comes sooner, they at least got like 2 extra weeks in person by starting early

2, by starting early, they end earlier.  that means at Thanksgiving students can go home and not come back.  This is to reduce the virus being contracted when people go home for turkey day and then all of them bringing it back for the usual 3 weeks after that.  go to school in summer 2 weeks early cuts out 2/3 of it and then final 1/3 is done with finals online.

 
no kids in college, but my daughter is a rising senior in high school.  her high school is following a similar schedule as the colleges around here (philly burbs) are doing.  start school 2 weeks early, go through to thanksgiving, classes online after that til end of semester.  come back later january.

 
2 sons in college, sophomore and freshman.  

Sophomore:  University of Montevallo - dorms are open, classes in person but more online options.  Have been told to be prepared to move to remote learning at any time.  A little earlier start time, reduced fall break, and all classwork has to be done prior to Thanksgiving Break.  Final exams first week of December

Freshman:  University of Alabama - Freshman still required to live on campus, though we've heard the exemption is much easier to get than in year's past.  Everything else is pretty much noted as above.

 
Honestly, as much as I was in denial about my own son’s school, I don’t understand how these large universities with significant numbers of students in on and off campus residences are going to survive the fall semester. Aside from prisons, I’m having a hard time coming up with a worse superspreader environment than a college dorm. Texas A&M has 47,000 undergrad students and they all pretty much live in dorms or apartment complexes on or near campus. When Covid-19 inevitably starts spreading among the student population, how the heck are you going to be able to quarantine not only the kids who get sick, but all the kids who share living and bathroom spaces with them, or have otherwise interacted with them on campus and in classrooms? What’s the plan for quarantining 5,000 students at once?

 
Honestly, as much as I was in denial about my own son’s school, I don’t understand how these large universities with significant numbers of students in on and off campus residences are going to survive the fall semester. Aside from prisons, I’m having a hard time coming up with a worse superspreader environment than a college dorm. Texas A&M has 47,000 undergrad students and they all pretty much live in dorms or apartment complexes on or near campus. When Covid-19 inevitably starts spreading among the student population, how the heck are you going to be able to quarantine not only the kids who get sick, but all the kids who share living and bathroom spaces with them, or have otherwise interacted with them on campus and in classrooms? What’s the plan for quarantining 5,000 students at once?
I think that was why Rutgers made the decision they did - 35,000 students....all crammed together....needing to take buses between campuses for classes....part of me is relieved that he'll be home while I am bummed at him losing his 1st yr....maybe a 5 yr program to get a masters would make it up!  Saving a lot of $ on the housing.....

 
Welp, it turns out that my daughter's university now falls under a statewide order (New Mexico) that all people arriving from out of state have to self-isolate for 14 days.  No idea how her school plans on handling this, but it definitely sounds like we'll have to move in earlier than expected.  Not a big deal for my wife and me but potentially kind of lousy for my daughter.  

 
Colleges are going back for one reason only, and that's money.  Both my kids are in college (one will be junior, one will be freshman).  College kids get sick from all kinds of stuff - flu, mono, colds, etc - from living in close proximity to each other.  Guess what's gonna happen with COVID.  Same thing.   I don't care about the average age of COVID being older.  There are gonna be a few kids that die from colleges going back.

It's on us to defer it.  And I have not decided.  I would prefer my kids skip the semester. 

That's easy with my junior - he had so many credits going in that he will graduate in 2.5 years.   He can do a couple of online classes from home and still be done in 3 years.

The freshman is getting the raw end of the deal.  He wants to get away badly.  His roommate will be a good friend.  But everything is gonna be so lame.  The classes.  The social scene.  The way they want them to live in the dorms.  He has 33 credits from high school.  He too could defer until spring.  But he definitely wants to get away from us asap.

 
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Thx - 

Ive heard some colleges are starting earlier than usual and ending by Thxgiving - anyone else have that?  
University of SC as well. They announced early on that was the plan, no fall break in October, done with in person classes before Thanksgiving break, online until exams in December.

My daughter did not like the online experience this last year at all.  Her major is somewhat lab-heavy and she really enjoys the hands-on stuff.  Maybe it will be better this time around not being so rushed.  I will feel bad for her if her last semester at this university ends up online only.
Mine didn't either. She doesn't have labs per se but is just more of a visual learner and frankly the online classes she had were ####. Granted they had about a week to cobble something together so I give them the benefit of the doubt. Hoping this upcoming semester will be better as most of her classes have now transitioned from in person to online as cases continue to climb in SC.

Colleges are going back for one reason only, and that's money.  Both my kids are in college (one will be junior, one will be freshman).  College kids get sick from all kinds of stuff - flu, mono, colds, etc - from living in close proximity to each other.  Guess what's gonna happen with COVID.  Same thing.   I don't care about the average age of COVID being older.  There are gonna be a few kids that die from colleges going back.

It's on us to defer it.  And I have not decided.  I would prefer my kids skip the semester. 

That's easy with my junior - he had so many credits going in that he will graduate in 2.5 years.   He can do a couple of online classes from home and still be done in 3 years.

The freshman is getting the raw end of the deal.  He wants to get away badly.  His roommate will be a good friend.  But everything is gonna be so lame.  The classes.  The social scene.  The way they want them to live in the dorms.  He has 33 credits from high school.  He too could defer until spring.  But he definitely wants to get away from us asap.
Agree on the money statement. That's all this is. There is no way they are going to keep 35,000 socially active kids healthy in the first week, let alone for a semester. No way, dorms are petri dishes for this stuff. My daughter will be starting her sophomore year and she can't wait to go back. She loved the independence, the college scene, the big time football (and she hated football going in), all of it. She has an apartment secured with 3 other girls she doesn't know for the upcoming semester. If all her classes are online I'm going to encourage her to just stay home but I know she will fight it. Just seems like a waste of money and a lot of risk but I also know if I was in her shoes I'd probably do the same and want to go back.

 
Both my kids pretty much hated the spring. My eldest was just about 100% out of the house. I was fully prepared to only have her visit and never really "live" in the house again. Her summer research was all lined up, her housing all squared away. Things had come into focus very nicely. As a Bio-Chem major, a lot of her stuff is lab work. The online stuff was not a good fit for her or her learning style. I can help with tech stuff, but I can whip up a chem lab in my basement. So to go from 99% out to back home and all the plans chucked out the window was a rude shock.

My son is more computer based. So the class portion of it was fine. I got him tricked out and he adjusted ok. Some of the instruction was rough, but he was ok with it. He struggled with the social aspects of it. He is much more extroverted. He was coming into his own being out of the house. Losing the tail of his freshman year really hurt him. He is going insane stuck in the house and not being around his gang of friends. 

I've talked to both about what happens if the schools flip back to pure online classes. Both would prefer to be on campus. I dread that thought. Makes me sick to my stomach thinking about it. But I am trying to let them make more and more of their decisions, so I need to suck it up. They both thought I was insane when I told them a crap-storm was coming late feb-early march. I had them start shrinking their footprint at school to make for an easier get-away. They reacted like I had 2 heads. They don't think I am quite as insane now and even understand the my concerns a little, but they want to be back on campus. 

 
My daughter's school is in southern CA and has a plan for kids being on campus, but it's dependent on the State of CA and LA County both lifting applicable restrictions.  Even if on-campus attendance is offered, it will look a lot different than before CV-19:  dorms will single rooms only; on-campus housing priority will go to Freshman, then Seniors, then Juniors; dining hall hours will be limited and eating areas restricted and social distancing tables in effect; no more on-campus school parties; kids will all have to sign an agreement to social distance on campus - those are just some of the many changes facing the kids on campus this year.

Because of the nature of the on-campus restrictions, and the very likely possibility that the school switches to on-line classes only, my daughter and her friends are looking into renting a large house (far outside LA County, where it is much cheaper to live) where they can all live together and attend on-line school together.
My daughter is doing same. Though they’re on the outskirts of LA County with small enrollment and ample outdoor space, I’m afraid they’ll be lumped in with the more congested urban LA schools. 

 
Daughter heading back to college town in a week. She will legit self quarantine for 2 weeks even though she won't be coming from a hot spot. (Roommate's dad is fighting cancer and high risk.) She would rather be stuck indoors with her college friends than here at home.  Can't really blame her.   :shrug:

 
If you are an incoming freshman, it seems like a great time to defer. The whole business model of a lot of colleges are going to be under a lot of pressure from this.

 
If you are an incoming freshman, it seems like a great time to defer. The whole business model of a lot of colleges are going to be under a lot of pressure from this.
That’s why some colleges are no longer allowing freshmen to defer. That’s the case with my son’s school. If you don’t start in the fall, you will need to reapply for admission the following year. 

 
If you are an incoming freshman, it seems like a great time to defer. The whole business model of a lot of colleges are going to be under a lot of pressure from this.
I'd have a real hard time deferring. The situation sucks and my oldest is going to live there regardless (he’s got an apartment with friends). He’ll be a sophomore and hopefully he’ll at least have his lab courses on campus.

If someone defers what are they going to do for a year? It’s not like there’s great jobs for young kids and they’ll just be a year behind getting a full time job, etc. If there was a good alternative for the year, sure, but hanging out at home for a year sounds worse.

 
I'd have a real hard time deferring. The situation sucks and my oldest is going to live there regardless (he’s got an apartment with friends). He’ll be a sophomore and hopefully he’ll at least have his lab courses on campus.

If someone defers what are they going to do for a year? It’s not like there’s great jobs for young kids and they’ll just be a year behind getting a full time job, etc. If there was a good alternative for the year, sure, but hanging out at home for a year sounds worse.
Pretty much exactly what I was going to type. 

 
I'd have a real hard time deferring. The situation sucks and my oldest is going to live there regardless (he’s got an apartment with friends). He’ll be a sophomore and hopefully he’ll at least have his lab courses on campus.

If someone defers what are they going to do for a year? It’s not like there’s great jobs for young kids and they’ll just be a year behind getting a full time job, etc. If there was a good alternative for the year, sure, but hanging out at home for a year sounds worse.
Ive talked to my son about staying the course online this year and entering a 5 yr masters program with some of the $ saved from housing - that way he'll hopefully get a full 4 yrs on campus and another degree

 
Harvard is going online-only for 20-21, with some but not all students returning to campus.  Harvard is not at all representative of most colleges, but still it's worth noting.    
I just came in to post this when I saw the thread. Yes, interesting, especially if you are familiar with their physical layout (forma social distancing perspective). 

Possibly unrelated but they certainly have the coffers to entertain some ideas that are out of the norm but I think they have made a decision for whatever reason to just play it safe and cheap (nothing wrong with that). 

I have a question you may be able to educate me on, Ivan- What is the push I keep seeing for Thanksgiving to be a cutoff date for classes, for the most part? Is there a magic bullet to that timing or is it simply they don't want all the traveling and then bringing it back, etc? I can kind of see a few scenarios panning out but thought i would ask.  thanks. 

 

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