This is a very complicated situation and there are no good decisions here, so I would refrain from making any categorical statements regarding whatever decisions parents and their college age kids are making. For one thing, these kids are adults and definitely should have some say in the decision making process. For our son, his school is smack in the middle of LA County, which is a major hotspot at the moment. All of our son’s classes are on line, and his school is strongly encouraging kids to stay home in the fall. The three potential options on the table are as follows:
A) Living in the Dorms - His school has reduced density by making every room single occupancy. They are giving priority to upper classmen and those in particular groups (international students, athletes, named scholarship recipients), which means there is almost no chance our son will be offered housing (but there’s still a chance - we’ll find out for sure July 20.). The rules that are being put into place for students in campus dorms (outlined above in this thread) are brutal, but at least stand a chance at keeping the kids safe. On the other hand, the rules set these kids up for an extremely isolated existence, particularly for freshmen who don’t already have a college social circle.
B) Living Off Campus - There are numerous apartments near campus that have openings as numerous students are trying to get out of their leases since they’re staying at home. However, hundreds of students staying in off campus apartments with virtually no rules is not the least bit appealing from a safety standpoint. For the most part, you have to expect that kids will be kids, and without any university supervision things like mask wearing and social distancing will be occasional at best for most of this population, which will no doubt be partying it up as best as they can. Also, those who are living off campus and taking classes remotely will have extremely limited access to campus. So it’s not like he’ll be able to use the facilities or anything. We’d basically be paying a ton of money just for him to be adjacent to campus.
C) Living at Home - This is clearly the cheapest option, and also the safest option in terms of limiting his exposure to hundreds of other kids. This option also sucks balls.
After much discussion, we haven’t yet reached a definitive decision, other than Option B is definitely off the table. Since it is unlikely that he will be offered space in the form, Option C is the likely result. In order to help make a crappy situation slightly less crappy, we have agreed to redesign his bedroom so it’s more like a college apartment. That’s brightened things a bit.
