College parents...fall semester?

[JimMIA]

The article I posted above had some fundamental weaknesses, but there was one quote about "gap years" that I really agree with. Gap years are a BAD idea, IMHO, and here's why:

While almost a third plan to delay their start date for college, Grocholski warns about the consequences of doing so.

“Once you take that break, it is hard to reengage yourself with that education,” he said.

“Whatever they do, look at ways that they can continue their education going forward, even if it’s not the ideal situation for them.”

He urged parents to be proactive and have conversations with their teens.

“Parents need to initiate the discussion with their kids because kids aren’t necessarily going to bring it up,” Grocholski said.

 

[mjkacmom]

A new survey says about HALF of all high school seniors have changed their plans for the coming year due to Covid-19.

The news article is poorly written, so some explanation is in order.

• 49% of ALL students surveyed said their plans had changed
• Of THAT 49%, this is what their revised plans are
  • 36% (of the 49%) say they will now work
  • 32% (of the 49%) say they will delay their college start date
  • 16% (of the 49%) say they are "changing their career path." It's not at all clear what that means.
  • Those three poll responses total 84%. There is no indication of what the other 16% (of the 49%) responded.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/17/49p...grads-have-changed-plans-due-to-covid-19.html

But if they take a gap year they’re now competing with the class of 2021 for spots.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Many Top tiers expect gaps and actually encourage it. Now with Covid... ???

 

[CarolAnn856]

Gross. Gross. Gross. The local community theater is doing that and we don't really like it. That just isn't the same. I hope they make some kind of bubble.

Wow, that’s an oddly strong reaction to a post about a college kid’s class, but whatever. I just really appreciate everyone in the performance world, both those teaching and those on the performing side, who are doing what they can to try to continue to bring these experiences to students and those of us who love the arts, and especially to help keep employees earning paychecks.

 

[Colleen27]

A new survey says about HALF of all high school seniors have changed their plans for the coming year due to Covid-19.

We heard from the first friend to do so today. He found out that of the 5 classes he had scheduled for fall, 4 will be online-only. That, along with the modifications planned to campus living and activities, have him thinking he's going to do next year at community college and then transfer. It is a good plan - the local CC has a transfer agreement with the university, and he's not losing out on any big scholarships by not entering as a freshman - but I know he's really disappointed at waiting another year to get out of our little town.

 

[choirfarm]

nm

 

[CarolAnn856]

Oh, I do too. I am just so incredibly tired of Zoom. I've sung in a choir of one kind or another for nearly 50 years now. I am donating money to the arts in my area. Zoom is just a poor substitute. Plus we live in a rural area and I often get kicked off the internet during a Zoom session multiple times. Our internet cannot handle 2 working from home and 2 of us going to seminary at home. If we have to add my daughter Yeah, sorry not your fault it is just Zoom seminary class, Zoom Sunday School, Zoom class of 2020 meeting, Zoom meeting for the Honduras nonprofit board I'm on, Zoom ladies prayer group. And Zoom takes something out of me that meeting in person does not on top of all the technological challenges it had. I miss singing. I'm tired of technology.

Hey, I‘m a school librarian teaching online since March 17, so I definitely hear you on having tech fatigue.

 

[Monykalyn]

None of our Florida state universities or colleges will have final, final plans until the Board of Governors approves their plans on June 23. The plans were submitted last Friday.

My DD, and the DDs of two DIS-Friends, are going to the University of Central Florida in Orlando. UCF has a pretty detailed plan, but there are huge gaps in details, so we're all kind of wondering what the "college experience" is really going to be like. Some basics:

• From a move-in weekend, dorm move-in will now be phased from August 8 to August 23. We're not sure what that actually means because UCF has always had some early move-ins for athletes, marching band, and Greek rush. Move-in appointments will apparently be arranged in July.
• All dorm residents will also be covid-tested at move-in, and special rooms have been set aside for any students who need to be quarantined.
• UCF has a lot of apartment-style dorms with private bedrooms, and those will continue to have full capacity. They have some dorms with shared bedrooms, and those will be limited to one student per bedroom with an option to request a roommate.
• The university will provide 100,000 reusable facemasks to all students, faculty, and staff -- and facemasks will be mandatory.
• Entering freshmen are being given priority for in-person classes, but we're not positive what that means at the moment, and obviously it could be subject to change. My DD has already registered and is currently scheduled for three in-person classes and one online class (that class is always taught online apparently, so this is not due to covid).
• Upperclassmen will be getting the bulk of the remote learning, and they are not happy campers.
• Athletics are up in the air as the NCAA works with schools and conferences to come up with a workable plan, but the football team has already returned to campus for summer practice. 3 football players apparently tested positive on check-in.
• Our Thanksgiving break starts November 25. The following week is the last week of classes and all classes will be online that week. November 7-12 is Finals, and then we are done until January 11. Supposedly, students will have the option of remaining on campus to take advantage of all the very robust study/tutoring resources -- or they can stay home after Thanksgiving and finish online.

Yes this is the frustrating part. Not as big of an issue for local students but we need to make travel plans for out of state.

My son goes to the University of Arkansas

My oldest just graduated from there! Really liked the school.

Zoom is just a poor substitute.

THIS cannot be emphasized enough. SOME things are fine for virtual meetings a lot of the time, but nothing is a substitute for real live personal interaction. Sure u can attend a lecture or seminar virtually- you miss out in the contacts afterwards, the “wow that was interesting what did you think” convos that just. Don’t. Happen. With virtual. Learning -regardless water it’s for a job or school or whatever- isn’t just about sitting and listening it’s also interacting. We are doing a huge huge disservice to our kids (& ourselves) by pretending otherwise.

 

[lilypgirl]

My daughter will be attending an SEC school this fall and their plan was put out this week.
1. Dorms are open and at normal capacity and room occupancy stays the same.
2. Classes switch to online after Thanksgiving.
3. Rec center will be open and it states no mask needed in the work out areas. The policy for this seemed unclear to me in other areas of the facility .
4. Mask are needed indoors in classes and in public spaces but not in dorms.
5. Student Life will continue but with modifications per health guidelines. For example sorority recruitment will still be held on campus at normal time but the first 2 rounds will be on line, last 2 in person with some modifications like smaller party sizes, and bid day in person but no parents inside chapter facilitates.
6. Dinning facilities including sorority and fraternity houses will need to follow whatever the current health guidelines are at the time.
7. Mandatory testing for all students at the beginning of the semester and then after that there will be mandatory random testing for students living on campus. Contact tracing will be done but voluntary only. Quarantine areas for students to stay upon testing positive.

 

[MsLeFever]

Yes she has a car. And it is only 45 minutes to her campus. It would also only be on Monday and Tuesdays. If the weather is bad in the winter they cancel class because some students do commute as well.

I totally get kids wanting to be on campus! But neither my daughter or my husband and I are sure it’s worth an additional $15,000 at this point. It would better financially to just rent an apartment ourselves at that point.

It would probably save money just to get a hotel room for those Monday nights if the weather is bad or she is tired!

 

[McKelly]

More info coming from my DS's college. More large lecture classes will be on-line. But they usually have discussion groups that go with these lectures, those will be in person. Students are supposed to watch their schedules because more sections are being added so there will be more classes at night and on Saturdays to allow the class sizes to be smaller. So schedules will be changing.

Students won't be returning after Thanksgiving Break. The remainder of the semester as well as exams will all be on-line - so 2-3 weeks of everything on-line.

Dining Services will be for on-site students only. I think that means dorms. Physical distancing in dining halls and more takeout options.

No more than two students to a dorm room. Some dorm rooms are triples and even quads, so those rooms will not be at full capacity. Plus they are keeping some dorm rooms open for positive covid cases to isolate. I wonder if some kids are deciding to stay home? That they would have the flexibility to do all of this with dorm space.

 

[Darcy03231]

At least they are charging fairly!

I think they were smart. Their on-line tuition is not that far off from community college's tuition. This way they will probably keep their incoming freshmen and have them back on campus as sophomores. I think the colleges that are charging the same amount for on-line as on-campus may lose some (or even a lot) of their freshmen to community college for the first couple of years and then a portion of those to another college or university.

 

[alldiz]

My DD is a Freshman starting supposedly starting Oneonta in the fall
Who knows? SUNY has not released any info
She missed out so much for Senior year. Graduation has been moved to July hopefully that happens. Prom is next Thursday... yea right! No word on that/ reschedule.
I pray she gets to go off to college and start living her “dream”
Kerri

 

[MaddieB223]

College student here! My college e-mailed the community on June 11 with this update:
Not sure how the spring semester will go, but I am excited to be able to go back!

 

[leebee]

Yep Temple said all but an unspecified few classes will be in person. We decided, to save room and board money, she can just take the train to campus if she has an in person class, and stay at home. Add to that, like the other schools, after Thanksgiving break, campus is closed and all online, including all finals. They are not starting or stopping early.

Keep your fingers crossed. I have a friend on faculty at Temple; she says they've been told to prepare to teach remotely in the fall.

I teach at the University level and we are preparing to give organic chem labs remotely in the fall. The distancing requirements make it difficult to have students in the labs, and the air handling systems create an air circulation pattern that would spread virus everywhere, even if the students are at least 6' apart. We've been told that large lectures are going to be "hybrid," divided up so students will attend in-person one day of the week and zoom in the other two. As part of the hybrid model, all classes will also be available remotely for students who are at risk (or live with compromised people) so they don't HAVE to be in attendance. Only one person at a time in the bathrooms and elevators (no idea how they are going to handle hundreds of students in the stairwells). Masks for everyone. Can't meet with students in your office, only do zoom office hours. No communal coffee break rooms for faculty/staff. We've been told that dorm rooms will have 1 student per room, much of the dining service will be bagged meals. Let's see... out of state students will be asked to arrive 14 days before the semester starts to quarantine in place, fall break will be canceled and students won't come back to school after Thanksgiving (online classes and finals to finish out the semester). Students will be asked not to leave campus on the weekends, and if they leave the state they'll need to quarantine on their return. My major point here is that just about NONE of this has been made public yet... but the faculty has been told to "be prepared."

I've been reading that at Bates, the students who want to eat in the dining halls will be assigned a meal time and they can only go in during their assigned time, to keep entire "bubbles" of students together, and bagged meals will be provided as an alternative. They are going to a 2+2 semester, where students take only 2 courses for the first half of the semester, then 2 different courses the second half of the semester, in case they have to close school halfway through the semester.

Students who go back to school in the fall should realize that it's not going to be like it was last fall. At many schools, activities will be canceled, sporting events will be held without fans in the stadiums, parties and such will be closely monitored and shut down before they can begin, seating in classes, libraries, etc. will be eliminated/assigned, rec centers will either be closed or new regulations will be in place, locker rooms closed. College campuses will be a big threat to public health, and will be monitored closely. It's not going to be like it's been. Honestly, if I had a college-aged kid, I'd strongly suggest they live at home and only take lecture classes, online, until the virus goes away. Why waste the money living in such a regulated and closely-monitored environment?

 

[HeatherC]

Keep your fingers crossed. I have a friend on faculty at Temple; she says they've been told to prepare to teach remotely in the fall.

I teach at the University level and we are preparing to give organic chem labs remotely in the fall. The distancing requirements make it difficult to have students in the labs, and the air handling systems create an air circulation pattern that would spread virus everywhere, even if the students are at least 6' apart. We've been told that large lectures are going to be "hybrid," divided up so students will attend in-person one day of the week and zoom in the other two. As part of the hybrid model, all classes will also be available remotely for students who are at risk (or live with compromised people) so they don't HAVE to be in attendance. Only one person at a time in the bathrooms and elevators (no idea how they are going to handle hundreds of students in the stairwells). Masks for everyone. Can't meet with students in your office, only do zoom office hours. No communal coffee break rooms for faculty/staff. We've been told that dorm rooms will have 1 student per room, much of the dining service will be bagged meals. Let's see... out of state students will be asked to arrive 14 days before the semester starts to quarantine in place, fall break will be canceled and students won't come back to school after Thanksgiving (online classes and finals to finish out the semester). Students will be asked not to leave campus on the weekends, and if they leave the state they'll need to quarantine on their return. My major point here is that just about NONE of this has been made public yet... but the faculty has been told to "be prepared."

I've been reading that at Bates, the students who want to eat in the dining halls will be assigned a meal time and they can only go in during their assigned time, to keep entire "bubbles" of students together, and bagged meals will be provided as an alternative. They are going to a 2+2 semester, where students take only 2 courses for the first half of the semester, then 2 different courses the second half of the semester, in case they have to close school halfway through the semester.

Students who go back to school in the fall should realize that it's not going to be like it was last fall. At many schools, activities will be canceled, sporting events will be held without fans in the stadiums, parties and such will be closely monitored and shut down before they can begin, seating in classes, libraries, etc. will be eliminated/assigned, rec centers will either be closed or new regulations will be in place, locker rooms closed. College campuses will be a big threat to public health, and will be monitored closely. It's not going to be like it's been. Honestly, if I had a college-aged kid, I'd strongly suggest they live at home and only take lecture classes, online, until the virus goes away. Why waste the money living in such a regulated and closely-monitored environment?

This is what we are thinking as well. My daughter would love to go back if things were normal. She cannot see paying all that money to have things so regulated.

In addition, I think college housing is going to be a big problem that people haven’t really been told about yet. The guidance (for all schools) is to reduce the density in dorms to maintain social distancing. Schools haven’t mentioned how that will work yet. I am guessing millions of kids are going to be getting notices in another month that housing is a problem.

Right now my daughter is in a suite of 8. We are told they need to reduce that by half but can’t say which four will get kicked out or where they will be housed. They are “working” on it. Problem is she wound up there because she had one of the last slots to pick housing and it was all that was left. Two friends she wanted to room with didn’t get any housing because it was all full. Now they are saying they can fit everyone by reducing the capacity? And most schools have housing shortages to begin with so this will be interesting.

 

[barkley]

seating in classes, libraries, etc. will be eliminated/assigned, rec centers will either be closed or new regulations will be in place, locker rooms closed.

i was curious on what campus life would be at the u near us (where my kid got her degree) so i looked at their website. library will be CLOSED-only online access, technology center-CLOSED, all of the sport/rec centers-CLOSED, pub-only very limited areas open (most if not all the dining places closed) but........students will continue to pay the quarterly fees associated with them students have the choice of doing in person or online classes-with the cautionary reminder that depending on what happens w/our covid numbers-all classes could immediately revert to on-line. if you voluntarily opt for on-line to start with you will pay an extra 'delivery fee'.

um, yup-i can see allot of students looking to other, less expensive options.

 

[JimMIA]

i was curious on what campus life would be at the u near us (where my kid got her degree) so i looked at their website. library will be CLOSED-only online access, technology center-CLOSED, all of the sport/rec centers-CLOSED, pub-only very limited areas open (most if not all the dining places closed) but........students will continue to pay the quarterly fees associated with them students have the choice of doing in person or online classes-with the cautionary reminder that depending on what happens w/our covid numbers-all classes could immediately revert to on-line. if you voluntarily opt for on-line to start with you will pay an extra 'delivery fee'.

um, yup-i can see allot of students looking to other, less expensive options.

Agree, and the way this is going universities (and state governments) are going to be looking at huge gaping holes in their budgets. A LOT of private universities (which are struggling anyway) will not survive.

The universities have to respond in a responsible manner to this massive public health threat. But they're going to pay a huge price.

 

[AustinTink]

My son's classes for fall were just changed to all online. I'm fine with it, as is he. These kids have the whole rest of their lives ahead of them. A semester or a year of online classes and limited interaction is not the end of the world.

 

[JimMIA]

My son's classes for fall were just changed to all online. I'm fine with as is he. These kids have the whole rest of their lives ahead of them. A semester or a year of online classes and limited interaction is not the end of the world.

I agree, but for the Class of 2020 ("The Class With A Vision!") it's just adding insult to injury. They lost almost everything important about their senior year in high school, and now they're going to have a crap first year in college.

The kids seem to take it more in stride that the parents, but they have certainly been beaten up this year and there may be more coming.