That was my first thought when I read it. Get the new admits locked in now, because plans can always change later.
@eldonjacob177 Funny you should ask. D19 just had her first online test in one of her classes, and said it was completely unproctored. She has taken online classes before and is familiar with Proctorio, which can electronically proctor exams. That’s what she was expecting. But this test did not use that, or anything. She was stunned. It would have been so easy to cheat.
@eldonjacob177. Right now I think schools are just doing what they have the technology for. Not many schools were truly ready for this. My sons in engineering and his tests are the exact same except their done on a computer. To him he doesn’t think it transfers well and should of been somehow reconfigured to be electronic. Again, it’s a new experience.
But he liked his class’s that are now prerecorded. So instead of listening to classes each individual day he can listen to both class’s of the same material like over the weekend. Then do all the homework for that class in one shot. Not only is it more efficient for him. He say he thinks he’s learning the material better doing it this way. Hope that makes sense.
DD took two online courses last summer through her university, one a film course and the other in computer science. Both had about ten students in each class. The film course was good, the computer science was problematic. She needed help since CS was new to her, and tutoring assistance was not as easily accessed as it was when she was on campus. To be fair, some of that might have been due to it being summer session when support is more limited. We have a friend who teaches CS at Vanderbilt and she helped her through it, so it all worked out ok.
Her online classes are going well now, especially since the students started out on campus and had already established study groups.
Purdue is pulling together a task force to plan for the Fall.
https://www.purdueexponent.org/campus/article_f482afc8-7383-11ea-9db8-ebb596a03403.html
“task force to look at what precautions the University may need to take in the fall semester as coronavirus compounds the regular flu season.”
“But one thing we can say with confidence: next fall’s college environment and experience will be unlike any we have witnessed.”
As a family, we are talking about our own Plan B if courses don’t resume on campus in the Fall. D’s co-op starts in May and she’s only supposed to be back to campus for the Fall, and then back to co-op in the Spring. If classes stay on line, she’s going to petition the co-op office and her company to just stay at her job for the entire year and then resume courses in the Fall of '21. Her co-op is flexible and already said that she could add one or two more terms so it would really be the school that would have to agree.
@momofsenior1. That’s interesting… Good information.
@momofsenior1 I think colleges are starting to see the writing on the wall for fall. We might see answers to our questions pretty soon. They might not be able to tell us details but, from that Bucknell letter and now the Purdue task force, I think we can see that schools do not believe kids are going back to campus in any normal way for the fall.
I don’t even see how they can make changes that will work for kids to be on campus at all or how they could enforce any measures that could keep kids safer. What’s to be done when kids live in a dorm? There’s no way to enforce social distancing.
We need science to hurry up already and give us more hope.
Jumping into this thread – have not read them all.
Sigh – my D18 just found out yesterday she was in ‘the final pool’ for a summer research REU associated with UVA that she was sooooo excited about but now it’s been cancelled. They are encouraging her to apply again next summer. She’s also applied to an on campus research position but the faculty has said she thinks it will also be cancelled. I’m not surprised and had written off formal summer things a while ago…
My D was supposed to study in Spain this Fall. That’s not happening and she’s come around to realize that. But If my D gets wind that Fall classes may not resume on campus in August, it will be dark days ahead. She’s been a real trouper and hasn’t seen any of her friends since this all happened but has managed to keep her spirits pretty high. But if she thinks she’ll be in limbo like this til the end of the calendar year!?! – ugh.
Also, do we think privates will require full tuition if they are remote this Fall? It’s tempting for me to think about enrolling her in online classes at a public university and then transferring the credits. Or even encourage her to take a gap semester? My D will want to stay connected to campus and her peers, but there’s no doubt that the high cost of a private LAC goes for the whole experience, not just instruction, right? Her college is in great financial shape – I wonder if they will consider a discount?
These are first world problems – there are so many others in much much worse situations and I fully recognize the life of privilege my family leads. But it’s also true that for kids in college these are pivotal years they won’t ‘get back’ Life, interrupted. I feel so bad for my D and all these kids.
@AlmostThere2018 Right there with you. I barely mentioned to S19 (and to D21) that fall school might not be happening and they both just looked at me with blank stares. They are fairing well here day by day, going to their online classes, taking dog walks and going for runs. The only in-person company they have is our immediate family and the FaceTiming with friends has even died down a bit since as D21 says “no one has anything to talk about since we are all just sitting in our houses”.
I worry that even one more month of this social distancing will be bad. Telling S19 that he won’t be going back in the fall will be awful. Break was supposed to be about three months, not five months and certainly not ten months. Bowdoin is doing as much as they can virtually - the dining hall posting recipes, his coaches doing live “workouts” from the track, RAs checking in with live chats, the wellness center offering virtual yoga - but it’s not enough to keep kids engaged for long. And he misses his friends. I’m afraid those friendships that were just getting going are going to peter out.
The only way any of us are going to feel better is if there’s a DATE kids are going back. Even if that date is Jan 2021, just tell us that. Kids can mentally shoot for that and get excited about it.
I also hear you about full pay for online. I think schools have to start thinking about what they’ll charge for that. If they keep with the same pricing model, they risk kids not coming to school at all that semester and they’ll get zero dollars from that family. Not sure how they’ll gauge that because they’ll need to make a decision without knowing how many kids would take a semester off if faced with full pay online.
Seems like more instructors need to figure out how to write open book take home tests.
We have talked a bit with D19 & D20 about the possibility that they may not be back to campus this fall. We broached the possibility of a gap year, or gap semester, and D19 said absolutely not! She wants to get college over with. She loves the campus experience, but not interested in grad school or anything that prolongs school.
So, then, I suggested maybe D19 should consider taking a class or two online this summer. Can’t do a summer job, can’t hang out with friends. May as well get a class or two out of the way, and free up some time for later on, when things are back to normal.
My D18 absolutely LOVES college, but I feel like she’d only take a gap semester if some of her friends do as well? I don’t know…
I think online summer classes are a good idea. My D18’s professor suggested my D take free online coding classes this summer which are helpful for her field. Something to do and put on her resume at least. . .
I am finding that, like in the outside world, things for my college kids are changing every few days. D17 has gone from “definitely would take classes at my school online, I cherish those relationships and need my mentors” to “it makes no sense to pay for online classes, I’d take a gap semester.” Her online classes have also ramped up, so her daily routine and outlook will be shifting.
I think I just have to resolve (I’m a planner) that I really can’t plan now, and some decisions will be made last minute with the (likely imperfect) information and situation at the time.
@TS0104 I agree with that. If class is online in the fall for S19, I think the two main questions will be (1) how much does it cost and (2) what are his friends doing. Even if his friends do online and he does not, he’s not missing out on anything with them. No one would be on campus and they would hopefully all be back together in Jan. It would just mean that he would have any extra fall semester in 2023 and not graduate with his friends…and then have a January job search which I don’t think is ideal. All things to think about.
Even if everything goes back to ‘normal’ with classes on campus, would you consider sending a 20 year old abroad in the fall? I’m pretty easy going, but I don’t think I would. Even if everything gets cleared up (and I don’t think it will), doctors and hospitals are going to have exhausted all resources. I don’t think things will be safe enough.
Most of the study abroad decisions have to be made in June for the fall or Oct for the spring. I just can’t most parents saying “Sure, go for it, no problem” and more of them saying “Let’s wait a year and do study abroad next summer or fall 2021.”
My daughter’s boyfriend joined the Army in March and was to report on March 30. He was assured everything was a ‘GO’, she packed and moved back home last Thursday, they gave up their apartment, jobs were already ended. On Friday he was told that he wasn’t to report on March 30 because they had corona on the base and he probably wouldn’t report until August. Everything changes every day.
We definitely took study abroad for fall 2020 off the table here. A couple of months ago, D20 was excited one of her likely schools offers first semester abroad, but now, nope. Even if they still offer it, not happening.
D20 got into a T5 school and a full scholarship school. Do you gap? Do you risk paying full freight for an online experience? Do you take the scholarship and run in this economy?
@skrunch - I would take the scholarship and go. Even if it’s online for one semester, a full scholarship will be well worth it.
^^I think you take the scholarship and run.
I’ve also been thinking about the T20-ish school D got accepted to, as well, though. It would likely be less expensive because of no room/board expenses. But then, does that change up financial aid? We already got the financial aid package. If room and board is universally unavailable, wouldn’t that change how financial aid is calculated? Idk. Also, she has full tuition scholarships to other schools. Maybe those are back on the table now, in addition to the full ride options, because room and board don’t factor into the equation anymore… Lots to think about.
@Skrunch a T5 school will do the very best by it’s students. It’s the best place to be. Take the spot and do whatever they school does for fall. I think most people considering gapping are those who are stretching to pay. If S19 was at Bowdoin with full financial aid, I would have him do online this fall with no question at all.