It is such a a hard situation. It seems city college is probably the best way to go. Unless my kid gets off a waitlist for in state. It really sucks that California Kids can’t get into our own schools.
DD seriously considering a gap year for fall 2020. She was admitted to a large OOS school. New student orientation has already been moved to online. Summer classes appear to be heading towards online only. Fall semester classes were already going to be hard enough to get into as a freshman. With large first-year class sizes, the possibility of online learning, and no on-campus experience she thinks it might make sense to wait it out a year. We’re hearing from current students that it is very difficult for some profs to translate/make the move from in-class teaching to a new online learning environment. Anyone else considering a one-year deferral for their Fall 2020 admission?
A school is unlikely to grand them if a significant portion of its new students request deferrals. This is an uncharted territory for colleges.
Typical gap year activities like jobs may be limited this year.
The bubble is about to burst. Public Universities with already affordable options will probably get even more competitive (UF, FSU, UGA, UNC), but the many that rely on OOS students and Internationals will have to go back to the drawing board. The Elite will continue to be the Elites, but the lower ranking schools will have issues, especially the privates. the revenue that has been lost and could potentially be lost if the Fall semester is cancelled (no Football?) will be tremendous.
My D18 will be taking virtual classes this summer knowing that a summer job is probably not going to be available. S20 is not even considering taking a Gap year. With the lack of jobs and the probability of the travel ban to continue, starting school is the only option.
D wants a real freshman experience so much, she is willing to stick with her pre-CV plans to go abroad for a year-long pre-collegiate intensive language program. We have family there so I am not as worried. The best thing is that her private uni allows her to declare a deferral/gap program up until freshman orientation in mid-September.
I agree with much of this (and selfishly would be so disappointed if the Ohio State @ Oregon football game didn’t happen. I know, 1st world problem) but in terms of jobs, I believe there is going to be a tremendous need for low pay labor this summer. Around here we have a very robust economy in agriculture that is largely seasonal. These jobs (nurseries, forestry, nut farms, berries…) rely HEAVILY on migrant labor and this year we expect many less workers to do this kind of hard work. There is going to be tremendous pressure to find people willing to do this difficult work (my guess).
The public universities will also have to deal with reduced state funding because state governments will receive less tax revenue but have more spending demands to assist newly unemployed people.
I wonder if i should start summer classes too…good idea.
I got the impression from the panel that trying to take a gap year “just because” was not going to fly. Gap years are for meaningful activities, most of which aren’t going to be possible if colleges need to start a semester online. The same things forcing a college to start with online classes will make the usual gap year activities impossible. The consensus seemed to be that if a student wanted a gap year just because they didn’t want to deal with online classes for the first semester, that was not going to be deemed good enough a reason. That was my impression from these three panelists. Maybe other admissions people feel differently.
OSU has accepted more students this year than ever. IMHO they are trying to minimize what possibly a big revenue problem. Both Freshmen and Sophomores are required to live on campus. By accepting more students, they can minimize the issue of filling those dorms due to the potential of losing some of the rising sophomores who might not come back to school. In addition, if for some reason, the school is forced to go virtual, the higher acceptance rate could produce a higher enrollment which will automatically increase the stream of income, especially if classes are held online. They have a huge job to do with a million unknowns. Rankings could potentially be affected, but my guess is that at this point this could be somewhat irrelevant.
A lot of schools are now in control management and trying to do their best to get the kids to enroll and project what it is that they have. They do not have a lot of time and we are still undecided and trying to see how the next few weeks play out. As it is, we received an email from one of the schools stating that they would waive the $200 enrollment fee due to the Covid19 and the economic impact it has had on everyone. This is from a school that would have never done this before. Unimaginable.
If the whole world continues to be shut down, I am not sure the premise of a Gap year will make sense. But the idea of staying home and starting college at a local college will make a lot of sense, especially the cost. I really hope for the sake of all these kids, they are able to move on with their future as the majority had planned.
If colleges do not open dorms in Sept, it will mean most likely shelter in place is still a way of life in more of the US and kids will be bouncing off the walls , I do not think when push comes to shove most kids will take a year off if they feel they can get back to campus in Jan.
My son had 11 meals and 5 naps and it is still today. I am the one bouncing off the walls. LOL!
Where were the three panelists on this board from who said kids need a plan in order for their schools to grant gap years?
Just wanted to say my daughter has an approved gap year next year with no plan. None was required- they didn’t even ask why she wanted one (some other schools did ask, but didn’t seem to mind no big plans). It’s not a fancy school but that means she doesn’t need fancy plans, I guess? She’s just planning to live normal life with a breather from school.
I think the panelists were from James Madison, Missouri, and Randolph-Macon. I felt like they were a bit vague in their answers about gap years. It sounded like at this point, they hadn’t yet had a lot of requests for gap years. It seemed like they wanted kids to do something with their gap year but they are aware that there may not be much for kids to do.
Also, James Madison said their yield was currently above past years.
@MAmom111 I’m fascinated by the panelists answers. My daughter had lengthly conversations with admissions at six schools where she was accepted about the process for a gap year and if they were universally accepted or on a case-by-case basis. No one required any big plans for the year. She was honest to everyone- she would keep dancing, keep working, and get a year older. That’s it. Of course some schools have a policy of no deferrals allowed at all- she was accepted into a few of those and those were quick convos before the school came off the list.
Generally what I have been hearing from AOs/schools via webinars and such is that they will be more flexible in granting gap years, no big plans needed. Considering many families’ finances have taken a hit, and some parents are without jobs this stance makes sense…even if students might not have much to do in lieu of school wrt a job, or ECs.
The crunch will come for the class of 2021, as any 2020 gap year students will be the first members of the following year’s freshman class.
I don’t think many schools will be offering this option.
Why is that? Which schools have you heard say they won’t allow gap years?