mine spend fall freshman year just adjusting, was starting to get into a grove in the spring and came home. Went back last year, and had a few in person classes but nothing social. (he is ASD and really struggles socially) Went into depression around Feb. Had a summer coop, and is back this year, but still has some classes online. At least some in person events though. Sad thing is that he is graduating early in May. He basically has felt like he never had and never will have a real college experience, unless in the spring there are no real new variants and restrictions go away.
if no Covid, I think spring freshman year he would have ended it with a friend or two.
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I hear you, and at this point I just hope itās meaningfully different for my S22. Surely it will be at some point, but there will probably be at least some sort of Covid restrictions/accommodations when he arrives in fall ā22.
For D19, I take some solace that she didnāt expect or want a very traditional college experience anyway. Sheās at Parsons at the New School, so thereās no real campus or sporting events or Greek life, none of which she had any interest in. She also had a truncated freshman year and came home, but she had made a good core group of friends and moved into an apartment in Brooklyn with them in January. Now she commutes in for her classes (at least when theyāre not canceled for a positive test, as happened in one this past week), and sheās basically happy. Hope your kid can accentuate the positive, but I do understand feeling regretful at what might have been.
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When S19 was a first-year, his school still had a whole week off for Thanksgiving. Since we live overseas, coming home was not an option. At first, he was planning just to stay on campus, but then he raised the idea of spending the week in Philadelphia with a middle school friend who is attending Dickinson. We agreed, but as heād be off on his own in a city heād never visited, I was worried about safety, so we rented a furnished apartment for them in a nice part of the city. It felt like a very extravagant thing to do, and I remember worrying whether I had acted wisely. But they had a wonderful time, touring the city, visiting friends at Temple, eating Philly cheese streaks, seeing Al Caponeās prison cell and shopping for Christmas presents (his father got an Al Capone sweatshirt), and in retrospect, I am so glad we did it. Little did we know that just a few months later, everything was going to change. Even with the pandemic, heās been very lucky and is having a great time. Itās partly that his school has done a good job of finding the right balance between keeping everybody safe and avoiding unnecessary restrictions and itās partly that he has a kind of ājust deal with itā personality. But itās still not the normal we all envisioned three years ago, and sometimes I find myself thinking āenough already!ā It will be interesting to look back on their experience in five years or ten years and see what they think about it in retrospect.
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US passport holders can now use the electronic gates for regular travel, so that has reduced queuing substantially. However, the Tier 4 visa holders must queue up to get the requisite stamp in their passport (not sure it is still separate from other queues though). There are signs to that effect and itās important not to get it wrong because your visa wonāt be validated otherwise (the egates will just admit you on a regular tourist visa).
Note the Covid test rules for the UK will be changing (getting simpler and cheaper), but I donāt know if October 4 is too late for you. We booked with Azova for the travel tests - they send you the US and UK tests by mail and everything is done online so we didnāt have to worry about going to a testing center.
Hi all. Have been a bit absent lately. Lovely to see how your kids are all doing so well, and especially hope the ones going abroad have a fabulous time.
Just back from the UK (and elsewhere in Europe). @milgymfam , she definitely cannot use the e-gates for a student visa and while I wasnāt looking specifically i only saw 2 queues: the e-gates one and āall otherā. But the wait in line will be totally worth it!! Is there a coach to Oxford from LHR, or how will she get there?
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There is so much conflicting info online about the e-gates (and as much says she can use them as canāt) that theyāre probably not worth it either way. Sheāll take a bus to Oxford from Heathrow.
Best to buy a ticket in advance through the Oxford Bus Co. The buses to Oxford depart from a couple of different locations at LHR. Last stop on the bus is Gloucester Green. Right across the street from Worcester College.
My recollection is that the Tier 4 visa which is attached to the passport needs to be physically inspected by an immigration officer along with supporting paperwork and stamped. Look for the special line. It wasnāt well marked four years ago when my son arrived.
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Not conflicting info at the airport fortunately: it specifically says DO NOT use the e-gates with a Tier 4 visa. But if you are tired after a long flight then you might miss the signs, and the e-gates will let you through, they just wonāt admit you in the correct status, which will lead to big problems when you get to college.
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Sheās been told that getting through immigration, baggage, and customs is so variable in time that she wouldnāt be able to pick a bus time- do they typically sell out?
Not sure if it affects passport control but tier 4 visas are gone. Now theyāre just student visas.
Weāve just got back from Heathrow today. Had heard horror stories about long queues at immigration, but fortunately that seems rare, we were through on arrival last week before the bags were even delivered.
A bus around two or 2.5 hours out from landing should give ample time, an hour would be too short, and three hours would almost always leave you waiting around.
Flights from the US now seem fairly full in business and really empty in economy, because the cost of testing tends to limit travel to the wealthy and thereās a perception of greater safety in business due to greater separation from your fellow travelers.
It explcitly says donāt use if you are coming in on a student visa as you need your passport stamped.
Iām trying to remember what I used to do. I think I used to book a coach for about 2.5 hours after landing. I think you can probably use the ticket on a different bus if necessary. But i used to use National Express so not sure about the Oxford Bus Co as referred to above specifically.
There looked to be 200-300 people in the normal queue when I went in last week, but I think an Emirates jumbo (or whatever they call the very big planes now) had also just landed at T5. Definitely agree more people in business and premium economy than economy. Curiously, given the current restrictions are largely one way, there were notably more people on my return flight to the US than the flight out. Lucky me, I went through Heathrow 3 times on this trip (once in transit, once on stopover in London and once back in to fly back) and it was full every single time. The BA lounge was like a sardine can.
S19 and D19 turn 21 years old in November. I feel like I ought to do something special for this major birthday, but I donāt have any good ideas. They donāt have predictable schedules, so I canāt have things like food delivered to their apartments. It seems anticlimactic to just put money in their bank accounts or to send them gift cards. Neither will be home for Thanksgiving, and only one for winter break. Iām open to ideas for how to recognize their becoming full-fledged adults. TIA.
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My D19, whoās young for her class, just turned 20 the other day. In addition to various gifts sheād asked for, we paid for her to go out to brunch at one of her favorite restaurants with her roommates and their significant others. (She has a credit card that we pay for, which she uses for groceries and school supplies, so she used that.) Covering a special meal for your S19 and D19 and their friends might be a nice way to celebrate when you canāt be together. And you can always do a delayed in-person celebration with them later on ā theyāll be 21 for a while yet.
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D19 is only slightly older (September), and we put off her family 20th birthday party until either we visit (in another two weeks), or when sheās home for Thanksgiving (Hanukkah). We also ordered food out for her and her for a dinner there in their dorms (there is an eating space and a kitchen), since they were limited in eating indoors in town. Well, we actually Venmoed money to one of her good friends to order the food by phone and pick it up.
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S21 also turns 21 later this month. His first year at school we sent a care package from home, and then last year, his school sent everyone home early in the fall, so we just waited until he got back. This year, I was also struggling for ideas, but he is in an apartment now, which opens up some interesting possibilities. I canāt say too much, as some of his friends and colleagues have figured out who I am on CC, and I wouldnāt want them to rat me out. (I have also talked on CC about the fact he is a campus tour guide, and he recently had the experience of a family showing up at Admissions and wanting to meet the tour guide from Japan!)
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I usually like to coordinate something with my kidsā roommates or friends. I like the idea of a special dinner out, and a number of times I have sent decorations and baked treats to a roommate or a friend and had them set things up. My S19 is really good at making and editing videos and he did something sweet for his roommate last year. He coordinated getting video birthday messages/memories for the roommate from his brothers, parents, high school and college friends from all around the country. He put everything together and played it for the friend as a surprise when they had a celebratory gathering.
Iām sad that I likely wonāt be with my S19 to celebrate his 21st in the spring. However, if things go as planned heāll be living it up in Barcelona and Iām sure heāll find a way to make it memorable. 
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DD turned 20 at the start of this school year. We had bought her a TV over the summer and called it her birthday. Her friends at college treated her well on the day.
Talked to her last night, she now has 3 jobs. She has been working athletic events, and ropes course/lake activities, both of which are great for a recreation major, but not many hours. Yesterday she got a job at a flower shop. Sheās excited to make more money especially with her short term study abroad costs coming up. From here on out sheās only taking 12 credits and sheās done with class early in the day all year so thereās time. Now sheās all about sticking around through most of her breaks and staying down there next summer to work.
She also got a role in the childrenās show. She did it freshman year when they toured elementary schools. This year theyāre just streaming it but will be nice to be in some theatre again.
Finally, she and her friends got next yearās housing groupings worked out to her satisfaction and found an apartment complex that should work. They need to call and get on a list for next year.
Registering for next semester tomorrow, after that just one more semester then internship. Everything is coming together for the home stretch!
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