I think gap years are usually approved when they are motivated by a change occurring for the student (e.g. an experiential opportunity they want to pursue). In the case of covid-19, it would seem the requests for gap year may be motivated by a lack of interest, by the student, in the university (e.g. the student saying to the university, “I know you have issues to work through currently and I hope to join you after you have resolved them.”).
Thinking of the UCs and CSUs, their policy has always been, “we wish you could have joined us this year, and look forward to hopefully getting an application from you again next year.” So, I don’t think too much will change for them.
https://admissions.purdue.edu/faq/
Maybe this has already been posted but Purdue is flat out saying no gap years for kids whose reason is the virus.
Won’t they just give a different reason for a gap year rather than COoVID- mental health, needing to work, family circumstances, etc?
In general I wonder how admissions for T25 schools will look next year. Will ED applicants be deferred or will the school accept more because they can pay almost full price? Maybe this won’t even matter for those colleges because their endowments are already so big that they can spare a year. What are all your thoughts?
First, schools can’t just “lose a year” if their endowment is large. That’s not the way it works. As for ED, I’m guessing it will be even more of a bump than normal since it’s guaranteed yield in an even more uncertain time. If classes are not on campus before ED deadlines, it might lessen the ED pool. Unless kids did visits super early, many kids would have to apply ED sight unseen. I’ve thought about this a little. Would we drive all the way to some of the schools on D21’s list just to look around? Not sure we’d want to get on a plane. Will hotels even be available? Would we have to rent a house instead? Maybe, even if class isn’t on campus, would schools be able to have tours? They would be pretty quiet tours if there are no faculty or kids on campus.
Schools closed for the rest of the year in Texas…no surprise.
Yup, was totally expected. Now, if we’re not back in the fall I’m going to really lose my mind lol.
Illinois school closures for rest of semester announced today too.
Can’t remember if anyone posted this. It’s a good run down of colleges’ challenges due to the pandemic.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/us/coronavirus-colleges-universities-admissions.html
The article says all this uncertainty will actually help this year’s Juniors. Agree with @homerdog that ED and full pay will be big bumps next year.
Finally, seems to me that even if sig. more students from Class of 20 take a gap year than usual, I think many schools are expecting to lose enough students (returning students who don’t come back b/c of $$, b/c of distance, international students) that it might not mean fewer admits for 2021. It could just mean a larger than usual Fall 2021 class to ‘make up’ for attrition from other years’ classes.
Speaking to @homerdog 's comment on"schools can’t just lose a year if their endowment is large" Amherst College made a point of saying that shifting to online instruction may have cost upwards of 10 million. They have one of the larger endowments and one can only guess the financial hit schools with much less took. Makes me wonder if we will see an uptick in small college closings.
We got an email yesterday from S17’s public. Doesn’t bode well for D21 getting merit! All improvements are on hold, hiring freeze and the budget shortfall at this point is $33m.
D16’s college’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences budget shortfall was $30M due to Covid-19. I’m guessing this covered flights, shipping ($200 per person), rebate of room and board, and other expenses. In response, leadership froze salaries, instituted salary and hiring freezes, and deferred capital projects.
D21 is our last of 3 to be going to college. Having gone thru lots of college visits with my older 2, we made it a point to get out early and visit colleges with her. I can not stress how grateful we are that we had the opportunity. She/We were able to see colleges in full activity, capturing the vibe of each campus. This has afforded us the opportunity to narrow down the list. I couldn’t imagine trying to choose a college with only a virtual tour.
How do we know any of these colleges will even have the same “vibe” anytime soon?
I work for our local large state university’s medical school. There will be hiring freezes, lay offs, deferred capital improvement projects and very likely salary cuts including mine. Likely merit packages decreased. Won’t know the numbers till later. this is just what is floating around at work. Dreams of a NO loans requirement evaporating before my eyes. And D has worked so very hard to qualify for scholarships… . Our new reality.
We’ve had a similar experience at our house. D21 is also the youngest of three, and we made two visits in the fall and two in February. The last visit was to a state flagship- not the kind of school I expected her to like but she has fallen in like for sure. So, this has opened our eyes to schools we did not expect to be researching. I am glad all of her decisions will not have to be made off of virtual tours alone. Although, after viewing five admission presentations with her, I can say that the personality of the presenter makes a HUGE difference.
Also, woke up to an email from Baylor offering discounted bundle rates on summer classes for rising HS seniors. If the students maintains a 3.0 in summer work they can be admitted by October with a $1000 scholarship, and a 3.25 earns them an invitation to “Baylor’s signature scholarship event.” I had noticed that even prior to Covid, Baylor had extended their application deadline for Fall 2020. Given the popularity that Baylor has among students in the DFW metroplex, I’m surprised. But maybe I shouldn’t be.
@TVBingeWatcher2 I would not lose hope so quickly. Your daughter is sitting on a 1590 SAT, earned through hard work and dedication on her part. Many students have not been able to take it or if they are lucky, will be able to take it once. The fall tests, if on line, may not have the credibility of the traditional proctored tests. While it’s possible that some merit scholarships may also move towards test optional as many colleges and universities have already done, having an exemplary score in hand is an asset that I would not underestimate!
@mamaedefamilia I sure hope you are right.
@TVBingeWatcher2 amazing SAT score! You have probably mentioned this before, but did she not have a PSAT score for NMS?
No she missed 2 in writing and 3 in reading which knocked her out in of contention in Texas SI score 214.