Again, other colleges and universities have done the same. They are not “rich schools with a top reputation,” but they came to the same decision. For some reason, this thread is hyper-focused on a small amount of colleges and universities. (In typical CC fashion.)
Two week quarantine PRIOR to arrival on campus.
One parent can help with move-in, no parents allowed in the dorms.
2/3 of the classes will be in-person instruction
Question: anyone know if Midd has more housing options than Bowdoin? This plan seems like it would have worked for Bowdoin unless they just didn’t have the number of dorm rooms available to keep as many students on campus as possible to better control the movement of people and spread of any outbreaks?
Then tested on arrival and quarantined until they get results. Said 24 hours “but might be longer”.
How does Bates differ from Bowdoin? Still shocked at Bowdoin’s decision.
Bates has an endowment of approximately $330 million vs. Bowdoin’s approximately $2 billion.
Makes a huge difference in decision making.
So not that it matters but I am surprised at Bowdoins decision also.
Question is with any school in this situation what happens with housing then in the Winter? Does everyone have on campus housing at Bowdoin or the like school? Wouldn’t want to start a year lease in the Winter. Or are some just going to start their lease as they normally would do and stay at their apartments? If Michigan went in a different direction my son would still be off campus in an apartment. I think most who he knows would be doing this also. Just curious. Maybe I missed something in the translation today.
Middlebury endowment size is not far off from Bowdoin, though their approach differed. Of course both are dwarfed by the UT $31 billion endowment, and they are opening.
@TheVulcan wrote:
So, let me see if I understand you correctly:
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If a private college chooses not to open it is probably because it is “a rich school with a top reputation”. BUT,
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If the same school had chosen to open, you would have said it was because they had no choice.
Isn’t that the gist of it?
And on the opposite end of the spectrum … I received an offer from my sons school today to buy a “PPE safety kit”. 2 masks, 2 hand sanitizers, I box of alcohol wipes and two sets of nitrile gloves for $24.99. I’ll pass.
I think the NCAA believes football helmets count as masks…
On the subject of football - not every school has had outbreaks. The football team at my sons school has been back and practicing for weeks with no reports of Covid. Of course once they start playing other teams, the situation changes.
I think it’s more so the immediate location, because I’ve noticed that many of the schools not reopening are in the Boston/Cambridge area.
Middlebury’s per student endowment is about $362K per student versus Bowdoin’s $953K, a pretty significant difference. http://www.reachhighscholars.org/college_endowments.html?fbclid=IwAR0ntI5G-vzcc3P_RLxQ1UY0TGSrI2FAUtIsF0TaZ5W9bTnPkjiRvqF48HY
Plus, Middlebury has been struggling with a budget deficit in recent years. They were getting back on track, but took a hit with COVID https://middleburycampus.com/50552/news/the-college-was-just-about-to-break-even-on-its-budget-then-everyone-got-sent-home/
I’m not an expert, but it appears that Middlebury needs students back on campus more than Bowdoin does.
@knowstuff If Bowdoin takes sophomores, juniors and seniors in the spring, they will house them all. Any sophomore, junior or senior who decides to go to Maine to get an off-campus apartment just to get out of their parents’ house will have to either find something short term from Aug-Dec or sign a year lease and just stay there instead of taking Bowdoin housing. They have said kids can stay in their off campus accommodations for spring if they like. Not sure if they can participate in the board plan. Need to ask.
I simply noted that there appears to be an inverse correlation between academic clout and money in the bank and the tendency to make desperate decisions, in response to your [theory[/url] about “wealthier LACs” whose “particular product goes beyond mere certification” (unlike that of “rich, largely eastern, Ivy equivalent”).
When Bowdoin announced their “impotent” decision, you switched your attention to their [url=http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/22856794/#Comment_22856794]“very wealthy urban universities”](http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/22838999/#Comment_22838999)-like [dorm configuration](School in the 2020-2021 Academic Year & Coronavirus (Part 1) - #8040 by circuitrider - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums).
@homerdog Isn’t a semester that is totally online going to look very “pandemic-like”? What parts of the LAC experience are they getting if they are on-line at home? How is that “protecting the Bowdoin experience”? It just seems like you think that Bowdoin is so different than any other school, it just comes across as very elitist.
My D will be a freshman and she is so excited to go to school, even if she knows it will not look the same as it would have a year ago. I actually think freshmen have the benefit that they won’t really know any differently. I think it’s a lot harder for the upperclassmen to go back with all these new restrictions.
So funny you said this. There is some work being done in this area.
https://nesn.com/2020/06/is-nfl-implementing-these-new-covid-19-helmets-to-keep-players-safe/
Re: Midd - i like this testing plan:
We are implementing a robust testing program in partnership with the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Broad Institute, which will allow us to deliver tests for COVID-19 infection for students at two different times—as they arrive on campus and again after seven days. Students will remain in quarantine in their residence hall rooms for approximately 24 hours until test results are available. This quarantine period could be extended in the unlikely event of a delay in receipt of the test results. Meals will be delivered to dorms during the quarantine period. Students will not be able to leave their rooms except to use the bathroom, get their meals from the dorm delivery point, or in case of a medical emergency.
Upon receipt of a negative test result, students will be released from “room quarantine” to “campus quarantine.” During the campus quarantine period, students may move about campus, following all physical distancing and safety protocols in place at the time. However, for the health and safety of everyone, students will not be permitted to leave campus during this time.
The same quarantine, testing, and isolation protocols will apply for students who are living in off-campus housing, except that students will be expected to quarantine in their off-campus residences
Don’t we want colleges to make their best decisions for the fall term independent of financial consideration? Bowdoin, and others that made similar decisions, presumably made their decisions knowing full well the financial implications. They must have their valid reasons.
Whoa didn’t mean it like that. Just meant any LAC (where kids have chosen to have that small school, residential experience for four years) will be so different. S19 was willing to follow the rules but, apparently, the college decided that masking and distancing and testing was going to change the experience so much that they didn’t choose it for all of their students. When I said I the “Bowdoin experience”, I just meant any LAC experience.