Nope,
“While we are not including a typical room and board charge in your student aid budget, we are including an allowance that recognizes costs a family will incur with a student living at home during the fall term.”
https://www.bowdoin.edu/covid-19/current-students/index.html
Ugh.
^ The bottom line effect of these policies is, family finances being equal, students on campus are paying lower tuition (though higher total cost overall) than those staying home, because those staying home receive less aid.
I sure hope MIT does not take this route…
An argument for biting the bullet and making all college instruction online for the fall:
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/lurching-toward-fall-disaster-horizon
The author argues against "magical thinking " re bringing everyone back to campus.
@TheGreyKing I didn’t read in that letter that class will be in person. I think you should ask about that and prepare your S18 that it likely will not happen.
“Indeed, a significant percentage of courses will be entirely remote even for students on campus, so that we can manage class sizes, ensure social distancing and meet the needs of faculty and staff who must remain off-campus for their own safety. It’s possible that a student living on campus could even have all of their courses be remote, depending on their choices.”
@NJSue I kind of agree with that article. Right now, just about every college plan I seen is pretty complex: dorm density mitigation, classroom density mitigation, quarantine plan, testing plan, meal delivery plan, synchronous online plan, asynchronous online plan. All this on top of profs simply planning their classes. IMO these plans are way to complex to survive very long in the fall. The best thing a school can do right now is focus their efforts on online class delivery.
This is one of the reasons Bowdoin said all remote. It was too much for faculty to plan in-person, hybrid, and remote class. Focus on remote. Make it as good as possible.
I agree about the college reps. A total waste of time, in fact in some cases I was more informed than they were about their school and other peer colleges/universities.
I think “name” can matter, often a lot, particularly in non STEM fields. If you’re a humanities major, the school’s name likely will make an impact on how the graduate is perceived. Name schools often have extensive business/alum networks which may be very crucial in finding those important first jobs.
Engineering, math, computer sciences and probably a few other fields - grads in those fields are likely to do well in the marketplace even if they attend no name schools, as long as their programs are accredited, etc. Obviously if you’re an MIT or a Cal Tech grad you will likely have some amazing options. But the no name school grad will also be not without good opportunities.
Star economist Susan Dynarski on opening colleges (she’s against it):
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/business/college-campus-coronavirus-danger.html
MIT ruled out hybrid teaching early on as it would essentially amount to doubling the workload of the faculty.
Just read the UMASS Amherst fall reopening plan. Pretty sobering (and somber) read. Makes one seriously consider if they want to be back on campus this fall.
Not sure how any of these large schools will be able to deal with the kids living off campus. In UMASS’ case, I guess it’s not their issue if a kid lives off campus and takes all classes remote. Really no different to them as if the kid were at home. Based on the plan, not a lot of reasons to set foot on campus for non lab type work.
The whole thing really makes me sad.
And it’s not just large schools. A friend’s son is looking to go to Maine to “attend” school remotely. Can’t go on campus but still involves travel and bringing new people into the community.
So as far as mask wearing. My daughter today was wearing a mask she got in Vietnam when she was there. She said any crowded place like a bus you wear one. It is a cultural thing and explained that part of their culture is why would you want to get anyone sick /ill and it’s the easiest thing to do to help prevent getting someone else sick especially if your not feeling well. It is just a common courtesy. Plus her mask is extremely well made and cute. No bad for 50 cents…
I think as a country we need to get there and have our kids understand we are doing this for each other.
Is there a link to the UMASS Amherst opening plan?
“The bizzaro world version of on campus instruction “. What a line. Unfortunately I think he’s right.
@homerdog- As the letter states, and as the new Williams course catalog indicates, some classes will be remote, some will be a hybrid of in-person and remote, and some will have a choice of sections some of which will be all in-person, some online, etc.
Students will be able to choose their courses with their preferences in mind.
All classes will go online for finals, etc. after Thanksgiving, but before then, a student can have the real Williams in-person class discussion experience for some or all of his/her classes. Social distancing will be practiced in any in-person classes.
Also, I think GT is just plain wrong to put its faculty in such an untenable position. They MUST teach on campus, but don’t require students and everyone else to wear masks? What are they doing to protect their workers?!
@melvin123 I agree, and I also find it curious as I would think that would open them up to liability issues down the road.
I felt bad for the spring athletes everywhere. I don’t feel bad for the fall athletes at Williams - at least they will be able to be on campus with their friends and practice with their teammates.
Someone mentioned that kids were scared to attend f2f classes at college - well obviously not all kids. The college age kids who now seem to be choosing to go to large parties and hang out in crowds (and in our town testing positive as a result) can’t claim they are scared to sit in a room with a mask which is probably much safer.
Of course some kids (and their parents) are concerned, but a big chunk of young adults seem ok with spinning the wheel of chance. Now that may mean that the kids that you least want at your school (less likely to feel the need to follow rules) are the ones most likely to show up.
I agree. My D23 who loves Japanese anime and Korean pop music has had several masks for the past few years (with the logos of her favorite kpop groups on them…it’s sort of like wearing a concert t-shirt to her except it’s a mask). She has seen for years (through social media) how commonly they are worn in both Japan and South Korea, her favorite k-pop “idols” wear them both for safety precautions (as in your daughter’s bus example) and for fashion, and she is aware of the cultural acceptance (and expectation) of mask wearing in those countries, so it’s been an easy transition for her to wear one regularly in public.
Back in March, we read this article with her about some of the cultural differences around mask wearing: https://time.com/5799964/coronavirus-face-mask-asia-us/
I think progress has been made here since the time of this article, though, unfortunately, the politicization of mask wearing has contributed to slowing the U.S.'s acceptance/expectation of mask wearing.
Our K-12 schools are “encouraging” mask wearing, and at least some of my neighbors are requiring their kids agree to wear masks at school (or opt for remote if they refuse)…while all kids may not follow through on this agreement when out of their parents’ sight, I am confident my D23 will due to the connection she had with the Korean and Japanese practice of mask-wearing before she’d ever heard of COVID-19.