Want to ask everyone - current year applicants or current students or parents, what’s your outlook for the Fall semester? Is normal in-person school your base case scenario? Do you think by the time we need to decide whether to accept the offer or not, the schools would give us a clear communication in terms of the plan for the Fall?
If there’s one thing I have learned this past year is that everything can change overnight. It is fine to be optimistic, but be prepared to change course.
So much depends on vaccines and new variants. I haven’t heard anything about fall, as I think the schools are still struggling to figure out spring (although probably more so in California).
That said, Cate has their normal fall schedule posted, including their Outings Week (camping) and early arrival for athletes. It appears they are proceeding like “normal” is at least possible. My guess is we won’t know more until June.
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I would say that you best bet is to look at what happened at a particular school THIS year and then extrapolate. Some schools did really well. Kids went back, communication was good, cases were handled well etc. Others, didn’t have as much success.
A lot of what happens depends on the HOS and the size of the school. IF they were able to do pretty well in 20-21 then they’ll likely be ok in September. I don’t think it will be fully normal ( with no masks) but it will be much better.
By September many people who want the vaccine will have been vaccinated IMO so that will change the dynamics. I’m hoping it’s pretty close to normal. We can’t take another year of online classes in ANY form.
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Agree with above comments.
In my mind, the likely scenario is that next fall is about 75% “better” than whatever was presented this year. (which varied by school of course.). So much closer to pre-covid normal.
If there is some big news like variant resistant to vaccine, or major vaccine distribution issues, then I would guess that fall could be as bad as 25% better than this year. So still better than now.
In any case, even if we have some “big bad news” between now and august, I think schools (and society) will have to find a way to do something significantly better than this year. We do NOT have it in us to do another year of remote for any of my kids. (And this is coming from a huge supporter of “this is hard, let’s all have grace for each other, let’s not force anyone into the classroom” point of view. )
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I would also expect that schools will mandate covid vaccination for all kids old enough to receive it by fall. So if that is still 16+ or becomes 12+ don’t send your kid if you are not ok with them being vaccinated.
I do not have any interest in turning this into a vaccination thread - I am simply pointing this out because I know parents for whom this is an issue.
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I hope this isn’t a thread hijack, and if it is, apologies ahead of time and Mods, feel free to delete it.
Is there a safe way to have modified BS Revisit Days? Seems onerous for many kids to not have a chance to visit in the Fall, and then be forced to choose in the Spring without stepping onto campus.
I know Revisits would have to be modified for safety and a myriad of other reasons, but hoping some type of on-campus Revisit Day(s) can be arranged.
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I would say that the chances of that are 0 to -10. Even schools that have been almost all in person are not allowing parents of current students to get out of the car - there is no way they are going to allow strangers on campus.
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You’re right - but even if it was outdoors, at the track, something. Oh well. 
Yeah, I mean I would do it but they don’t ask my opinion. AT ALL (even though they should because sh*t would run so smoothly if I was in charge).
I don’t understand how people can make these decisions in this vacuum. I know my kid has talked to a lot of applicants via email and zoom that coaches have set up. His coach asks him a lot to talk to kids because he always says yes. 
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I don’t see how they could possibly mandate the vaccinations by the fall. Given the current pace of vaccinations it will not even be their turn to be eligible for vaccine in NY, and Pfizer is the only one approved for 16+, given where they are in trials odds of pediatric vaccine being approved and available by the fall are quite low. Unless the school can get the supply and vaccinate (which I doubt) there is no way to mandate it. We asked when dropping off dc and they said they hoped the staff would be vaccinated by the end of the spring term, but no guarantees. And K-12 teachers and staff have a priority, unlike HS students who will be at the end of the line. Unless they have pre-existing conditions of some sort, which applies to only a fraction of them.
Re: re-visits, a couple of thoughts.
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There are schools with open campuses. Even though you’re not supposed to come, you certainly could just come and drive around. I’m sure people are doing this.
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THAT SAID, other than the physical lay of the land, what you’ll see won’t really be representative of the school as it usually is, but how it is under covid protocols. The latter may be useful, but hopefully less so in time.
I agree it’s really tough to make these decisions without visiting, and AOs definitely have their work cut out for them in presenting schools virtually.
Have heard of 2 well-known East Coast boarding schools (not among the 8 BSs always talked about on CC Prep) working on modified on-campus Revisits after M10.
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I wonder if these top but not quite tippy top BS (at least how I interpret your comment) are looking for ways to safely stand out and make their cases.
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Gov’s had an info session last week and IIRC said they were working on 6 plans that ranged from all on campus to all online, depending on what things looked like in March. My guess is that is typical, everyone has a 100% virtual plan in place but is trying to come up with any way to get kids on campus in some fashion, even though a normal revisit program is not possible. Probably lots of last minute announcements, because the last year has taught us that planning more than a week in advance is folly.
All in person would shock me, but I’m hoping that there is at least a chance to spend a few minutes on campus. We have seen none of the places D applied to in person. And yes, sending her halfway across the country under those circumstances is a bit unnerving!
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I would think the revisit in-person population would be split.
There will be those who do not want to risk the travel and would weigh the benefits of staying at home over the risks of traveling during the pandemic.
There will be those who have not seen schools and know they will have to have their kid travel during a pandemic in the fall anyway (unless y’all really think this will just go away in the next few months).
There will be those who live close enough to the schools, that they have at least experienced them in some form or fashion enough to make a decision without going OR feel comfortable driving over there and attending in-person b/c there isn’t much more risk of that than going to Target.
There will be those who live far enough away, but saw the schools prior to the pandemic, so they don’t feel like they need to make the trip again. Not to mention the states they’d be traveling to may have quarantine restrictions for out of staters.
I would think that schools are taking all of this into account and may limit the numbers of in-person attendees, while offering a hybrid revisit for those unable/unwilling to physically attend. But I have been completely off-base before.
One thing I am sure of-- it will be interesting to see the variances in which this is handled!
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There is no way schools that are “bubbling” will have in person revisit days. At least at Hotchkiss they are super strict. You cannot even drive through the campus; the testing regime upon the kids coming back is thorough . . . the beauty of revisit days is to sit in on classes, eat in the cafeteria etc and that is just not going to happen.
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Sitting in on classes and eating in the dining hall sound so dreamy. What an amazing data point that would be in deciding fit!! Ugh ugh ugh. (Sorry for my little tantrum there. But it feels like so much is lost for this normally-robust evaluation process.)
What does “bubbling” mean in this context? (SSAT question: by “bubbling” the author is referring to: A. Corona germs rampant B. Administrators minds considering lots of options C. Campuses are active and in full swing or D. I don’t know and it’s test optional this year anyway.)
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E. a bad case of rabies, causing foaming at the mouth? Or is that just all of society going crazy and wanting things to go back to normal…?
I would say there is zero chance Lville will have in person revisit days. They’re barely able to get current students back on campus with the current restrictions in NJ.
“Bubbling” = creating a bubble by not allowing people outside the community on campus.
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