Colleges in the 2021-2022 Academic Year & Coronavirus (Part 2)

Parents Forum
4469

Same at my daughter’s university in the Boston area. Happy to say her weekends (Thursday-Sunday) are filled with football And hockey games, large sorority events, and college parties. So happy she is getting all she missed last year. Everything is open,masks required in academic buildings, and vaccinated kids don’t need to quarantine if exposed to a positive. Very few positives this week. Boston is buzzing with activity. Oh, and she loves her courses and professors and is looking forward to getting an in person internship in Boston next summer.
Happy :grin:

Edited to add - tons of non covid viruses going around. All the kids are coughing and sneezing. Testing for covid negative.

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4470

I’m seeing the same at my kids’ schools. Both (and their friends/roommates) have been sick with lingering colds/coughs. Typical college stuff, nothing serious. I’m glad your D is having some fun! Boston really is a great place to go to school :blush:.

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4471

Just back from visiting our D20 in Boston for family weekend. Boston definitely feels back in full swing. D20 seems to have busy and social weekends- though most of it happens off-campus (I think that’s really always been the case at her school). Lots of concerts, dinners out and some off-campus parties (usually at friends of friends at other schools). She and her group of friends took my D24 to the BC football game last night - all in all, things are normalish or normal enough for her. Very thankful for the super mild weather they’ve had up there this fall. That has definitely helped ease the sting of not being able to have multiple visitors in the dorm rooms.

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4472

Yes, I’m also very happy to hear my kids are enjoying a vibrant social life this year (their school was extremely restrictive last year, so this is a pleasant surprise). Regular parties, social club parties, formals, on-campus parties, tailgating, etc are back on. The test positivity rate this week is 0.03%, so minuscule. Fun conversations over meals in the dining halls, all ECs, sports and clubs back on. They are required to wear masks in classes. Aware that things can pivot at any point, I think they are very appreciative of the extremely low number of cases in their community (I think 4 cases among undergrads two weeks ago, zero last week, and 3 this week) and the relative freedom that enables. Of course, their school isn’t party-central; I do hear that things are much MORE vibrant at some of the really big schools!! I love hearing the updates from a range of schools, and I bet at the schools that are clamping down a bit right now, things will ease as conditions improve. :crossed_fingers:

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4473

Sharp uptick reported lately among both students and employees here, but that’s not surprising, given that there’s essentially no covid mitigation here, it’s football season, and more activities are moving inside. We don’t have high flu vax rates, either, so I’m hoping against all reason that admin has a plan ready to go.

Off to update my Linkedin profile. I’ve moved into “gee, I should’ve done this a long time ago” wrt my job search, and I’ve got a much clearer idea of what I’m looking for, also for how long. A huge and unforeseen bonus of living very cheaply for a long time while operating out of a strong financial education is that even though my income’s been low-to-tepid all along, it turns out that (assuming no authoritarian dictatorship post-2024) I really only need to work for a few more years. Then the kid’s out of school with no debt, and I’ve got my house paid off and more than enough savings to carry me through to 62, at which point it’s clear sailing even if Soc Sec suffers cuts. I don’t mind a few years of Medicaid before jumping back on marketplace insurance for three years once Soc Sec comes in – the state’s underpaid me for long enough that I’m fine with taking it.

But it’s nice – it means I’m clear about the job timespan I’m looking for and can be up-front about it, and it dovetails nicely with the kind of remote work I’m looking for.

I’ll be sorry to leave kids in the lurch, but – along with most of the other university, K-12, etc. employees leaving in droves – I’ve more than given at the office. When I look at what I’ve actually done – for the kids, for everyone else here – over the last decade next to the money I’ve accepted for it, I’m thinking: wow, what a chump. It’s really sad. It wouldn’t have been so bad if we weren’t busy paying top administrators more than the president of the US makes, but, as they say, we’re clearly not all in this together. Throw in “please endanger your brain, the rest of your health, and your life, and be willing to transmit this to other people, too,” and that’s more than enough for me.

4474

Definitely best for all concerned if you move on, so it is great that you are initiating that now. Best of luck, and hope it is a brief search!

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4475

Life at Amherst is pretty close to normal as well. They are testing twice a week and have had almost no student cases for the past month. They have had an occasional case or two, but have not had anything close to an outbreak.

Parties were actually allowed starting after the first two weeks (formally, they are supposed to be wearing masks, but informally, nobody actually does, according to my D). Rooms are also supposed to be at 50% capacity or less for parties, but D has heard this is not really being followed. Most of the sports teams are hosting parties every weekend and a formal once per semester, as is the case during a normal year.

Masks still required in academic buildings and technically in dorms (but informally, very few people actually wearing them in the dorms, though virtually everybody complies with mask requirement in academic buildings). Students have to wear masks in the dining hall while they are not seated. Also, while the dining hall is still at 50% seating capacity (which they are supposedly planning to expand this week), enough students opt to get their meals to go or eat outside that there is enough room for everyone who wants to do so to sit in the dining hall.

D reports that besides most students wearing masks in academic buildings and before they sit down in the dining hall (plus testing twice per week), it pretty much looks like a normal year.

Also, fall break was last weekend and ended this past Tuesday. Students tested on Tuesday evening, Wednesday or Thursday (depending on which day they are assigned), and yesterday or today (depending on which day they are assigned). So far, no new student cases.

Ironic how at the beginning of the semester, Amherst College was briefly trending on Twitter for having the strictest COVID regulations of any college in the country, but now, campus life appears to be more relaxed in practice than many of its peers.

The town of Amherst also has a very low COVID prevalence rate right now, which also helps.

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4476

Things seem pretty normal at Northwestern. They’ve opened up things to community members. We had to show proof of vaccination or negative PCR test to go inside and masks required for everyone. But everything is in person, parties are happening, sports are in full swing, etc…. Covid rates are very low. Students seem happy.

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4477

Yeah. I think social scenes at a lot of small colleges are quiet right now. At schools where parties happen off campus, there’s more to do.

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4478

in person, on campus parties are happening at NU? Wow. Or are they mostly off campus?

4479

Things are pretty normal at Pitt. Masks are required inside university buildings but everything is open and operating normally as far as I know. My son lives off campus do I’m not really familiar with what’s happening with the dorms and dining except that I’ve heard very little complaining about them from other parents and last year the complaining was off the charts.

As for covid cases, Pitt no longer has a dashboard and just posts a once a week update. Last week there were 24 student cases, the week before there were 32, the week before that 30. Admin seems completely comfortable with this level as there has been no mention of concern - just factual reporting of the numbers. I think since it’s been relatively level they’ve decided it’s a manageable number.

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4480

I can’t speak about what’s happening in the dorms but I can hear the off campus parties from my house and there were literally hundreds of students in large groups heading to the football game and drinking on Saturday.

Evanston is over 90% vaccinated at this point and the university required vaccines so they are at close to 100%. Case rates continue to drop every week.

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4481

The current COVID wave has been receding almost everywhere in the country, except for a few states in colder climate (most of them in upper Midwest) where the number of cases are rising. Hopefully, the high vaccination rates on campuses in those states will keep the virus at bay in coming weeks.

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4482

Thx. I was just curious because it seems like other private schools that are NU’s equals are not allowing sponsored parties on their campuses. So no frat parties for example if the houses are on campus.

4483

Just got back from family weekend at SDSU. I only have a freshman so can’t compare to another year but it seemed very normal to me. Masks required anywhere inside on campus. Otherwise it was alive with parties and a lot of them were outside which made things more comfortable. It was wonderful seeing celebrations, happy students and families. There were the usual colds but kids have been tesingt and most do not get positive covid results according to my D21. I haven’t looked at the dashboard in a while. My heart is still bursting from so much happiness for my daughter. Very grateful for a successful family weekend.

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4484

It was reunion weekend and here were huge tents set up for alumni gatherings.

Greek parties are still on hold because of the issues from the beginning of the semester.

Have to believe that most parties on college campuses are not sponsored but happening anyway.

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4485

It’s nice to see things returning to normal. All the isolation from last year makes this year of college football special. We could all use the morale boost.

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4486

Right. I’m sure most NU parties are either off campus or in dorms then and the dorm ones must be very small. Only “sponsored” on-campus parties are thrown by the frats. It seems like it still must be a lot less fun on weekend nights. Most of the kids I know there (especially the younger ones) depend on the frats for weekend parties. Hard to find any alcohol anywhere else, can’t get into bars, don’t know older kids off campus, etc.

4487

Huh?

Sports, music, shows, arts are all in full swing. In my book that is still plenty of fun going on. Last I knew having fun at college wasn’t contingent on getting drunk at a frat party.

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4488

Just got back from Duke Parents’ weekend and it certainly seems fairly normal other than masks indoors! Parties/socializing etc is alive and well on and off campus, the 50-person cap on indoor parties/socials was lifted a couple weeks ago, masks not mandated in residence halls anymore, and the basketball kickoff was a packed indoor arena with parents, students and season ticket holders (everyone masked and had to prove vaxed or tested). So, they are having tons of fun for sure even though it is not “normal”. They continue to test everyone at least twice a week; 99%students vaccinated. Like NU, sports/arts/socializing all happening. Fun definitely does not require alcohol, but it does not seem to be in short supply for those who want that type of party/socializing.

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