This was very surprising to me. Police in halls monitoring the dorms, and no outdoor exercise due to increase in Covid numbers.
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Stanford delayed then cancelled the return of its students to campus last month at the last minute for its winter quarter that started in late January. It hasnât made any announcement about the upcoming spring quarter that will start in late March.
Princeton allows all its students to return to campus for the spring semester but virtually all classes are remote.
Harvard allows most of its upperclassmen to return to campus for the spring semester but virtually all classes are remote.
Pomona doesnât allow any student to return to campus for the spring semester.
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CA is clearly not the state to be in this year. Wow on that article.
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Cornell brought everyone back to campus too.
Tons of the big flagships are all back (and were last semester as well).
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Yeah, thisâll be a long list 
Letâs add:
UChicago (all classes)
Vanderbilt (all classes)
Rice (all classes). Classes started 2 weeks ago. All kids welcome back on 2/15 and classes can start in person that day as well. Many kids already on campus. Classes 40 or less can be in person if professor chooses. D was supposed to have about 2/3 of her classes in person but one lab flipped to online. More kids chose to live off campus this year and some still staying home. D has quite a few friends who stayed home or lived off campus in the fall who are coming back to campus this spring. If spring is like fall, they will start relatively strict but look at lightening up SOME rules if the numbers stay low. Last fall the campus was dry at the start of the semester but they lifted that rule for outdoor gatherings under a certain size at some point. Starting this semester dry again but I suspect they will lift it again assuming the numbers stay under control once the kids are all back.
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Exactly. The far shorter list is the one with schools that didnât invite all students back.
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This is terrible news for those who wished to use their athletic talent in order to get a great education. And there is a disparity by type of sport as well. Some teams are in leagues not directly connected to the state high school sports league, and those kids might be able to travel to other states for tournament play. Obviously, this type of circumstance also rewards those families with financial resources to fund the travel.
Itâs not.
I heard a couple of admissions directors discuss the issue in late summer/early fall, so this is my takeaway from that. They seemed to be saying that applicants will be evaluated on how well they were able to work around the pandemic - not necessarily to do what they had been doing, because obviously for many the typical means for demonstrating passion, commitment, etc. have been removed. But thatâs not such a big deal. What is (and will be) a big deal: what you did with what you were handed. One in particular mentioned attitude and cheerfully referenced a âmy life is over/itâs not fair!â sort of essay (I think they had been reading some of those already) as an example of what will not work this year for selective admissions. While they were referencing their own schools, one of them did mention that these admissions directors at top elites all talk to one another so this advice pretty much applies everywhere, not just at their particular school.
The irony IMO is that so many disadvantaged kids - including those who have gotten into top colleges and universities over the years - face a similar deficit of opportunity in a normal year. Admissions committees have been making decisions on these kids for awhile now. Itâs possible to shine when you donât seem to have much to help with that.
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Itâs never been an even playing field. Those of us from more privileged backgrounds are just now feeling the effects of that for our own kids as options now exist or donât exist based on the state you live in rather than the neighborhood.
May we take the lessons of this to move beyond the impact to our own friends and family and work to make it more equitable for all families moving forward.
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Columbia University - Senior Only, and a few Juniors
The most recent news seems to be this:
https://www.sfgate.com/education/article/Newsom-vaccine-schools-reopening-teachers-15921896.php
I assume heâs saying that because of what the new CDC director said last week:
I do understand the different perspectives, but it is frustrating that for example in Illinois where schools and sports have been shut down in many areas we have similar, or even worse, covid death rates to states where schools and sports have been pretty normal. Illinois death rates similar to Texas, worse than Florida. I canât really explain that, but understand why people are using those numbers to advocate for opening schools and sports.
This makes no sense! Heâs the one closing the schools. Am I living in an alternate universe where heâs done a 180?
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that is helpful, @ucbalumnus, but I was actually referring to Newsomâs recent statement that if we have to wait until everyone is vaccinated, we should tell people now that there will be no in-person instruction in California.
I canât figure out how to post the link, but a quick google search will show the Governorâs quote. It is an article on ABC7 newsite, January 31, 2021.
this is one reason why I think standardized tests help the disadvantaged. In my neck of the woods - the low SES, low-ACT-score district of 50K kids didnt have any opportunities for any fall sports or activities, but the state still had many opps for ACT or SAT tests. Those kids still could have that one avenue here.
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The closest thing that I can find is this:
where the context is an argument between him and teacher unions who want teachers vaccinated before reopening schools.
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this story gives me shivers. Poor kids. sounds like jail almost.
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Is anyone hearing their child talk about applying to study abroad in Fall 2021? Will this even be a possibility?
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Seems that the context is an explosion of COVID-19 cases:
https://www.dailycal.org/2021/01/31/uc-berkeley-warns-against-indoor-gatherings-following-covid-19-surge/
https://www.dailycal.org/2021/02/01/uc-berkeley-mandates-weeklong-sequester-period-for-residential-hall-students/
Editorial opinion in the student newspaper:
https://www.dailycal.org/2021/02/05/students-uc-berkeley-must-respond-swiftly-responsibly-to-largest-covid-19-outbreak-to-date/
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My D20 is at FSU and we are hoping for her to go to Spain in the Spring of 2022. Fall 2021 seems too soon. She says she knows of FSU students who are currently in Spain and says they are miserable because they canât travel at all on weekends and mostly just have to sit in their dorms. I have no idea how/why they were able to do the abroad programs currently ?!? 