@Skrunch Are they not going to wait until they decide whether to do online instruction or in-person instruction to let kids decide to do a gap year? Will they have made a decision by then? I’ve heard what many institutions are unofficially planning to do (I’ve heard some professors have been talking to their students about this, and UC-Davis sent out a letter to their freshmen saying this is an option) is resume in-person instruction in fall, but make returning to campus optional and record lectures online with options to do work from home, so that way it relieves them of liability. I’ve also heard that some institutions intend to go in-person are planning on doing hybrid options like making super large lecture classes online but doing small discussion sections in-person.
*UC-Irvine
The exact thing they said was “Should circumstances limit your ability to travel or live at our campus, UCI is prepared to offer remote instruction for the Fall 2020 quarter for impacted freshmen.”
@Mwfan1921 Yes, but many people aren’t going to be willing to pay for online education. Many of my acquaintances who I graduated high school with and are already attending public in-state colleges have parents who are saying that they are not paying for a semester/year of online education regardless of whether the college will allow them to take time off, so if the school doesn’t allow them to take a gap semester/year they are going to have to drop out.
@Skrunch Also, of course they are planning for it and looking into it; they have to be prepared for every possibility. They weren’t prepared this semester and look what happened.
ChemAM
Please - I think it is unproductive to provide advice to anxious students such as ‘in person classroom instruction will continue’ - then days later acknowledge that there are hybrid online/in person classes being offered.
I think we just don’t know and the best bet is to keep in contact with your school/schools. Things are changing rapidly - including predictions from gov’t officials.
I really think in most of the country you would be silly not to expect some sort of hybrid in the fall and maybe the entire year. I really do think this is the new normal. Even though not optimal, I think colleges will leverage the taped prerecorded classes.
At Michigan they were already recording them anyway. Teaching via live stream was an adventure but only needed a few days to figure it out school wide.
If someone was thinking about a gap year prior and really wants the “normal” typical freshman fall start to college this year seems like the year to do that. For others, this is the new normal. They will always remember their freshman year as being different but this can bind them together also.
The only thing is when you take off a year from studying it’s a long time. Kids normally are taking classes till May. Have a few months off to rejuvenate their minds then get back into the game, so to speak. With off that much time I would hope maybe a few months prior to school one would review notes or do something like Khan Academy just to get back in it mentally. Freshman year fall semester can be very challenging for many.
Thanks for the advice!
A few questions:
Do you think Umich (or any other universities) would reduce the cost of tuition if the semester/year is forced to be online?
If a flood of deferral requests come in to most schools (and I think they will), what do you think will happen? I think it may force many OOS students to drop out if the request isn’t approved.
Giving a reduction is tricky. No matter what they give it will never be enough and people will complain loudly. I do think there might be some sort of adjustment but in reality it depends if kids are on campus AND they have to do online only schooling or if they are at home and never step foot on campus
I think we are going to see large swings of families deciding to have their kid stay instate. But that can go for Michigan as well. They won’t have any trouble filling their spots. I am wondering about some other things like housing. Michigan is supposed to close most of Northwoods 1,2,3 on North campus with the idea of building a newer student housing. I am calling tomorrow since if they delay this project will bring back over 350 suites for students to live in. These are 1-2 bedroom on campus apartments
My sons in one now but they all got notices before the pandemic that they can’t renew and have to go off campus. Which is going to make finding living that much more difficult since many will want single apartments…
But as I posted elsewhere I wouldn’t change a 4 year college plan because a semester might look different. Too many advantages for going to school at Michigan to me to imagine changing if economics don’t come into play
Syracuse seems fine with kids taking a gap year, they addressed this on a parents webinar , dep by May 1 at case , do not go to another 4 year school, you can go to a CC and take 2 classes, now Cuse if 74k a year and may be sweating parents balking at online fall semester at about 30, but I was surprised they were so open about it. I asked my son about a gap year , case was one of his options, and he said hell no , he wants to move forward, in fact he decided to commit today to a different school.
I hope that becomes common for most schools. I’m worried that Umich won’t let me defer simply because I don’t want to take online classes.
There are definitely schools in that camp. Have you spoken with U Mich admissions yet?
My neighbor has one child at UMICH and one at UVA. Both out of state tuition. That is a lot of money for the family to continue paying for online learning. i balk at calculating how much each zoom session breaks down costing.
It is NOT just about zoom online learning. It is why you picked the college in the first place. If you feel that Michigan or any school you picked has a superior way of teaching and learning then that will not change. If you didn’t feel that way then why would you go there anyway. My son’s a junior now and he is being loaded up with homework, group projects, his jobs is able to be online. He tells me the instruction if anything is harder now (also a junior in engineering so maybe its that?). He is not learning less because its online. He is still getting education by a college that is Number 2 in the country in his field of study. Excellent professors are not going to become mediocre overnight and by the fall they will have this online teaching down. If anything my kid and others are the guinea pigs not your kids.
So, you all picked a college like Michigan for certain reasons. Those reason shouldn’t change just the environment will to some extent. Online learning will be incorporated into learning going forward. I think everyone is learning something here. They were already video taping classes which can be an advantage for some.
I believe school is 50% the education received and 50% the kids at the school you get to interact with as part of receiving that education. Meeting and networking with diverse people and having late night arguments and discussions is part of the education. I think the “interacting with smart kids and networking with smart kids” piece maybe even outweighs the education piece. Most professors everywhere are pretty smart—and you can learn from them. If I’m paying full tuition, I want both parts. On-line learning is different. In my analogy, you barely get 50% of what you are paying for. My kid has gone from a boarding school environment to an online environment. The difference in engagement is dramatic. Kid agrees the difference is dramatic. The change in learning forum is dramatic and definitely takes away from the value proposition of the school.
@Mwfan1921 I haven’t yet but will soon
Do any of you know how long a request to defer at UMich will take to get a decision back?
So are you planning on doing a gap year then?
@knowstuff If school is going on-line for fall, my kid has agreed to gap until 2021. But kid is looking at attending a private school—where tuition is much higher than a public school.
Enjoy the gap year. Hard decisions. I would think most schools will have hybrid learning going forward. They have to integrate slower then normal. Can’t phantom the dorm situations.