Thank you! It is not Duke, but I am from a Tar Heels family (dad and brother as well as sister-in-law are alums, half my family lives in NC). So yes, “Beat Dook!”.
Yes its U of R. And I think you are right that it is essentially how this was communicated that has made me so upset. They said over and over that “we’ll be in person!” and then made a 180 degree turn at the last minute and panicked and angered so many students (I made the mistake of following their responses on Instagram). As I said in a previous post, my older daughter’s university did the same thing summer 2020. Promised in person and then 2 weeks before classes were to start (and the morning after we purchased her plane ticket) said “sorry - no kids on campus this fall”. I think I am reliving that really upsetting experience. What did U of R do last year, fall and spring 2021 in terms of teaching and having kids on campus? My son is really excited about U of R and we have been too. We were thrilled when he got in. It really makes me sad that a month later I am so upset, but I am already getting over it - with the help of these posts - and I am sure I’ll feel good about my son’s decision again in a few weeks.
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Thank you for your post!
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I think everyone has a little PTSD from COVID and with your daughter’s experience I can see how this was triggering for you.
I think we’ve all got to do the best we know how. Who knows what things will be like in 9 months in the world or in your personal life?! Certainly most people in April 2019 had no idea that COVID-19 would be popping up in December. And likewise those folks who win the million dollar lottery got no idea that’s on the horizon. We just make the best decisions we can with what we have to work with. U or R was in person last fall, right? There’s no real reason right now to think that they won’t be in person fall of 2022. I mean, who knows, an asteroid could hit us in July or maybe your son wins the Powerball, but we have to forge ahead with the info we have right now.
All the colleges really WANT to have students on campus in person. That is what they do and their reason for existence. I’m sure U of R will do everything they can to get students back to campus as soon as possible.
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Out of curiosity, does your dd go to UMass Amherst? My ds20 went there freshman year (has since transferred). I’m still triggered thinking of that last minute email as well…
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No, she is at Princeton. I am sorry you had the same experience. I know that at that time (summer 2020) many schools were changing plans moment by moment and it is still really weighing on me. Princeton was entirely shut down for a semester (everything virtual, and no one on campus), which is why my daughter chose a gap year, but then they pulled themselves together and have been doing a very good job managing COVID and keeping things as open as possible for about a year.
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The email sent to faculty (not student) said if the case counts get high in a given class the professor can decide for himself/herself if they want to take the class online till no later than Feb 4th. Without surveillance testing or testing mandate for the unvaxxed, there is little motivation to test. All classes will start in person Jan 12th
I think it is important to understand that the indications for remote learning are different than last year. Given that airlines, public transportation etc have had to curtail services due to the number of ill employees, that is probably part of the equation - if so many administrators and faculty are sick, they can’t operate at all. The good news is that all predictions are that this wave won’t last very long.
But I feel your pain about the impact of COVid protocols on childrens health. One of my two was hit hard in terms of mental health and academic health. It is/was painful.
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My in-laws live in Rochester. Just a bit of personal experience here but my MIL just got home from 4 days of laying on a bed in a hallway in the ER at Strong. She had a stroke last month and has had a few falls in the last week. She needed medical attention for a brain bleed but couldn’t even get a bed, or have any privacy. When the hospital is so overwhelmed that an 80 year old woman can’t even be admitted to a room with a brain bleed, the situation is more dire than some college kids taking classes on line for a few weeks, IMO.
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I don’t think you are overreacting at all. My son will graduate this year and has only applied to schools in FL because of the importance of in-person learning to him. His original plans were to school in the NE but Covid restrictions changed all that.
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By the way, my son just started at Eastman/UR this fall and absolutely loves it. He loved his classes and the professors, and really likes the vibe. Hopefully, they’ll be back to in person instruction by the end of January or early February.
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I’m so sorry about your MIL. Yes, of course, if keeping kids away from campus will alleviate that kind of suffering, it makes sense. As I’ve said in other responses, after what my older daughter has been through in high school and then college, and what my son went through in high school, I was just very triggered and upset by U of R’s last minute flip-floppy decision, but I do understand the need to alleviate any strain on hospitals and patients needing care.
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Good points. Thank you!
So glad to hear that your son loves it. I think my son will too and am hoping for the best next fall in terms of COVID restrictions.
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I don’t think you are overreacting honestly- it’s worth pulling that thread of what your options are just keep it to yourself. I ve been repeating to my daughter keep in mind when you are deciding covid policies- both ways- is it something you are comfortable with….75k is a lot for online school…
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I think it would be reasonable to be bothered/annoyed/a little sad about a college in a high-risk area going remote for a few weeks, but your reaction was very intense - even more so since your child is still in high school and this decision doesn’t even effect him. I would be more concerned about your level of reaction not in proportion to the situation. College is a long four years and you used the term “furious”, the school “blatantly disregards the mental health and well-being of its students” and so on. Listen, we all have misplaced anger sometimes and I get it, but I don’t know how anyone can be furious with a school for going remote when its pretty common for January of 2022.
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As of a couple of days ago I was not aware of many colleges changing their January plans, but since then I’ve learned about many who are. So I know I was overreacting, and mostly being triggered by the fact that this is “deja vu all over again” after the remote “learning” so many kids (including both of mine) have suffered through these past 2 years. I was worried that my son had signed up for a school that was more inclined to shut down than to stay open. The Chronicle of Higher Education lists about 100 colleges that are delaying in person instruction in January. It is not a comprehensive list, but there are probably 4000 colleges in the US. So we are hearing a lot about colleges going remote, but I think that it is still the exception rather than the rule. Still, I am beginning to understand the decision and certainly I am not as mad as I was a couple of days ago. I wanted to vent here instead of around my kids.
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Hang in there. The school likely won’t be remote for even the whole term. They WANT in person instruction…everyone does.
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This is what I call a future yell; something to keep an eye on. Having both class of 2019 and 2020 graduates, including no high school graduation for my class of 2020 DD, we’ve all endured so much. My 2019 son entirely shut down during remote learning and we barely got him recovered from a catastrophic spring 2021 semester where he pulled out almost a 4.0.
I also have a D22 and I’ve already joined the Facebook groups for each school she’s accepted/interested so I can see how they are handling things.
Am I misunderstanding this? He got almost a 4.0 but it was catastrophic?