Due to Covid-19 pandemic most colleges are hinting for online classes for Fall 2020 & may be even Spring 2021.
I am an incoming OOS Computer Science major, freshman at Purdue or UC Davis, yet to commit between the two.
Online classes can never be same as studying on campus with other students and meeting faculty/professors face to face.
My decision is not to defer. Given the situation, I seek advice what best can be done while taking Online classes to compensate for not being on campus and to have same value of education & experience.
Looking to get advice from @simba9 @aquapt @ucbalumnus @momofsenior1 @Gumbymom @sushiritto and other experts.
Purdue’s president, Mitch Daniels, continues to say students are coming back to campus at the end of the summer. He has a series of videos on Y tube that you can search that outlines all the changes they are considering to make it as safe as possible. He was also on GMA last week.
My D’s department sent a letter saying they are adding class sections so all courses can be small enough to be held in person. Not sure what CS is doing.
The state of Indiana has a fairly aggressive reopening plan as well, and there were relatively few cases of C19 where Purdue is located.
That said, my D found that online courses were more productive than she expected. Some profs were better than others with hosting study groups and office hours, in addition to lectures, but there was still a lot of learning going on across the board. Her clubs and activities also continued to meet virtually. Again not ideal, but modern technology makes it possible to still have the connections.
Since there are some many things up in the air at the present time for the universities, it is hard to determine how long this situation will continue and what kind of impact it will have on all students learning abilities.
Computer science in some respects is highly dependent upon on-line learning and working so it something to consider as you pursue your major. My son has many co-workers that have not stepped into an office in 10 years working as Cybersecurity analysts, programmers etc… in the field.
I understand the need for face to face interaction during the undergrad learning process, but as noted in post #1, there is still the possibility of having the virtual activities and meetings during this time.
Just remember this will not last forever and it is what it is so everyone needs to learn to adapt.
How long do you have to decide?
Purdue is pushing harder for an in-person fall semester than any of the UC’s are, at this point. Of course it will depend on how things unfold in each region between now and then.
It seems as if you must have a preference for Davis… because the scales tip towards Purdue on all of the objective criteria that have come up in your threads (cost, strength of CS program, likelihood of being fully on campus in the fall) but you’re still undecided. What is keeping Davis in the running for you?
Latest from Purdue:
https://www.purdueexponent.org/campus/article_01373070-9078-11ea-a181-77e562e08084.html?fbclid=IwAR3fn316uOQCiAV7speu-3kdeJPCoV-uqXMEiu48Bb9oCRXS40bTnWT2TTw
Trustees voted today to have students back to campus mid August but they are eliminating school breaks and they will be done with in person courses at Thanksgiving break. The last two weeks of the semester will be online with online finals.
Basically they don’t want students coming and going from campus once classes resume.
IMO, Indiana will have softer rules and guidelines than CA, to some extent, so I’d bet on more student-teacher interaction at Purdue than a UC this Fall. And if there’s any hotspots that spark up in the future of C-virus, CA will shutdown a lot quicker than most states.
Governor Newsom got very upset at some beach goers recently in SoCal and quickly shut the beaches down.
My own kid attends UMich and from the interview with the President the other day, students will be back, but large lectures may be online with in-person labs and discussions groups. However, nothing concrete and this is Michigan, which has had its problems with C-virus.