As we approach March and college decisions that much closer for D’21 I am struggling with how well (or poorly) a school has done managing Covid should influence our decision making process on selecting a school. We are still waiting to hear back from daughter’s first choice school who I think has been managing Covid fairly well, but if that doesnt work out 2nd choice school is a toss up. It may be our large flagship school that has been doing a terrible job managing Covid but in all other ways a great school and the price is right. While of course we hope the pandemic will be in a better place in the Fall, with the variants etc who knows what the future will hold. Or, maybe the large flagship school will learn some lessons and do better next year. So how much has this been a factor in your decision making? Any input welcomed!
None whatsoever. We are hoping that all schools will be back in session, in a close to, if not entirely, normal manner. My kid says that if his selected school is not, he might take a gap year to work in his anticipated field. I think that making a school selection based upon how the college handled covid is kind of like driving by looking in the rear view mirror.
It is possible, though not certain, that vaccine general availability will occur before the next fall term.
So colleges’ plans and policies may change to account for that, since if vaccine general availability does occur, the risk of COVID-19 changes from a mostly involuntary risk that others (often unknowingly) impose on you to a mostly voluntary risk (if you choose not to get vaccine).
Obviously, actual results of COVID-19 (number and severity of infections) are likely to be different when some of the population is vaccinated.
On the other hand, those who are medically unable to get the vaccine (although this appears to be a very small number) may have more difficulty, since many people are unlikely to be willing to continue social distancing etc. to protect them, but voluntary vaccine refusal is likely to be high enough to prevent herd immunity.
So it is unlikely that this academic year’s college policies, practices, and results will be a good predictor of what will happen next academic year.
None whatsoever. My son only applied to instate public schools. 2 are local and 2 are within 4-4.5 hour drive. My son is totally content going to any of those four, although one that we are still waiting to hear from has a little bit of an edge over the other 3 he’s already accepted to.
My son has been very chill and laid back during the college process. He’s not really concerned about “fit” or anything, he knows people at all four schools. He’s more concerned about getting his desired major.
As far as Covid handling goes, it’s not going to really sway his decision. If for some reason restrictions continue for the fall, he’ll pick one the local options and just stay at home and commute. It will save money for us that we can give him for grad school lol.
It will be one of many factors for us. One school that admitted my son has had a good track record so far with their COVID plan, including how they handled having students living and learning on campus. This is a relatively small school which helps in this regard. However, the majority of the schools to which he applied did not have many students on campus at all (and are mid to large universities) and those will be very difficult to gauge based on current situation. Despite my son being able to get the vaccine already (part time grocery store worker), he is still concerned about the student population at these schools and how responsible and social-health minded they will be. I can see from now until May 1st, schools will be grilled on this by accepted students and their parents.
How do you define “managing COVID well”?
One thing we are considering is how Covid has affected funding because that will affect the next few years, not just coming months. It seems like the UCs (don’t quote me on this) may suffer a little next year with funding. This would definitely change our decision. However, it seems like some serious mistakes will have to be made for school not to be close to normal in the fall, or at least for students not to be back on campus.
Pretty much any college with a predominantly in-person business model had extra costs with the unplanned emergency switch to online / distance education (or partial / hybrid models), since they had extra costs adding the online / distance infrastructure while still having to maintain much of the in-person infrastructure (for example, although some costs related to buildings and such are less, any capitalization costs and some maintenance costs still remain, and staffing numbers are higher than for a planned online / distance school).
Some. I have cooled on a big party OOS public that had problems this year. The crystal ball is still cloudy with variants so 20-21 Covid approach importance will depend on the outlook in April (or maybe beyond if waitlisted places).
This is a major factor in our decision. Even if Covid is under control by Fall, what if another virus comes around next winter? We know the government will shut things down sooner since everyone complains about the delay in handling Covid. Will schools panic and go totally virtual when the flu comes around? We can’t predict…
My D21’s top 2 choices that both accepted her and gave great merit awards, 1 is still having all virtual classes and all dorm rooms are singles, the other has had a hybrid model since Fall and doubles in dorms, which I think is fine considering they are testing constantly and quarantining if needed. The school with all virtual is ranked higher than the other but I am definitely leaning toward the other that is handling Covid better (in my opinion). One more note, both schools are reporting the same levels of infection, very low.
Flu has vaccines available, and is less contagious and less deadly than COVID-19. The main obvious concern would be a COVID-19 variant that evades the available vaccines, or something totally now and different that has sufficient contagiousness and deadliness.
I agree regarding the “normal” flu but I’m afraid that any new strain of virus that anyone dies from will cause an immediate shut down of borders and large gatherings before anything is determined regarding contagiousness and deadliness.
The school I am referring to above is quarantining students with strep throat as a safety precaution, to me not a good sign of things to come.
I agree that parents should consider this. Some of my kid’s friends had almost normal college experiences; some were off campus with virtual learning all year. Different folks may prefer different options-there is a vast difference in how schools react, and likely at least some of that difference will continue in the Fall.
It would be so helpful if people would name the schools that are “almost normal” versus locked down.
Ok, some schools in Texas-Baylor, TCU. Some schools in NC-Elon. Basically, schools that are offering in-person classes are generally having a more normal pre-covid experience, and that should be relatively easy to ascertain.
SMU has been as close to “normal” as one can expect. They required NO testing prior to fall or spring semesters nor ANY mandatory testing of students throughout the year. None. I’m sure most of the country can’t get their head around this but it worked - - for those who are ok with a Covid dashboard that does NOT have zero cases. In person classes depending on the professor with mask, social distancing, enhanced cleaning etc. Complete & utter opposite end of the spectrum is Haverford. Just google and look at their website/communications you will see.