@melvin123 I know where you are coming from.
I am trying to organise a basketball hoop for them so they can ‘hang out’.
Trying to sort some board games too.
One of his original housemates is staying at home and they had three people wanting the room! So many held off organising something and even though they are still on-line they are wanting to come back.
It’s been a strange summer…
It sure has been strange! Up and down, left and right. Plans A through F. Which plan survives what new piece of information? Time to change again!
Oh boy, I think we’ve all had to learn to be a little like Gumby - really flexible.
Let’s see what September & October bring, It sure will be interesting!
I’m pretty sure that my D’s school opening plan will fail, but I hope I’m wrong. They have only set aside 180 quarantine beds for about 7,000 students. That seems drastically too little to me.
@melvin123 , you can’t really instruct a 50-80 person choir remotely. FSU has a huge choral education program. Science labs and some music courses like choir are pretty much the only things not online at FSU this fall.
@vistajay but how can you have 50-80 person choir live. Are they planning on doing rehearsals in a location that will allow for social distancing?
@Whistlingal so glad that they changed the rules so you son could stay at school with his friends.
@melvin123 yes it is all crazy. My D18 had already signed a lease for an apartment so she is going to go down to Clemson and even if her classes are all on line she will do them there and with her friends. She is actually applying to law schools in the fall as she is going to graduate a year early. So kind of the opposite of a gap year…lol…
“@vistajay but how can you have 50-80 person choir live. Are they planning on doing rehearsals in a location that will allow for social distancing?”
@burghdad -No idea! I am very interested to find out.
@vistajay good luck to your S. It will be really interesting to hear how FSU is handling the choir practice, as I’m sure they will implement best practices. Hopefully they can share their plans with religious houses because I think that restrictions on singing have been very hard on a lot of communities.
Who else has a kid in a NY college? People from 31 states, as of now, have to be in 14 day quarantine. If that’s an issue for son he could possibly quarantine with his gf’s family if they’re ok with it. How many states have to be on the list before it’s no longer worth it to open campus?
Lafayette went total on line for the fall and Clemson pushed back to online until September 21. I expect Clemson will be online all fall as well.
Howdy y’all.
We are getting ready to schlep DD18 back to A&M to start her senior year. She is moving from one off campus house to another brand new construction house next Friday.
Classes resume August 17 (I think). She currently has 3 online/2 F2F classes for fall. All classes must offer an online option, she currently does not plan to physically attend her F2F classes for at least a month after classes resume. She thrives in online learning environments, so she hasn’t really had any bumps or concerns about online classes. I think if we hadn’t already had a lease signed pre-Covid 19, she would just have opted to stay home; but she is happy to be returning to her off campus digs too.
She has been busy this summer with an internship that has proven to be a really good experience, even though it was moved to an online experience. My fingers are crossed that she will be offered a position following graduation next May. I am more than a bit worried about her graduating in the Spring into a really awful job market/economy. My eldest DD16 (she is doing her student teaching this fall, so “technically” graduates in January) has had many fellow 2020 college graduates whose job offer have been rescinded or at least postponed until January 2021. It is not a good environment to be looking for employment as a recent graduate. Even several 2020 college graduates we know who have had offers for grad school placements have had their offers rescinded. DD18 had talked about law school/grad school; but as graduation looms she has decided that she wants a break from academia (can’t say that I blame her) and will consider grad school at a later date.
Sounds like the parents on this thread are doing all we can to roll with the punches and adjust plans when necessary to support our kids!
D18 just had her first COVID test (the nose swab one) as part of her reentry checklist for the fall semester. She got her results (negative) the next day. She didn’t like the test at all. For her, the feeling was worse than the jumping in the pool and getting water up your nose sensation that was described to her.
Apologies for the radio silence. Sounds like everyone is doing well. I just got back from moving S18 to his apartment near NCSU and D20 to her UNC dorm. They’ve already started classes. S18 was very fortunate to have a well paying internship in his field over the summer. He learned a ton and is going back to school with a solid savings account. We are hopeful this gives him a leg up when it comes to securing summer '21 internships.
My D’s school changed it’s mind. No one on campus in September except for special circumstances. Then Juniors & Seniors can come on campus for October & November. But they want $4,000 for just room, not board, for those 2 months. That’s a lot for a small dorm room with a shared bathroom, no kitchen, etc. She decided to just stay home and do on-line for the Fall. She didn’t want to move-in during the middle of the semester, and also didn’t want to keep chasing after a moving target (who knows if they’ll push back again in Oct?).
She said her classes last semester were good, even though they were put on-line in a hurry. So she’s hoping the on-line classes will be good this semester too. She still doesn’t know what classes she will get. Evidently registration is messed up this semester, so there’s still a lot of “who knows?” going into the semester.
Well, they say you learn a whole bunch of things in college. I think my planner of a kid is learning that sometimes you just have to go with the flow and make adjustments on the fly. I really have seen her grow a lot through this, so it’s nice to see some silver linings.
@melvin123 , sounds like the school really did not want students on campus, and so priced housing accordingly. S18 is doing well at FSU. Two classes are in person and the rest online. Hoping the school does not have to shut down campus. Initially COVID infections were pretty high but seem to be leveling off. I suspect though that a lot of kids just ignore it when they have slight symptoms.
@vistajay you’re probably right but I’m not sure since they changed their plans a couple of times and I can’t keep all the details straight. I’m so glad for your S that the rate has come down and the semester can continue.
So much has recently changed for the positive for my D. School is going in-person Oct 1. They had a limited number of dorm spaces and a limited number of kids they would give off-campus permission to, and my D got one of the off-campus slots. With Covid, I was very worried about dorm living, so I’m content that she’ll be off campus. I remember 2 years ago I was very leery of all that’s involved with signing onto an apt for a college student, but circumstances sure have changed. Anyway, being given off-campus permission means that she will be able to come on campus to attend classes and use the library and other facilities, but won’t be allowed to go into any of the dorms.
Besides classes (1/2 will be live), her 2 most important ECs (which had previously been cancelled) are now back on, so she’s ecstatic about that. She says her school has been doing a terrific job with all the on-line stuff and has been pleased with all that. But boy, is she looking forward to seeing kids her own age F2F! Fingers crossed she will be smart about it and continue to do what I’ve done - get together with friends outside, socially distant. There’s a lot of fun things that can be done outside, so this shouldn’t be a hardship. All the lawn games like frisbee, can jam, horseshoes, croquet or just hanging out on blankets listening to music and chatting. Weather shouldn’t be too bad before Thanksgiving, but Spring semester (Jan, Feb) will be hard. Time to think of outdoor things to do in the cold rain for then, but I’m drawing a blank on that for now. I’m sending her with several camping chairs and beach towels to encourage the outdoor socializing. Hmm, maybe I’ll pack some of those outdoor games too to get the ball rolling so to speak.
Anyone have any other ideas?
Since Covid, we have played a lot of Spikeball. Pretty much the college kid demographic, but hey! They can’t have all the fun, so we play with our kids. I imagine anything is possible in the rain with the right clothes. They are young and hearty!
Amherst was direct in asking juniors and seniors to not rent houses in town since they wouldn’t be allowed on campus anyway. I think if the cases of Covid continue to remain well controlled there, Semester 2 when D18 gets a chance to return to campus we will feel good about it.
@melvin123 , my kids have been hiking a lot with friends and going to outdoor rec areas sponsored by the colleges.
@Meddy I never heard of spike ball and had to YouTube it. It looks like fun! And for your D, she’s in-land so Spring semester she’ll get more snow vs my kid getting rain. There’s lots to do in the snow! I just had a family zoom with my siblings about Christmas. I’m trying to convince everyone to wear their ski suits and bring their camp chairs to my parents in CT. As long as everyone is bundled up, there’s no reason why we can’t have our celebration outside. And if us older folks can do it, the college kid’s certainly can!
@melvin123 Oh, so glad you checked it out! It comes with a bag to haul everything around and be warned that it is crazy addictive 
S seems to be ok with his online classes, even though he’d much rather be on campus. He’s going in with some friends on an inexpensive Air BnB 10-15 minutes outside Ithaca, and staying for several weeks. I have a long weekend when he’s leaving, so it should be a nice leisurely drive.
Not a 2018 parent, but dropping in here to see what kids’ experiences are on different college campuses right now (I have a 2017 and 2019, but also a 2021 in the application process right now). Just wanted to comment on Spikeball - we have had a set for several years. It’s a great, portable game for the beach but we played a bit this summer at home as well just for fun. Someone gave S19 another one for a graduation gift, which I thought was great. He took it to college last year and never played it so I thought he’d leave it at home this year. Nope, he took it back with him and glad he did - with limited things to do around campus, he and his roommates have been having fun with it.
Anyway, for those looking for graduation gift ideas (or even Christmas/birthday), it is a perfect gift for college students!