Parents of the HS Class of 2019 (Part 1)

My D19 is filling out our Census data. Normally, college students living in dorms would be reported as residing at their colleges. Do we report them as living at home now?

@Acersaccharum Looks like the update tells us to still consider them living on campus.

“Per the Census Bureau’s residence criteria, in most cases students living away from home at school should be counted at school, even if they are temporarily elsewhere due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We’re working with group quarters administrators to ensure we count their residents.”

https://2020census.gov/en/news-events/press-releases/modifying-2020-operations.html

@Acersaccharum I read that they should fill out as if they still lived at their colleges.

S19 and D17 are both home. We had a family meeting to make house rules (Bylaws, and standing rules, can you tell that D17 is in a sorority?). My food bill has gone up since the kids are home and the water/electricity will as well.

I feel bad for the world and for our country and for the many that are out of work or will be and businesses that wont survive. How does one fix. ? What decisions need to be made. Will summer at least allow some normalcy? (camps with intense medical screening, travel at least in the US, bars/restaurants open /businesses open). Will the kids go back in the fall. ? what happens to the class of 2020. This is like wartime as my best anology.

I’m glad we already picked up a table and chairs for DD’s apartment, now it’s her home base in the corner of the living room and she doesn’t have to pick up her stuff (because otherwise she would be at the kitchen table).

She’s becoming more accepting of her situation (I’m sure there will be more tears Monday when we move her out). Taking the time to work on guitar, continuing with her Bible study group virtually, etc. I know a lot of her positive attitude is from getting this job and being able now to start early, so the timing has been perfect to give her something to be excited about. She just got another email from them and it sounds like they are going to make something work no matter what.

@homerdog, I hadn’t seen that census advice when I filled ours out. Taking literally the questions about who would be living in the home as of April 1, I included D19. But I also selected that she’s a college student who normally lives at school, and I think the most important thing is avoiding double-counting. She’s definitely not going to fill out a questionnaire for herself.

S19 got his “free” box from Bowdoin today with really everything he needs for summer. It’s way bigger than I thought and his fab roommate fit a ton of stuff in there! Time to get that stuff in the laundry and settle in. Illinois just announced shelter in place starting tonight.

Haverford announced this morning that they’re continuing distance ed for the remainder of the semester and that commencement was canceled. They said they will be sharing further decisions about the possibility of the semester being pass/fail, partial r/b refunds, and emptying dorm rooms. My D feels slightly less anxious now that it is official. She said part of her anxiety was just worrying this would happen even though she knew it would, so now that it’s announced she doesn’t have to worry about it any more. My husband has also been told where we will be moving, and that it’ll be the end of summer vs the beginning. Of course that could change again too.

Kid is telling me AP’s may be online with a abbreviated syllabi. Chose not to Google it.

Just had to file my first COVID-19 staff exposure report. The actual patient is hospitalized, but the contact occurred at a mixer over a week ago, while the office was still open. The staff member is asymptomatic and feels awful, but he’d definitely been in the group calling the office closure overkill.

Yes. APs online and only 45 minutes long. What a weird decision. I can’t believe colleges will take that credit but, supposedly, some have said they will. How can a 45 minute test prove mastering of the subject? Colleges are just agreeing because they want to still attract students next year and, if they say they won’t take those credits, they will get fewer students. For some families, it’s a big deal to be able to use the credit.

Major selection for the undecided in the spectre of possible recession: how to balance employability vs doing what you love (if you even know what that is)

Ok, that’s the title of the magazine article I need some experienced parent/successful business person to write, with advice for freshman student about to choose sophomore courses. The parent-to-teen communication portal apparently has a selective filter that also causes the opposite of the intended effect.

Graduation is a long way off, but summer internships aren’t; thinking of next summer.

@evergreen5 Ha! How many different majors is your S still considering? You’re right that it’s time to narrow it down to maybe two or three max and then take classes in those disciplines next semester to cover the bases! S19 is still thinking math or physics but now is also considering English for a second major so his classes will reflect that with only classes in those subjects since he will need to decide by Feb 2021. Once he decides, he’s still going to have space left to take classes in other subjects but he needs to stick with these subjects now in order to make a decision.

On a different (and stressful) note, who out there is worried that fall will be online? We are not interested in paying expensive tuition for online classes and I’m feeling a bit sick about this. Do we think colleges will even expect parents to do that? I think we’d have S19 take a semester off which would devastate him if his friends went back but I have to think most parents would not accept having to pay the same amount for online, right? I know this is all hypothetical but I also feel like it’s good if we start thinking about it now as to not surprise our kids if we want to make a decision like that.

@homerdog I have been talking to my D about the possibility of this extending into fall. It’s definitely not something she wanted to hear, but starting that conversation early is important so she can let it sink in. Assuming her aid doesn’t change (who knows at this point, I guess), she would continue at Haverford even if it was online another semester. Anywhere would be online at that point and she wants to go back to campus as soon as possible, so spending a semester elsewhere doesn’t help that. If her aid changes she would have to transfer anyway. I know it’s a much different and harder picture for you guys since you’re paying so much money- I get that.

@milgymfam Ugh. Yeah. S19 wouldn’t transfer anywhere else, maybe just take a semester off. I’m curious if different schools are going to handle fall differently. We’ve already found out that Bowdoin will be going to all “credit/no credit” for this semester while most other schools that have made a decision have decided to either give the students a choice to take a grade or are definitely giving grades. Bowdoin is citing inequity between students for their decision since not everyone will have the best place to resume their studies for the next six weeks. Plus, faculty is having to change their curriculum (in some cases, it seems drastically) to teach online and aren’t comfortable grading when the class doesn’t resemble the class they planned to teach.

For example, in S19’s math class, the prof can’t do a synchronized class because a few kids are now overseas at home. Her class relies on student participation. S19 explained to me that she doesn’t just lecture, that it’s a give and take throughout the entire class time and the way kids learn are by asking questions and hearing other kids’ questions. For him to listen to her lecture won’t work - he will have so many questions and where does he go with those? To her? To his classmates? Difficult when one question usually leads to another and the kids and professor work it out.

They will receive credit for completion and Bowdoin has relaxed the rules that a “credit/no credit” class can count towards your major just for this semester.

We are trying to lead as normal of lives as possible while minimizing contact with others. Hasn’t been too hard yet. We’ve been able to get outside. I’ve done a few house projects. The kids worked on school work. NEU held online classes last week for son17 and son19 starts online classes at Tufts this week. So far so good. Son19 is still sticking to his training plan, heading over to run and workout.

In MA all non essential business shut down tomorrow, so we’ll see how that goes. I feel bad for anyone owning a small business right now, and all those laid off from this disaster.

I read an interesting article on the benefits of shutting the world down vs letting the virus take it’s natural course. It was a discussion of whether not there will be more world suffering due to bankruptcies, depression, suicide, poverty, hunger, of billions of people across the globe etc vs the deaths of coronavirus victims.

Alright, I found an article that’s a start: “The Myths and Realities of ‘Doing What You Love’”

In addition to schools potentially going online next semester, I am concerned about schools accepting students back at some point and then having to send them home again when another outbreak hits. Hong Kong is already looking at a rise in cases since restrictions were loosened. And a vaccine is still a long way off.

@homerdog that is actually the hope for Haverford. That they make the whole semester credit/no credit for similar reasons, and also relax the rules about what pass/fail classes can be used for. It doesn’t help to give the choice or to mandate it if the courses can’t count toward the core requirements or major requirements. My daughter hasn’t taken a single elective since starting school, so this semester is all requirements for either the core or her major- if they go pass/fail without relaxing those rules the whole semester is a wash for her.

If they go mandatory C/NC I am sure they will relax the core requirements rules, as Bowdoin did.

Note that Swat, one of Haverford’s consortium partners, is offering students the choice to take a grade or C/NC:

https://www.swarthmore.edu/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-information/frequently-asked-questions-students-parents-and

D19 is “back” after spring break today, remotely of course. They are being given the option of choosing pass/fail. They only have to make that choice quite late in the semester as well. I’m guessing there will have to be some changes in the assessment for things like class participation for regular grading.

Haverford jumped into the credit/no credit pool for all classes for spring semester. Bryn Mawr has made it optional for all students, but their rules for if courses can count toward majors is more confusing. One of D’s majors is housed at Bryn Mawr, so she’s trying to figure out her best move there.