@socaldad2002 I have been calling all the schools in question, and so far each one has said it’s fine.
My D got the go-ahead for a gap year from a whole line of schools- at least six if I recall, including one in the UK.
SaltH2O
The restrictions in your city sound Draconian, but now I would not be surprised if they were implemented here in the US.
Where are you currently living?
We are proceeding as if everything will be fine for Fall. Realistically, I suspect all schools will be online but if so the school has confirmed they will not charge for room and board if she is not allowed on campus. Tuition is same which is reasonable. Eventually things will get back to normal. If not, we revisit for year 2.
I’m pretty sure she is ready to commit but I explained today that I want to hear no “what if’s…” if the waitlist or instate options are still kicking around in her head we’ll take a 3rd or 4th look to be sure.
This has been so much more stressful than I ever thought. Thank for all your help.
And @SaltH20 … wow. I wonder if real restrictions are worse than everyone already passing judgement on what their neighbors and friends are doing. I can’t even imagine… stay safe everyone!
So… one of the schools my S20 was admitted to just sent an email stating that if campus remains closed in the fall, cost of attendance would be adjusted to remove R&B charges (of course!) and to reflect a LOWER TUITION RATE. Any one else hearing this from any of your kids schools?
Ummm—amazing? What school?!
@CTCape Whitman College in Washington
Purdue has stated on their website that they will not allow a gap year if Covid is the reason. Other reasons are allowed, although I didn’t look at them.
@Lemonlee Thats nice that they are approving it already at this point. If it were an option for DS and he wouldn’t lose his merit $, we would consider it.
“SaltH2O
The restrictions in your city sound Draconian, but now I would not be surprised if they were implemented here in the US.
Where are you currently living?”
We are in southern Spain. It is interesting experiencing the pandemic outside of the US. My kids are keeping up with their friends in the states and comparing the different ways the pandemic is being handled. When the state of emergency happens in Spain it gives the government the right to take over everything…schools, hospitals, private homes, etc. The problems arose when it was leaked that a quarantine was going to go happen and people from Madrid (an area first hit hard) flocked to their summer homes in Andalusia and of course, brought the virus with them. It is interesting how cooperative people are for the most part. Each evening everyone goes outside their homes (or on their balconies) and claps and sing in support of the people working directly with those affected and police and ambulance cars drive through the town with their sirens on. But, it is very strict. It’s difficult for moms with little children. You can’t bring them on walks with you or grocery shopping. You are not allowed to have anyone in the car with you…if you do, only 1 person and you must have a valid reason… written permission. Both must be wearing masks and the “passenger” must sit in the backseat caddy-corner to the driver. There are road check stops and they ask to see your receipts (in other words you cant keep a bag of “groceries” in your car in case you get stopped…they want to see the time stamp on the receipt). Only grocery stores and pharmacies are open. And, in the grocery store, the areas not selling food and essentials are blocked off. Someone last week disobeyed the order to stay home and went to the beach. Drones spoke to them telling them to leave. When they didn’t a police helicopter landed on the beach and gave them a ticket. We really interact with no one other than the waving, singing and clapping at 8 pm every night. There is no such thing as a “small gathering” here. You can only interact with the family living in your house. But, the numbers seem to be declining…
Having my younger kids do their classes during the day online and then my older daughter keeping up with her US college classes in the middle of the night has our sleep schedule in shambles. I am sure part of it is no one can go for a run. They can play in the yard if you have a yard. But, most people don’t have yards. They will give you a ticket if you are more than 50m from your house (and the tickets are anywhere from 50 euros to more than 1,000 euros).
@SaltH20 - That would be rough going for weeks/months with that level of restriction especially with young kids that need to get out and burn off energy. I hope we don’t have to resort to that here, but I live in the country, so even if it happens we have a lot of land to run around on. I can’t imagine being in an apartment right now. I’m an extreme introvert and don’t miss the people interaction at all but I need to get outside. Actually, I’m getting more people time now than I was. The kids and I are home all the time, and everyone wants to check in with Zoom and Facetime…I’m like, “I kept to myself before and nobody cared, now everyone is bugging me”. 
[quote=“Lemonlee, post:9993, topic:1767270”]
My S2O has not yet committed but is still moving forward the same as pre-COVID. He has narrowed down his list and will not be choosing the lowest cost school which is less than an hour away.
As of today, his first choice is in another state (we are in CA) and we are fine with that. He knows it is a very real possibility that fall semester could be online and wouldn’t be happy if that is the case but prepared to accept it. We fall into the group of families that place a lot of value on the college ‘experience’ so are taking the long term view - even if freshman semester or year is impacted, he will hopefully have 3 / 3.5 years on campus.
Also agree with other posters in questioning what other options there are. Don’t think he would benefit from a gap semester or year if he is just sitting around the house. And I am doubtful he would get approval from his college to take classes from our local CC or university - have read on this site that taking CC classes for credit could jeopardize standing as an incoming freshman, but don’t know if that is true everywhere.
He has also worked so hard to get accepted into these schools, a number of which were reaches for him, that I wouldn’t want to risk taking that away.
@Lemonlee My S20 sounds similar to yours. We have thought about this from every angle, but have come to the same conclusion. We value the college experience as well and have to think long term. While we are not fans of online learning, my son is SO ready to move on. He would not utilize a gap year the way it was intended under our current circumstances. He has also worked incredibly hard and got accepted to his dream school. Luckily, we have visited it twice in the last year. However, in light of this pandemic, we have been revisiting his plan and looking more closely at serious merit opportunities at some great schools and a little closer to family.
What I did not know until recently is how unsettling not making a college decision was weighing on him on top of how unsettling everything else in the world is right now. So last night, we finally did it. He committed to ND! It is a great fit for him. The relief we all feel for finally committing is palpable. It is where he is meant to be even if he is actually not on campus this Fall.
Sorry my response got mixed in with your quote. Ugh! This is my response:
@Lemonlee My S20 sounds similar to yours. We have thought about this from every angle, but have come to the same conclusion. We value the college experience as well and have to think long term. While we are not fans of online learning, my son is SO ready to move on. He would not utilize a gap year the way it was intended under our current circumstances. He has also worked incredibly hard and got accepted to his dream school. Luckily, we have visited it twice in the last year. However, in light of this pandemic, we have been revisiting his plan and looking more closely at serious merit opportunities at some great schools and a little closer to family.
What I did not know until recently is how unsettling not making a college decision was weighing on him on top of how unsettling everything else in the world is right now. So last night, we finally did it. He committed to ND! It is a great fit for him. The relief we all feel for finally committing is palpable. It is where he is meant to be even if he is actually not on campus this Fall.
DD20 has a roommate and they’ve been assigned to their first choice building and suite type! So glad to get some great news.
@socaldad2002 We were in the position of D20 knowing she wanted to do a gap year from way back in junior year so had looked into gap year deferral policies at all the places she applied. In normal times, all the schools indicated that gap year deferrals were fine.
Once she had all her options in hand, it was already late March and clearly COVID19 was going to be causing huge disruptions in the 2020-21 school year and in the admissions/yield/enrollment landscape. She emailed her admissions rep at her top choice (Bryn Mawr) to ask about 1) merit offer rolling over with a deferral and 2) any constraints or limitations on deferrals given the situation and was told 1) yes merit rolled over (yay) and 2) no problems anticipated with deferrals, in fact they extended the deadline to apply by 6 weeks (from June 1 to July 15).
She accepted the admission offer last Friday, paid the $500 deposit, submitted the brief gap year deferral request, and it was approved just a few days later. We paid the second $500 deposit tonight so it’s signed, sealed, delivered! Relief!
And, related: My D17, now a junior in college, is also contemplating a Leave of Absence for Fall or Fall+Spring of next year. Not interested in more Zoom U.
For both kids, the question of what they will do with the time off is less important than trying to optimize 8 semesters of the full, face-to-face, residential college experience.
@mtnsun13 Congratulations on your sons ND decision! That is an amazing school. And it must be so great to finally be done with this process!! Can’t wait until we get to that point. S20 has just admitted which school he thinks it’s going to be, but I think he is really going to drag it out until the bitter end to make his final decision. Oh well, at least there is only 13 more days to get through until 5/1.
OK, help! My D20 just committed to one school and then her favorite school just sent her an email this morning admitting her to their prestigious honors program (one that she was really disappointed to have not been admitted to before this). Today?!? Really? She was in tears and we are a little perturbed. I reassured her that it would be fine if she decided to change her mind, that she has time to think about it – we would just lose our deposit at the other school if that’s what it came to. I told her that many students each year get called off waitlists and then change their plans. Ugh. I suppose this is the nature of the current environment, though. Any advice?
I think you’re right that you may just have to lose the first deposit. Although it couldn’t hurt to tell the favorite school the situation as you explained here and ask if they would reduce/waive their deposit fee? In light of the pandemic, they may agree. Not likely, but it couldN’t hurt to ask.
I like @CTCape 's idea. It can’t hurt to ask.
@amsunshine I think you handled it perfectly. You are allowing her time to make the decision and letting her know that it will be okay if she changes her mind. I agree with you that this type of scenario may be more common this year with the current environment.
@amsunshine congrats on the waitlist college. Forgo the deposit at the other one and have her go to the college that she originally wanted, it is only midApril anyways. I’m a big believer in you need to be excited about your college to do well and maximize your opportunities.