Texted one S to see what’s going on etc. Response: “I’m good.”
Ok then. No news is good news, I hope. I’m going with good.
3 Likes
I had over an hour of Facetime with D21 today! 
She was in a private study room in the library after finishing homework. She looks great, relaxed, and had so many stories to tell. She likes her classes and seems to have a pretty good-sized friend group. Food is very good. She’s gone to town twice to shop for things she needed. The only complaint was that one of her roommates leaves messes in their bathroom every day. 
10 Likes
I haven’t read the thread. They do have a testing dashboard COVID-19 Response | Cornell University Just at a glance, their back-to-school round of testing doesn’t look problematic to me, at this point.
1 Like
Not surprising and I anticipate we will be seeing this mess at many more schools, especially larger schools that abandoned arrival testing and have no plans for remote options for those infected. . I’m expecting it at my D’s school in the next week or so, Assuming they do any testing beyond the few unvaccinated students.
For a bunch of supposedly smart people it has continued to amaze me how quickly many college admin have reverted to pre-Covid thinking. It’s as if once the vaccines came out it was a get out of jail free card and there was no reason for them to do any sort of planning for students becoming infected: remote learning, isolation/quarantine housing etc… guess they’re anticipating those students who are infected will have a mild case.
1 Like
What’s there now doesn’t reflect tests given on Friday, Saturday, and today, and it appears as if there were a lot of positives in that batch.
I can understand not arrival-testing vaccinated students. Not having a plan to deal with more than ~150 positives at a time is inexcusable.
1 Like
You deleted your comment, so now it’s hard for anyone else to understand this conversation.
2 Likes
My son just got his covid test results…Negative!! His friends were all negative too 
27 Likes
D21 has her first classes today. The first week was a little rough, mostly because she was eaten alive by mosquitoes and having no AC has been miserable. She has made some friends and her roommate and her are getting along. Their room is so small and once her roommate moved in, D suggested to move some stuff around- her own bed and desk, but the roommate said it was too much work. Neither can use their desks properly. Should be interesting.
Meanwhile, D18 just got one of her classes put online- she is so angry. First they combined 2 sections and now claim they can’t meet because of size. The professor is vaccinated and everyone wore a mask, so not sure why this is happening.
1 Like
Only one? All of my daughter’s classes went online temporarily for the beginning of the semester (they are all supposed to be face to face), but that’s what happens when vaccination rates aren’t high in the student population and/or the university’s hands are tied as far as other requirements (masks, testing, etc.). I bet in your daughter’s case they originally had distanced sections, then combined them early in the summer when things looked like they were getting back to normal, and now are having to scramble since the original classrooms are certainly spoken for by now. Yay.
1 Like
Move in at Michigan went as well as can be expected other than the heat. It was in the mid-90’s and the dorm isn’t air conditioned. Thankfully we had an early move in with no roommate coming for 5 days after my son. We moved him in last Monday, left on Wednesday and my son has been running around connecting with people, learning the campus and bus system, went to convocation and ran through the fountain (apparently a new student tradition) and having a blast.
He did laundry on Saturday since he’d been there all week and knew he better do it before it starts to get crowded. He discovered one floor above him a huge study area with computer rooms and printers and a/c! So he can go up there to hang and cool down! 
Michigan application numbers were released and they hit over 83k applications, just over 16k admits and just over 7,500 matriculated. Crazy numbers! I expect this head will be even crazier.
As for covid, they have done nothing other than mandating the vaccine. No testing but they say they’re testing waste water. Not sure how they haven’t found lots of cases yet because kids have been partying like crazy in huge crowds but time will tell. Hoping it’s not a repeat of last year as my son has loved it so far.
First classes today and all I know is his Calc class only has 30 kids, he liked the Professor and surprisingly 35% of their grade is homework and they’re encouraged to work together. This guy definitely wants them to learn and succeed which is nice.
As for my others, Cornell is kind of a mess right now. Biggest mistake was no arrival testing and kids going off to parties and social events. They ran out of quarantine housing this weekend so now kids who live off campus are allowed to stay in their apartments. It hasn’t hit anyone in my daughter’s apartment thank god, but I think it’s only a matter of time, although she did say a couple parties were cancelled. They’re doing surveillance testing weekly and possibly more as they need to get this under control. I think for all campuses the big issue is you have not just freshmen but also sophs who want to have the experiences they missed last year.
Texas for my other is just that. She’s lucky her classes are pretty much all in person, only 75% mask wearers. One graduate class which is only one hour is not in person but it’s one that only has speakers and another is always web based even pre covid so crossing fingers all stay in person for all of my kids but most importantly they stay healthy!
3 Likes
D18 told me that masks are mandatory indoors on the Michigan campus. In her math class of 15-20 students this morning, all students complied, which is reassuring to me. FWIW, math classes tend to be smaller at Michigan.
D18 lived in Ann Arbor last year as a junior. She worked and played there all summer and, knock on wood, has not gotten Covid. If you practice social distance, as best you can, and wear a mask, when you’re supposed to (indoors, outside in crowds), then your S will stay healthy.
I think the big test will be the home football game this weekend. All I can say is wear a mask. And get the booster shot when it becomes available. 
Someone kick me, but I’m a little envious of the move in and the heat and sunshine. I had packed all shorts and summer things for myself but the 30% chance of rain in Providence on Saturday is now 79% chance of rain and 0.30" during the hour that we move. I’m pretty sure for us Californians, that’s a torrential downpour. Added pants, but wearing shoes and having wet shoes is something I’m grappling with because I have so much time since everything is packed.
The first requirement at Brown is for the students to get COVID tested, so my son has a test scheduled the day before move-in and then they have to do weekly testing after that (on top of the mandate). They said students and staff are a little over 95% for the vaccines, so hoping to avoid the Cornell situation.
We need rain here in Norcal, but rain sucks.
1 Like
Just announced today, Duke’s student CV cases ballooned to 349 last week (1.59% positive rate) and they are letting all faculty have the option to teach remotely for the next 2 weeks or continue in person. And so it starts…
3 Likes
Yes, I shouldn’t say flat out they’re not doing anything as masks are required both indoors and many outdoor places even parts of the football games but not in the dorms and if you saw the lines in the dining halls, yikes! Also the below pictures/scenes makes me somewhat nervous but the full football crowds more so. But bottom line, I do feel tons better than I did last year knowing my kids are vaccinated which is something we didn’t have then so even if sick then it shouldn’t be life threatening.
Not sure about other math classes since he took the honors one but he only has 6 girls in his class which as a former math teacher is so disheartening to hear. Happy your daughter went with a math minor and wish girls were more encouraged to do so. In other math classes there is a freak out for the book which professors told students they want them to have hard copies of and none to be found! 
The kids on campus at Maryland this weekend were living their best lives. I expect to see some CV cases, but I know my son is young, healthy, and most importantly fully vaccinated. So even if he should get it, I believe he’ll be fine. I’m just so happy for these kids. You just don’t realize all they had been missing until you see the sheer joy they are all experiencing right now.
7 Likes
No covid testing of vaccinated students at sons school and I believe there is no option for remote learning this yr.
Professors have the option to require masks in the classroom, but none of sons classes require one.
I was in the Northeast for Tropical Storm Henri and unprepared… the shoes I was wearing one day took 4 days to dry out! And the blisters I got from walking around with wet shoes for a day are now just healing. This was 5 inches of rain in one day, so yours will certainly be more manageable. I wished I had crocs or something like that.
1 Like
That’s the norm. But 6 females is a lot! D18 took a math class last year where there were about 50 total students with only 3 of them being female. What’s worse, in one group project, the other 4 males in her group just assumed she was dumb. Stupid was the word they used with her. 
She’s currently taking a 400-level math course as her final course to get her minor.
4 Likes
this is exactly why I started snapchatting with my kids a couple years ago. it’s so easy to get a quick snap, just a brief glimpse into their life, and it takes almost no effort. I love it. Plus the filters are fun. 
4 Likes
Love daily pix!!!
1 Like