School in the 2020-2021 Academic Year & Coronavirus (Part 1)

[circuitrider]

@wisteria100 wrote:

I saw the Wesleyan President being interviewed on one of the news programs this morning and he gave ‘even odd’ to having kids on campus in the fall. Whatever that means! CT is pretty hard hit with cases.
Got a kick out of his setting. Most interviewees are sitting in some carefully staged setting/office. This guy looked to be in a disheveled home office with books sideways and paper falling out of bookshelves!

I just exited a zoom meeting between the Wesleyan President and alumni. I would say that a lot seems to be up to the governor of Connecticut. The university certainly is working on the assumption that at some point CT colleges and universities will be given the all clear to reopen; they plan on universal testing of all students and staff and are hopeful of having the capacity to do so by August.

Other points made during the conference:

• Yield looks good for now though they are keeping an eye on requests for gap-years as they come in. We already know there will be a larger than normal number of juniors on campus due to changes in study abroad plans. So, it should all work out.
• NESCAC "unlikely to have Fall athletics".
• State of Connecticut has already given the go ahead for "small labs" to reopen and since all of Wesleyan's laboratories qualify as small labs, research will recommence immediately.
• In the event they cannot open the campus physically, Wesleyan plans to have "as robust an online experience as humanly possible." The school has already received accolades for its hastily put together Spring courses.

And, a bit of personal observation: I’ve never seen a Wesleyan professor that didn’t have an overflowing book shelf. Must be some sort of status symbol.

[EmptyNestSoon2]

[quote=“JanieWalker, post:2603, topic:2088334”]

@EmptyNestSoon2 I think the point of a gap year is to do something you wouldn’t be able to do at college.

Hmmmm. I don’t think that’s how I’d characterize THE point of a gap year, although that is one point. Lots of people think it’s just fabulous to take a year off the academic rat race between high school and college to enjoy the world or taking a breather. General personal growth, so many reasons. As mentioned above by several posters, there are special additional reasons this year to consider one. But I would also say that focusing on a few of those mere ideas during a gap year, to the level of mastery, might be hard to pull off if one has a very full academic or on-campus schedule; I don’t agree that they would all be easy to do at an intense/special level while sustaining a complete load of classes, etc.

Harvard, for example, actively encourages gap years each year. When my kids asked for permission, H didn’t hesitate to say yes and barely asked what they planned to do—they have found that kids who take gap years tend to be more successful students so they encourage it without putting up an roadblocks.

From Harvard:
“Should You Take Time Off?
Each year, between 80 and 110 students defer their matriculation to Harvard College, and they report their experiences to be uniformly positive. In fact, students have created the Harvard Gap Year Society, which is designed to support students who are taking or have taken a gap year, as well as promote the benefits of taking a year off.
We encourage admitted students to defer enrollment for one year to travel, pursue a special project or activity, work, or spend time in another meaningful way—provided they do not enroll in a degree-granting program at another college. Deferrals for two-year military service are also granted.”

Duke and Princeton actually fund special gap year programs; there seems to be growing recognition of the value of a year between high school and college. Now not all schools will feel the same way, and we will have to see how Many kids actually ask for them and how generous the colleges are in granting them this year—that remains to be seen.

Look, JanieWalker, it seems you are concerned about your class of 2021 child so this strikes a nerve for you—you don’t want these gap year 2020s competing with your kid for college admissions. It’s hard to imagine why else you are arguing so adamantly against the notion of a gap year. But I”m sure the 2021s will be able to “roll with the punches” as you suggest, and adapt to whatever the scenario is. And as I said, I doubt this will happen in large enough numbers to have a dramatically negative impact on 2021. One year at a time, at this point I think it makes sense to focus on how to help the 2020 kids (and existing college students) make the most out of the 2020-2021 school year. For some, that will be to get going on college, and for others that may mean to look into gap years.

[twogirls]

Once the emotion is removed I see 3 options:

1. Accept what a school has to offer in the fall....or....
2. Take a gap year if permitted....or...
3. Transfer

Everybody is upset, angry etc. Nobody will be getting the on campus experience that they paid for/chose, regardless of school. Things will be vastly different for a long, long time.

[homerdog]

Why will things be “vastly different for a long long time”? That’s pretty pessimistic.

[privatebanker]

Vastly different for a long time?
Different from last year. Maybe a few years. Forever? I just don’t see that happening.

This current response and hyper concern will wain over time. lt always does. Eventually, if it the current changes stay in place that becomes the new normal, and everyone rolls on anyway.

It’s not like it’s going from classroom to coal mine different. That’s vastly imho.

[twogirls]

I think it’s realistic, and we have no choice but to live with these changes. I hope a vaccine and treatment arrive soon and I am wrong.

And true…it’s not like going from a classroom to a coal mine. But I do believe that schools and life will change for at least a year or two, and we have no choice but to deal with it.

[TS0104]

A gap year practical concern for the older/off campus students…if you are not enrolled at least part time, you cannot use 529 funds to pay for off campus housing costs. Sure, many kids might be at home, but most off campus leases are for 12 months and might be locked in already.

My D19 mentioned a gap semester or year when this first started, but I think now that she has experienced the reality of social distancing life (which I believe will continue in the fall), and the fact that it would have to be here at home due to the above, she has abandoned that idea. I also don’t know if it would affect her merit scholarship.

[twogirls]

By long, long time I mean 1-2 years… not forever. I do think there will be some things that last longer.

[Empireapple]

@homerdog @Mwfan1921 OMG that cleaning protocol is giving me an anxiety attack. If every classroom, library, dorm, etc., has to be cleaned like that, no one is going back to college.

Really? I think this is the new normal for all of us. I think this is what we will all be doing for a very long time.

[mommdc]

It’s harder for students living in dorms.
Close quarters, shared dining and bathroom facilities.
But if the student lived in an apartment off campus and was able to take some classes online (large lectures, humanities, math), but take small labs or music classes in person, maybe that would work. Efforts on socially distancing as much as possible should still be made.

[Empireapple]

I can see why South Carolina is saying they will have in-person classes. The state hardly closed and is already open again. It has been a very different experience there than NYS.

[politeperson]

@ChemAM

@milgymfam They did use the word “immediately”, but they did not specify the timeframe in which students could return after taking time off. It sounds to me like you would have to reapply in order to rejoin; in other words, a withdrawal from the college. Usually students will get accepted to rejoin after a withdrawal, but you are throwing yourself at the mercy of the committee that decides whether you can return. I basically think what they’re doing is trying to deny true gap years while claiming they are allowing “gap years” to maintain as much of their public image as possible.

Quite a bit of hypothesizing here. My understanding of what was said in this Q&A from a neighbor who watched is that Princeton is not changing their policy on leaves; if too many current students request a leave they might not be able to guarantee a return in one year due to space constraints; they will keep an eye on those requests and if this becomes an issue they’ll set up a fair and equitable process; as always, students with questions should reach out to their res college dean. This was in response to a submitted question. Seems reasonable enough and actually reassuring when taken in context.

I think what Princeton is saying is what all schools should be saying: there’s not enough info right now to say anything meaningful; therefore, we will say more in July. They have lost members of their community to this and appear to be approaching it practically.

[ChemAM]

So my mom is in the Smith College alumna Facebook group, and one of the member’s children was accepted early decision to Dartmouth and was contemplating taking a gap year if the college allows it, and another Smith alumna who is a PROFESSOR at Dartmouth said they were informally told this week by the college that they would be reopening in fall with the students being given the option of remote learning or residential learning (this relieves them of liability). However, they are going to put off making the official announcement for awhile just to be safe. This actually makes me feel pretty good because they were THE MOST pessimistic among the top colleges in their announcement a few weeks ago.

[Leigh22]

A general question - isn’t it too late to transfer for fall of this year?

[ChemAM]

@Leigh22 Probably, but some schools may make exceptions given the extreme circumstances.

[ucbalumnus]

@TigerInWinter

@homerdog

It is not “rolling with the punches”. It’s making the choice to not spend $30k on a semester of online classes. We already paid that for a semester that was cut short and put online.

Of course (and others may have already made this point- I haven’t been reading this thread every day), taking the gap year to avoid online classes has an opportunity cost. If students don’t or can’t get a job during their gap year, they are giving up a year’s worth of salary relative to their peers who don’t take a gap year. In that sense, spending the $30k for online classes and entering the job market ahead of the gap year kids can make sense, especially for students who will be entering high-paying fields.

Also, if colleges are underenrolled because lots of students are taking gap years, then the cohort not taking gap years may find it easier to get into popular classes or popular majors due to less competition. Then, at graduation time, they will face less competition for jobs and admission to graduate and professional programs.

The only way that gap year students could come out ahead besides the college experience in frosh year is if the job market is bad in 2024 but so much better in 2025 that it more than compensates for the extra large cohort that they will be in.

[Peach94]

While I understand why students don’t want to pay full boat for online classes, most colleges can’t sustain programs if large numbers (both new freshman and upperclassman) take gap years. I would expect that schools already in financial trouble could close. Others might see dramatic cuts in programs. I’m not sure what the right answer is, but the landscape in 2020 and forward will be different due to COVID - but also different due to schools not having the funding they need to exist and offer all they have offered in the past.

[ucbalumnus]

@twogirls

Everybody is upset, angry etc. Nobody will be getting the on campus experience that they paid for/chose, regardless of school.

Students in online programs probably did not notice anything change with respect to college this spring semester. Commuter students (who make up most college students) obviously noticed the change from in-person to online, but did not really lose much on-campus college experience that is evidently so valued on these forums. To them, having to go online is somewhat counterbalanced by the lack of time and money spent commuting, and perhaps increased schedule flexibility.

[twogirls]

Yes…I misspoke. I agree with you 100%.

[homerdog]

@peach94 You are correct. If a college has a gap in revenue than they indeed may need to cut some of the very programs the kids want when they return. Or they might have to lay off some staff. Or not make capital improvements. It is something to think about when making a decision about taking a leave. If a lot of kids do it and it is approved, there will be effects that linger. Colleges with big endowments (most of which took a hit BUT the market has been doing better in the last few weeks) will weather the storm much better.