A student wearing shoes could walk around with “Covid toes” for a week and no one would know.
It’s so weird that a college should have their choice of 50 different state answers to the same question.
@“Cardinal Fang” people don’t stay home if they have cold symptoms. Everyone and their brother will be staying home in the fall if that’s the case. That’s why schools need a ton of testing. Kids need to know if it’s ok to be out and about.
I just heard from d22 who is in the city for a summer internship. She went to a backyard party at someone’s student apartment building. 20 people and all friends from school. No masks. Not social distancing per se but not a lot of touching or hugging. I was really surprised. These young people are mostly aspiring epidemiologists. She said once they leave everyone masks up and is very careful. But when by themselves with no one looking. They are pretty lax. I don’t know what this means for the fall but it surprised me a bit.
Well that makes me wonder if/when a student will decide to go for a test. And I wouldn’t even know how to advise S19. Hope we all get some directions on that.
The CDC regularly updates its COVID symptoms page. Two weeks ago they printed this:
My neighhbor that had COVID had a bunch of symptoms, but her husband (also +) only had a mild sore throat.
So I’d tell my college student to be aware of all these symptoms AND pay attention to any scuttlebutt about friends or acquaintances who test positive.
At the onset of all of this, high fever and respiratory issues were needed to get a test as those were thought to be the main symptoms. But sore throat was added as a key symptom later. And I have heard reports that 30% of hospitalized patients did not run a high fever. Now there are so many symptoms recognized as Covid and much wider test availability that testing someone with only a few symptoms is standard. Will be super helpful if all students returning to campus get the flu shot, so that flu can be ruled out for sick kids
Many classes at Amherst have participation as part of their grade, and it is usually meant as a grade-booster to help out, and you need to come most of the time to get it all; I suspect the attendance requirement for the participation grade will become relaxed, and this upcoming year, it will be easy to get all the participation points.
@ChemAM I’m not sure if you’ve shared your career aspirations. But appellate law should be on your list. You’d be quite the thorough and dogged client advocate. Important in the very meaningful and legally intricate cases. You’d be great.
@privatebanker What city are you referencing? Boston?
Yes @wisteria100 . A lot of students have moved back for summer sublets, classes and internships.
There’s also a lot of students with leases for next year who are moving in early.
I was shocked at how many students are in the off campus housing right now.
@privatebanker Thank you, but my passion is chemistry, and I wish to be a chemist working for a college.
@ChemAM, can you PM me? I have a D starting Amherst in the fall and you seem to have some information about what they are thinking – would love to know what you are hearing.
^for those who said students would be honoring their apartment leases, we had one student so far who backed out of his. At this point no one even knows the fall college situation here, but apparently he’s not inclined to take chances.
@katliamom - The reason most colleges have said they will open in the fall is most of them really have no choice if they want to stay in business, many can not afford to stay online. Online will be better in the fall, I think everyone will agree on that. I think parents mostly have taken it pretty well schools closing in the spring , no one could control that, and Just as teachers feel they should not have to take a pay cut bc they are working as hard if not harder than past years, many parents have spent years saving for their kids college education and are having a tough time saying for perhaps the next year my kid is gonna be online educated in some form. Not saying most will not send their kids back , I am sure many will but it is a tough pill to swallow. I do not know why colleges are some cash strapped that a good number are on the edge, Tuition continues to go up almost each year and from reading these post, it does not seem to be making it down to the teacher level. I can say some colleges have been more open with their plans than others.
@socaldad2002
with duke’s orientation seemingly moved all online the week before school, will you and your family still bring your D to campus in the fall?
my parents are wondering whether to bring the whole family out just to self-tour the campus, even if official convocation and orientation events are cancelled.
what else are other incoming freshmen family doing - when your college is a plane flight/ far away?
Some colleges are cash strapped and on the edge because they fail to attract sufficient number of paying students. Only about a third of the cost for a typical college is related to instructions. Colleges have to compete with each other by providing increasingly costly services, counselings, support for other extracurricular activities, and facilities. It’s a dilemma for financially strapped colleges because if they don’t spend the money they become less attractive to paying students. These colleges get caught up in a vicious downward spiral. That downward spiral accelerates by the coronavirus and demographic trend.
@NJdad07090 wrote:
They’re businesses. Some are sitting on cash reserves they could conceivably use in an emergency, but most would rather not go down that path because it means kicking the problem only marginally into the future. The timing of the pandemic could not have been worse because it happened in the middle of the admissions cycle before the incoming class of 2024 had jelled. Even the most selective colleges had to face the very real possibility that they would have fewer paying customers than usual. IIRC, something like this happened to Oberlin last year when weeks after the waitlist had closed, they had a last miinute rash of deposit forfeitures, raising the spectre that even though a college coud have a surfeit of applicants during the regular cycle, they could theoretically still fall short of enrollment goals.
Based on my experience dropping my D at Duke last year, I would bring as few people as possible. It is difficult to fit more than parents and the roommates in the dorm room and they discouraged bringing any extra family members into the dorm room for set up. The vast majority of families at drop off and convocation were parents only. I can totally understand family members wanting to self tour the beautiful campus but I think visitors will have access to see more of it at another time…for ex., they may limit visitor access to indoor facilities. And if it rains, you touring around outside will be limited, let alone inside any of the buildings. Good luck!
Not bringing the whole family, just me, wife and D20. They still have not told us what exact days she is to be moved in, just sometime the week of August 10th. Makes it difficult to book flights, hotel reservations and rental cars.