@Rivet2000 that would be my best guess. I also wonder if all schools will make the same decision or if there will be some who figure out a way to have kids back in some limited way (maybe no sports, dining hall limitations, etc.) My guess is that they will all make the same decision and I doubt we are going to like it. I just read an article in the Washington Post about when professional sports to get back to normal and it’s not looking good. In Japan, they pushed the baseball season out a month, tried to start without any spectators but then four players on one team tested positive and now the season is pushed off indefinitely…and I think they are a couple of months behind us with their big curve.
So it looks very interesting but why so expensive for an online course? What is the fee when it was able to be live?
Could colleges move to all singles? but limiting kids who live close , say within a hour not have a room so they can have OOS kids , if a public school , or international kids who stayed in the US when campus closed last month . Colleges are a business and they can not afford to shut down, they may have to take a huge hit an open w/o dorms for one semester but they will be open one way or another come the fall, now the fall may be a oct opening , one week off for xmas, no spring break … but they will be open.
My son is still at school in his apartment. I actually paid his rent online this morning. He already has a lease signed for a different apartment next year. He’ll most likely stay through June because he’s on the volunteer rescue squad and he figures they’ll need all the help they can get. The same holds true for next year if the fall remains online. He’ll be doing his academic work and working on the ambulance.
@GKUnion my daughter stayed at school in her off campus apartment. Her lease goes until the end of June. She has a job there, and so far, has not heard back from any of the internships she applied for in DC this summer (she would come and live at home if she did get one as we live in MD). Today I asked her if she would want to just stay at school if she doesn’t get an internship and classes stay online in the fall. She said she would want to stay at school. If so, we have until the end of June to figure out her living situation for her senior year (whether we would let her stay and sign a new lease, or whether she would come home and stay her for fall semester if classes continue online in the fall). While I don’t relish the thought of paying rent while taking online courses next fall, I also know that it’s her senior year and know she’d be happier continuing to live with her roommates than returning home. However, that would only work out if her roommates also decide to stay. So we will see but we have almost three months to make the decision depending on what happens.
There are so many different kinds of colleges and each has its own situation. Most LACs are residential with all 2000 kids or so living in campus housing. If everyone had a single, that would misplace maybe 2/3 of the kids and i don’t think most of the LACs in rural towns have inventory for kids to live off campus. Plus, many of them have kids from all 50 states with very few kids who live close by.
Even for larger universities, I doubt kids could all live off campus or at home.
And what about class? No way students can go to a big lecture and be six feet or more apart. Classes or sections that are smaller meet in smaller rooms where distancing wouldn’t work either.
For kids to go back to campus, the whole country will have to be back to some normalcy. I think colleges and other large gatherings like concerts and sporting events will be the very last things to go back to normal. Many colleges have kids from all over the US and overseas and I just can’t see going from all of this “stay in place” to everyone getting on planes and having campuses with kids from all over the US unless the virus is less serious come fall.
There’s no answer yet. As hard as it is, we just all have to sit tight. I hope I’m wrong and the forecast will be for the fall virus comeback to not be severe and we have a way to manage it.
I’ve just heard from a medical researcher yesterday, that there are no confirmed cases of people getting it again. And this virus mutates much slower than flu. So immunity for at least a year is pretty well established, and possibly longer.
I don’t think we can all sit at home through fall. I hope life will come back, maybe to a new normal, like students will be on campus but no large events, quarantine anybody who is suspected to be sick, etc.
The virus is only half the equation for fall classes on-campus.
Supplies have to be replenished. Will their be enough lab supplies? What about cleaning supplies? Then there’s food.
Schools might be willing to have classes but will they be able?
There will not be a vaccine by the fall. Hopefully there will be a successful treatment, but right now we don’t know. Additionally, Dr. Fauci indicated that there will be a second wave. When will it hit? Where will it hit first? Will we be able to get ahead of it so as not to have such a castastropjic hit to our health care system?
I can’t imagine things being normal in the fall. I see some kind of disruption…but the degree of disruption is unclear right now.
The NYS governor reported yesterday that the apex in NY is a week to 8 days away, so that would make it mid-April, not late April. It would be nice to see the numbers of positive cases start dropping, but I don’t know if they have the supplies to handle it if it comes so quickly. I think the number of fatalities will be higher if the peak is reached sooner.
I don’t think colleges will know anytime soon what the plans are for fall. They can make plans and contingency plans, but what can actually happen depends on a lot of moving pieces. [ul]Is the government going to allow international travel?[/ul][ul] If a 2nd wave hits late this summer, will states allow students (and families with moving vans) to pour in from all over the country?[/ul] [ul]If colleges do open their campuses back up, what happens if the virus makes a 2nd round after classes start? If a lot of students become ill would there be enough local resources to handle it?[/ul] [ul]How would colleges protect faculty and staff if a 2nd wave hits? Many are older, and some have pre-existing health conditions. How many can a college lose to illness or quarantine and still operate?[/ul]
The sad reality is that colleges will have no idea how many faculty and staff they have to work with until the first wave passes. People are dying. The rate in NYS is something like 1 person every few (~2-3) minutes, and there are fatalities in every age range. Colleges will have to make decisions based on what happens locally in the next month or two and on whatever guidance they get from state and federal agencies. State policies are so different and have been applied unevenly. I don’t expect that whatever happens this fall will be any different. I think it will vary by region.
@austinmshauri I am a fellow NY’er…it’s a disaster no matter who we listen to, sadly. I listen to our governor and think he’s doing a great job.
@twogirls We are in Chicago and watch every one of Cuomo’s press conferences. Even though he’s got bad news to report, his empathy and honesty is refreshing and makes us feel better about humanity.
What I’m seeing is that this is hitting everyone, and it’s just added onto other accidents and illnesses. Our governor’s brother has the virus, and his niece (by marriage) and her 8-year-old son are missing after a boating accident in MD. It’s heartbreaking.
Someone where I work tested positive a few weeks ago, and at least one person in the offices where 2 of my siblings work have tested positive more recently. These are in 3 different cities. None of us believe we’ve been exposed to these people, but we don’t really know. A 3rd sibling is a frontline medical professional who’s working long shifts in the kidney center of a hospital (in still another city). They know for sure they’ve treated patients who tested positive, but so far they seem to be fine. It’s concerning though.
We all keep in touch via text, and we’re checking in on distant family and friends via social media. I generally don’t have much use for social media because of all the petty squabbling which seems to be continuing unabated, but a lot of people are trying to be positive too. I do like that I can check in on so many people relatively quickly.
Commercial supply chains for cleaning supplies, food, and toilet paper should be well stocked due to non-use when people are staying at home. Lab supplies that do not overlap with medical needs should be in good supply, but chemistry and biology labs may have shortages of gloves, masks, face shields, etc. that were needed for medical purposes.
Bowdoin just pushed off fall registration until mid June. The kids were supposed to register for class this week. I suppose the college just wants to know more before they have the kids choose. If classes have to be online, maybe they will have fewer options for fall. Housing lottery was supposed to be last week and that was also pushed to June. So now we wait. Maybe eight or nine weeks before we know anything.
So agree with this statement. He seems upfront and like he actually cares.
@homerdog . ugh. My son is a sophomore at Hamilton, another NESCAC. So far, room selection and registration for Fall classes have not been moved and are still happening this month. But who knows. I’ve been preparing my son for the unfortunate possibility that he’ll be home for the Fall semester.
@123France hamilton was late making decisions in the spring too I think. I can’t remember if I posted this but Bowdoin’s president said he expects that all NESCAC schools will eventually come to the same decision about fall. He can’t see some of them coming to campus and others not. Sounds like they are talking to each other and sharing info.
@homerdog , that makes sense about all the NESCAC schools coming to the same conclusion. Yes, Hamilton was one of the last holdouts. You should have seen the parents FB page! It was crazy! Last week was the first online schooling week. They had a two week spring break before that.
With no vaccine before August, I don’t think there is any way most colleges will allow normal dorm, cafeteria, lecture hall on-campus educations for fall. I predict very little on campus living, a majority of online classes and reduced room/board pricing. Perhaps the elite schools can charge full fare with few de-commits, but the majority of public 4-year schools will have to reduce housing/meal charges if courses are online, no dorms, and none of the other college “experiences” we all remember. Many frosh will decide to live at home with boring parents and take online courses at junior colleges for a year. Sad, but that’s how I see fall for many 2020s. Hope I wrong…