I’m not going to get into a hissy fit with every HYPMS grad here. Suffice it to say, that the statement is illogical because every iteration of it grows more and more hysterical. If it were so internally enlightening, it wouldn’t require so much heat to support it.
Mind experiment:
Let’s say there is a (fictional) school with the following attributes;
- plenty of money on hand
- brand strength such that no students would reconsider attending
How would they plan for fall 2020? Perhaps they would go 100% online and wait for resolution of the pandemic? So the closer any school is to this fictional school the more I think they would limit on campus attendance. A few come to mind.
Also, it seems reasonable that schools with limited cash and lower brand value will be more likely to try to have more students on campus.
That fictional school, worldwide, would be Oxford, @Rivet2000. Oxford is opening in person. World famous brand, plenty of money.
I just don’t see how choruses or brass ensembles could be allowed. I know it’s terrible for singers and trombonists, but some activities are too good at causing disease spread to be allowed.
Good point. I’m not very “Oxford” knowledgeable, can you inform us on how they are managing to open in person? Maybe a good model to follow in the US.
Oxford’s endowment is relatively small though (6B GBP), and it’s “only” ranked #5 worldwide.
https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2021
Cambridge is going 100% online though. That extra billion in endowment must be making the difference 
For whoever asked upthread, this is how the CDC defines isolation vs. quarantine, FWIW.
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/aboutlawsregulationsquarantineisolation.html
When a family friend returned home from study abroad, he was asked to “self-quarantine” for 14 days. The family maintained social distancing and wore masks in the home and had did not interact with the public. They did go outdoors for fresh air and exercise but live in an area where they can do so while maintaining distance. They got through it. And nobody got sick.
Lectures, which are always optional, will be on line, but the tutor system wherein tutors meet with 1 to 3 students a few times a week for individualized instruction, will continue as before. Most students have singles, some with private bath, some with communal bath. Some live off campus.
Ah. Well. That is already less than promised by, say, Vandy.
But that much is the same.
Interesting. How many students do they have where they can primarily rely on tutoring sessions with 1-3 students??
Davidson just announced they will start in-person classes Aug. 20th! No Fall break, remote exams after Thanksgiving. (We already knew this part.) Everyone tested to prior arrival or within a few days and targeted testing w/ tracing protocols throughout semester, using new campus spaces for classrooms, including outdoors, in order to increase social distance. Isolation and quarantine spaces, remote options for many or most classes for students w/ health issues or those who can’t make it back. Some remote classes based on faculty needs too. Dining changes, of course. Masks worn indoors.
More to details to follow I’m sure!
Not so sure its all about the money and brand strength. Our close friend’s kid is a sophomore at Harvard and she said she will take a gap year if classes are all online. She and the family is not happy at all with the proposed restrictions.
Also, my D20 will be at Duke in the fall. All freshman will be on campus and some classes will be taught in-person. They have plenty of “money on hand” ($8.5 billion endowment) and pretty strong U.S. and world wide brand).
In my opinion, one of the deciding factors is colleges that are going to be all 100% online in the fall are ones located in large cities with large numbers of CV-19 cases and hospitalizations.
Someone mentioned Oxford as being open for in-person classes but I again think the size of the college towns is a factor (i.e. relatively small). Boston on the other hand has a population of close to 800,000; Oxford is about 150,000. Stanford is in Santa Clara County with over 2 million residents and was a hotspot for CV-19 in the SF bay area.
@socaldad2002 That makes sense. While I continue to think that financial strength does play a big part in planning the environment is a key influence. So we will see almost as many solutions as there are schools. The next 6 months will be interesting and hopefully positive.
It will be interesting to see what decisions are made by schools and students. Our S is still undecided, but thankfully he has many options open to him. Time will tell.
@socaldad2002 I agree with that. We know a Princeton student and a Harvard student who will take gap years if class is all remote. Kids at those schools love their on campus experience just like kids at other schools. Will they transfer? No, but they might take a break.
Seems a lot easier to social-distance with 2-4 people than a class of 20-1000. They can even have the session outside a lot more easily.
Large colleges ARE big cities, so I don’t actually see that as a valid reason. However, the issue with colleges in big cities is the inability to get extra beds off campus for quarantine and de-densifying.
If Harvard and Princeton let them. And they probably will since they have lots of $$$ and don’t have to worry about this years lost tuition/R/B from those students and next years lost tuition/R/B for the incoming freshman those gap students will displace.
Huh? We have examples of colleges that are not “wealthy urban universities,” yet still announced “less than a full reopening.” @DeeCee36 just mentioned one.
So now we’re conflating “alumni joy” with thinking your university “knows more about what to do” than anyone else? I went to Ivies for undergrad and grad, and I would never think that.
But that’s a different point. I don’t think any of us would argue that some schools have a financial advantage over others because people will “pay that price” even if it’s fully online in the fall. That makes complete sense. As a college professor paying close attention to enrollment numbers, I know that reality well!
For some of us on this thread, our objection is that it is being framed as though these elite universities know more than everyone else because they are the only places that have geniuses on staff, and people who truly know what they are doing. Those are two distinct arguments, and one reeks of elitism.