You keep saying off and on campus kids. Maybe it’s the particular school. But it should be testing for the “students” of that school regardless where they live. I keep reading about testing the “students” not in relationship to where one lives.
Wow that’s intense. A very long time to just be working from home and going on solo walks. I don’t know many 18-22 year olds that wouldn’t be scarred by having to do that. Our kids were locked down with no friends for seven weeks and I could see the struggle. Not healthy. Everyone needs to find a way to at least have a friend or two they can see in person. That might be controversial on this thread but, if this goes on for another year, no one should have to be so alone. Don’t have to throw all caution to the wind. Choose a few friends. See them outside with masks on.
CNN: Georgia Tech won’t require students to wear masks on campus. Faculty aren’t happy.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/05/us/georgia-tech-reopening-no-masks/index.html
Wow. All I can say is wow. I would pull my kid in a heartbeat. They as a top notch university in tech should know better. Politics should never come into play with the health of people especially our students.
Extroverts think everyone is an extrovert. It’s offensive, really.
Not everyone is an extrovert! Not everyone thinks that being alone is a terrible punishment. Not everyone is scarred by being alone. Some of us like it.
Because lots of Bowdoin kids are trying to find off campus housing. They will not be on campus so will be considered “remote” no matter where they live and will not be part of testing. I assume there are other LAC kids in the same boat.
And what about schools that might use pooling techniques from dorms to test? Kids off campus won’t be part of that. Or what about schools that aren’t testing all that much? In those cases, is anyone going to have their kids tested more than what the college is offering? Or tested before they leave if that’s not required?
@homerdog. Keep forgetting your really speaking of Bowdoin
Just seems kinda mean that they(or any school) only cares about the welfare of their on campus students,if I am understanding this properly. Schools testings should be for their whole student body.
US is conducting something like 600k to 700k tests per day. There are something like more than 10 million kids at residential colleges from what I have seen. Not sure how there will be sufficient testing to test all college students (plus professors and staff) on anything of a regular basis.
Just like so many things on this board (and in life), the answer in terms of going back or staying home depends. Some kids will find the experience fine at college under new rules; other kids won’t. Some kids will do fine with remote learning; others won’t.
Some kids will be at greater risk of being infected on their college campus compared to home; others won’t. Each student (and family) will need to make the decision that they think is best for them with a great deal of uncertainty involved.
But at schools like Bowdoin, the students living off campus will not be on campus at all. They can’t go use the library or the dining hall or even meet with professors. Bowdoin is considering them to be at home, whether they are living just outside the school’s boundary or at their homes in California or Texas or Vermont. They wouldn’t test a student living in California so why would they test one living just off campus?
schools aren’t inviting “off campus students” to come back bc they know their own resources and how many students they can test per their plans. The off campus students are choosing to do so of their own accord because they don’t want to stay at home.
@twoinanddone right. That’s why I’m asking. For anyone whose kids are just getting a house somewhere to sail out this semester together instead of at home, what are all of your thoughts on testing? I’d like to think through a plan for S19 and his friends. Feel like maybe they should each get a test before moving in together. Maybe try to get another test after ten days of being in the house. Thoughts?
We know a lot of kids doing this sort of thing. I’ve seen posts on CC with parents asking for cool places to get a house for this semester that doesn’t have to be near the kids’ campus. Basically, it’s a situation where a handful of kids, coming from different states, are moving in together. Trying to just figure out a good testing plan.
@knowstuff kids do not live off campus there usually so this is not something Bowdoin is likely condoning. The houses kids we know are considering are not within walking distance to campus. Some are going to CO!
Some schools (Including D19s) are requiring all students -regardless of whether they live off or on campus - to be tested by the school just before the Fall semester, report on personal wellness daily using an app, follow the rules established for masks and social distancing, etc. and comply with whatever periodic re-testing requirements are established.
@2ndthreekids right. Because those off campus kids will be on campus. Bowdoin students not in dorms will not be on campus. Maybe it’s not easy to understand if your kids don’t go to a residential LAC. They all live there, on campus, for four years. This fall, only a portion of the kids were invited back to the dorms.
A few groups of kids are hoping to get places to live together and take remote classes so that they aren’t isolated at home trying to motivate themselves and so they can be with friends instead of at home. Some kids are shooting to live somewhere in Maine. Some are getting together in houses in other states. I’m just asking about testing because I’m not sure of the best way for these boys to enlarge their bubble at this point. They are all at home with their bubble of high school friends but will be coming from multiple states to live together come fall.
@homerdog maybe you should implement a single house version of Bowdoin’s testing requirements.
@Rivet2000 yes. Maybe just for the first few weeks I guess. Need to look into how easy it is to be tested. Should have the boys live here in Illinois where it’s easy and free to be tested!
All friends get tested. Make it a day trip… Lol. But in reality if they all quarantined for 14 days before going to their housing that should accomplish the same thing… Just a thought. Whether you retest in 10 days or 25 shouldn’t really matter.
Hint : if your kids all donate blood they get tested automatically for antibodies for free. Maybe this is a better way to go and doing something nice for humanity.
It doesn’t seem that bad to me. I honestly don’t miss anyone because everyone that I willingly spend time with is already in my home. I actually like being alone most of the time, and my family get to be the exception to that single-sized bubble. My kids actually like being with each other, with me, and sometimes even their dad (ha!). My younger daughter is like me and there is no one she isn’t seeing because she doesn’t really “get” hanging out with people in normal times. She is most definitely social when called for, but never chooses to socialize outside her structured activities. My older daughter is an extrovert and feels the pain of missing her friends, but she’s hardly scarred by family time and zoom hangouts with her friends. I will say I do worry about her in the fall because she will have NO human contact for 2.5 months with how the haverford semester is laid out (they can’t even unmask and be physically near their own suite mates). She’s not one for masks and six feet from 100% of the people 100% of the time- she’s a hugger. Mentally and emotionally she would probably be better off at home, but educationally she’s likely to follow the in-person classes. They actually mean that much to her (vs online classes) even in the absence of anything that seems like normal.
Is this true? From what I understand, there are about 3000 colleges in the US. Most of the discussion here has focused on a few very selective privates and small LACs. The only public school I have seen come out with a detailed plan that attempts to create a bubble is Purdue. I think most schools in the country are not creating a bubble because most of them have more off campus kids than on campus and creating a bubble will be very difficult if not impossible.
Someone asked what the difference is between having students off campus and on campus. This has been discussed several times, but since is still coming up, I’ll try to explain. Off campus kids go off campus every day. They may take public transportation back and forth to classes. They have to go buy food at the supermarket. They will probably interact everyday with people who have no relation to the school. Many live at home with parents and commute to the school. Any school that has a substantial off campus population cannot create a bubble.
@me29034 I think large publics are hoping that masks, social distancing in class (or all remote if it comes to that), self reporting temps and symptoms and some testing of everyone will help. It’s logistically impossible for almost all schools to create a bubble. Sorry to bring up Bowdoin again but, with just 500 kids on campus and no students off campus, they have one of the bet shots at keeping the virus at bay. It’s not a popular plan, though, because all classes but freshmen seminars are remote and only 1/4 of the kids invited back to campus.
There’s just no plan for any school that is going to make everyone happy. Some schools prioritized virus safety over all else (looks like Harvard and MIT might be doing this too) and some are trying to walk the balance between controlling the virus and having some sort of campus life that is recognizable. Some, like Georgia Tech, seem to be really throwing all caution to the wind. Just six weeks or so before some schools start going back so we will see how all of these plans work soon enough.
@milgymfam There is no way your D will be expected to be masked and six feet away from every single person on campus. That is not realistic. Some schools are planning for dorm floors to be “families”. There has to be some way for kids to have a few friends in their bubble. Why bother having contact tracing if colleges expect 100% compliance to masks all of the time you are around other people? There would be no one to even report as a contact in that case.
In some (many?) places, off campus students are going to be those who live off campus and are NOT allowed to use campus resources. At all. They won’t be living on campus controlled property, attending on campus classes, eating in the dining hall, studying in the library, or using any other on campus resource. I don’t expect colleges to arrange for testing for anyone except students and staff who have been approved to be on campus.
Parents who are planning to get an off campus apartment for their children and several friends should make sure it’s in a place where they can get testing even if they don’t have symptoms.