I have been following this thread since the beginning, as I have 3 that will be in college in the fall. As a bit of background, my kids all go to oos public universities (my spouse and I are Ivy League graduates but our finances are such that that’s out of the question for any of our 4 kids).
The Vulcan - i think you offer an interesting perspective to this thread. However, I’m wondering at what point you will stop referring to your son’s full tuition offer from Vandy? It doesnt seem to have much if any bearing on this thread.
Williams is allowing all students the option to return to campus in the fall with a 15 percent tuition reduction. Will be interesting if others follow with tuition reductions as well which seems reasonable given that the hybrid learning structure will be difficult for all students and their families.
That’s the thing, we don’t know if being in a “bubble” at college with massive testing, contact tracing, safety protocols, social distancing, mask wearing, and quarantining/isolating is better than the student back home without much of these precautions, interacting with the general population not in the “bubble”. I have argued that it MIGHT be safer to be on a very restrictive college campus than not? We just don’t know.
Also, I know several families who plan on driving their freshman to college (instead of flying) for added safety. These are L.A. kids going to Northwestern, Rice, and Vandy in the fall.
Maybe the colleges have a good understanding of their student bodies-one reason my D20 didn’t even apply to MIT was her sense that she was much different socially than its existing student body, and it sounds like several incoming frosh here on CC are happy with MIT’s announcement of keeping them at home. That is great that those students have the result they want, but it definitely would not have worked for my student, nor many of her classmates, she hopes. If her campus doesn’t allow her to be present this Spring, she will rent a house somewhere with new friends and forge ahead.
I guess we all tend to look at things with our particular students in mind (where you stand is based on where you sit). But, if schools are trying to lower density I think it makes sense to not bring frosh back in the fall (I posted that as a proposal a few hundred posts back). Let’s face it, frosh require more care and handling than soph, juniors, seniors, and grad students complicating an already complex situation.
Again impressing me, MIT also has some good answers about travel, testing, and quarantine.
For example, students will be tested on arrival, then have a seven day quarantine (and all classes even for returning students have the first week online), and then a second test. MIT Medical will test on a walk-in basis with results in less than 24 hours.
For students on campus (seniors and special cases), they’re doing what nearly all other (?) open campuses are doing, with the longer TG break and then virtual the rest of the term.
Everyone will be tested twice per week to start. Positive tests have a whole protocol and isolation housing.
Also, re masks, MIT specifically prohibits those antisocial N-95s with valves.
Well, I do know, for my son. Because our family is very completely WFH with only grocery trips. For families for whom this is impossible, I still think that adults taking precautions will be able to protect their kids better in individual households. This fall, it’s likely that I will have to go to in-person work, and I will be wearing full PPE even if people laugh at me.
If one thing is clear after 498 pages, it’s that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
Every time a new plan comes out, we can all predict which posters will say it’s brilliant and the best way to go, and which posters will say it’s horrible and the college isn’t thinking clearly. It doesn’t matter if the plan is to have everyone remote, everyone back at campus, or a hybrid approach. Everyone touts certain colleges as being “brilliant,” “comprehensive,” and “caring about their students” if it lines up with what they personally believe is the best approach. All other plans are “inferior,” “insensitive,” and reveal the college “doesn’t care about its students,” in their eyes. This goes both ways, with posters lined up along clear lines.
Poster’s views are a result of what they feel is best for their families. If you have an introvert who does well with online learning, you probably don’t have a problem with a campus going remote. If you have an extrovert who doesn’t do well with online learning, your preference may be for campus open with some f2f courses. Want more time with your DC at home? Does your DC need to get away? Do you have a great plan lined up for a potential gap year? Can you locate off-campus housing? Do you work in higher ed? Do you work in a medical field? Are you optimistic about treatments and a vaccine? Do you think it will be years before effective treatments and a vaccine? Are you open to DC attending college in a different country? Are you happy to pay any price for an elite name? Are you unwilling to pay any price for an elite name? Are you concerned about DC’s scholarship money? The answers to these questions have been embedded in posts from the beginning and reveal certain biases.
And so the debate rages on with the same posters posting the same judgments about plans, just (sometimes) altering their presentation. Nothing new here.
I feel Tufts has a very well thought out, thorough and safe plan, while allowing students to be on campus. Students have the choices of Hybrid, in person or virtual…also allowing for a gap year. Frequent testing, and app to enter your temperature and testing results everyday, masks, different dining options, and new modular housing to de-densify. Also grouping of 6-12 cohorts (would act like a family unit) which allows for safer socialization. I’m just happy I can start on campus and have some sort of “normal” start to college life.
This story has all sorts of details that are pretty interesting, travel from Texas, it seems he traveled while unwell, and they call him active with no underlying conditions, but he is obese at the upper end, these very overweight ( he is 6’5" 350lbs) footballers need some special attention and possibly extra education. But really, this is the kid who is going to be turning up at your school come fall. Clueless and careless. Many families will only get the minimum of information from the scientific illiterate media sources.
Well, that is his parents right, because he is a school aged kid, not a college student. The story is presented as hey, this is an athlete, it could happen to anyone, not wow, you got on a PLANE from TEXAS and were unwell and have a BMI of over 40 and maybe we should have realized that Texas is the well advertised new hot spot and no, you are not an average healthy athlete, your body has been exploited and manipulated to the cost of your own health. That we should have treasured you and protected you?