Off topic, but it’s my understanding that sometimes you have to sue in order to get the insurance to pay. The coach/van should have been covered by the College’s insurance policies, and they should be paying for injuries, etc. If businesses and schools are all covered against covid suits, why bother taking any preventative measures whatsoever? Just fly with it. Save money.
@TheVulcan, as other said, it has more to do with the independence of leaving home and being with peers. There is a long-term stay hotel directly across the street from my daughter’s campus and about 30-40 students are planning to stay there. No lease, no commitment (you could come home anytime if need be), near some eateries and other conveniences (so no car necessary), but each room is single-occupancy. D’s thinking is that with some students living off campus–athletes, sororities, upper classmen with leases, plus a small number living on-campus–she could meet people and begin the next phase (albeit in a more limited way than we’d all hoped). It’s obviously not ideal, but I think she really wants to begin creating a “new normal” and it seems unlikely that things will change by January. I think this is what her freshman year will be. The question is, does she experience it at home or near campus. No good answers.
D just got room assignments at Amherst. 5 days left until move-in starts, and they just got reassurance that they are moving forward with their plan from the college last night.
Do I understand this correctly?
Holy Cross was going to use Broad Institute for testing.
Their testing company (Broad Institute) is now saying that there will be delays in testing.
A number of us were dubious that Broad Institute could deliver what it was promising. And now, if these reports are correct, Broad is saying they cannot deliver what they were promising?
My son has an off campus lease. He will not be moving in as all his classes at present are scheduled to be 100% online. If that changes for the winter semester he will move in then. For now he is staying home.
@“Cardinal Fang”
For one thing, even though somebody said they were using Broad Institute, I don’t recall seeing anywhere that they were using Broad Institute.
Also, I am skeptical of whether they are truly having “testing delays” or whether they are just using that as an excuse. Amherst has been very careful so far, and even though Holy Cross stated they “recently” received a communication about potential delays in testing, Amherst didn’t mention this at all and, as a matter of fact, just reaffirmed last night that they weren’t changing their plans before move-in this Saturday and did not anticipate changing them either. I would think Amherst would have mentioned if there was a problem.
Also, not to mention, back in July when virtually every single lab was experiencing major delays due to reagent shortages, Broad had no issue getting out quick turn-arounds for testing.
This is what HC is saying (no mention of Broad -that was from several weeks ago where they said they were using Broad):
“Recently, we were notified that we should expect delays in testing results, especially during the critically important initial weeks of the semester.”
No word from Broad or other schools that use Broad on what they communicated to HC or if they communicated to others and what the extent of that delay was.
Rose Petal - that’s great! I hope it works out for her. Btw, any chance you know ChemAm?
@Massmom10 Thanks! What is ChemAm?
It would be odd that testing turnaround would be an excuse now that UMass, Mt Holyoke and Smith are no longer opening their campuses. Isn’t that half the number of undergraduates originally signed up for Broad right there?
My ds20 is considering getting a short term rental in our hometown with some HS friends who are also not headed to campus and are taking classes remotely. One is also from UMass Amherst and they have a class together, the others go to various schools that have also cancelled on campus living. Our town has a vibrant commercial center, apartments and 2 family houses with rentals within walking distance of the supermarket, cafes, etc., so it would at least give them a sense of autonomy. We’re also in CT and have been doing well as far as the numbers go. My ds has also proved himself to be pretty responsible and mature when it comes to masking and social distancing.
That said, while I’m ok with it, I’m not going to do the legwork for him. I think finding a short term rental willing to lease to 3-4 18 year old boys will be like finding a unicorn ?. I also feel that if they really want it and want to show that they are mature enough to handle it, they need to be mature enough to find it. We’ll see what happens. Every day it feels like a new set of issues, ideas, and complications, so I’m working on not reacting unless something feels solid.
I would for sure not be on board with him heading to Amherst and signing a lease with a bunch of kids he’s never met. That seems to defeat the purpose of the university asking kids not to come back to the area, and also sets us all up for financial headaches if he is able to return to campus in the spring.
To clarify: this hasn’t happened yet. No official vote or announcement. But most reporting indicates that P5 conferences are moving to delay football until spring, with SEC holding out and trying to get teams to join them for a fall season. Official votes probably coming later today or tomorrow. It’s been clear for a month that this is where fall sports were headed.
My gut tells me once football is postponed, we can expect some of these schools to go remote.
IIRC the testing delay that HC referenced had to do with the at home tests students were to self administer before returning to campus, not the on campus Broad Institute testing. Sorry, I can’t find the source for this, but I read it somewhere this am.
I don’t think the big Power 5 schools will change to remote now. Many have 8-10k freshmen living in dorms, 3x that many having leases in town, jobs, internships, etc. They live there year round. It is not the same as Holy Cross telling 2000 students not to come and that the university will be physically closed.
Mine are older and all in off campus, we have no way out of the lease situation, if I was you though, I would be opting for a gap year period, in no way would I pay the 10K plus a year for living off campus for giggles. If your kid will do well in online school, have her do it from home unless you have money to burn.
Not everyone living “off campus” (meaning not at home and not on campus but not necessarily near their school) is paying $10k and getting year long leases. We know a ton of kids getting airbnb’s for a fraction of that per student and just for first semester. And, I understand this is a first-world thing, we also know kids hunkering down for free in parent’s second homes and inviting college friends to stay there for free. It’s a luxury. I get that. But taking remote class while surrounded by peers will just be more motivating than at home while mom and dad are working and little brothers and sisters are trying to do online school too.
www.bostonglobe.com › 2020/08/10 › metro › college-holy-cross-will-…
3 hours ago - Like many colleges, Holy Cross had planned on using the Cambridge-based Broad Institute to conduct its coronavirus testing. The college had …
and then a paywall LOL.
@homerdog this is exactly our thinking. Obviously we’re way past the point of “best case scenario” (living on campus, with peers and new crop of freshman for in-person classes and activities). Anything we do at this point is sub-optimal (to say the least). But I think the desire to begin the next phase, meet new people and be with peers to study and and connect is real. The solution we’re considering is not cheap, but not cost prohibitive and is non-binding, so if it’s a disaster, she comes back home. I’m just incredibly disappointed by the whole thing. I’m not blaming colleges, just lamenting the anticlimactic start to what should be an exciting time for our kids.
Holy Cross advised freshmen of the dorm and roommate assignments on Friday afternoon and then Monday morning changed plans. So you never know. However I am optimistic about Amherst stating the course. I do find the statement regarding Broad perplexing though. And hard to imagine HC is remote but BC is on campus, though perhaps football has something to do with it.