^^
Northeastern University will be processing its own tests. They never contracted with Broad.
https://news.northeastern.edu/2020/08/05/northeasterns-life-sciences-center-is-a-cutting-edge-laboratory-that-will-process-the-universitys-coronavirus-tests/
My daughter was in a six month lease for spring semester. She is in what I’d consider a high COL part of the country (Southern California). We didn’t even pay half that amount (for six months, her rent was $4500). Her lease converted to month to month, but with it being her senior year now and since she and her roommates had local jobs, they decided to stay for summer, and stay in the same apartment for senior year. It really meant for us, only one month of rent we had not originally planned for had she come home for the summer. Her school announced two weeks ago that campus was not reopening for fall, and since she is in a month to month lease now, she and her roommates could leave but they have decided to stay. Sure, we could save the money and bring her home, but we had planned to pay four years of housing and it is much better for her for a variety of reasons to continue living independently. Obviously we are fortunate to afford to do so, and I certainly understand why students are choosing to save the money and stay home.
I’m not sure I’d make the same decision if I had a freshman. It would really depend on many factors.
@wisteria100, there is a good chance that BC will also go remote. Parents are bracing themselves for this based on the HC announcement this morning as well as the impending announcements from the Big 10 and PAC 12 football leagues that football is being moved to spring 2021. If BC reverses course, I expect to see the announcement next week, after tuition is due. HC said they are crediting next semester’s tuition instead of refunding room and board that has already been paid.
Yesterday, we were talking with our friend’s junior kid who goes to Cal Poly SLO and a few months ago she turned down the on-campus apartment, too expensive ($1,300 /month) to find a cheaper off-campus apartment. She committed to one ($800 / month) thinking it would be a better deal but it’s a 12 month lease. All her classes will be online now but she can’t break her lease and live at home with her parents. The irony is that if she had taken the on-campus apartment, once they went all online, she would have be allowed to get out of that lease and live at home.
I feel really bad for these college students with everything they have to endure…
Regarding HC not refunding room and board that has already been paid but offering a credit for next semester…that seems like a huge financial imposition on families who can’t afford that.
What if the decide not to return?
Right. Freshman are in a good spot IMO, the best out of them all if their school allowed deferrals.
Really? The same freshman who lost all the senior year activities and now don’t have any new friends to room with off campus and are stuck doing online classes from home - this is a good spot? There is nothing for my freshman to do -why would she take a deferral. If its too dangerous to go to college then its too dangerous to get a job, go abroad, volunteer. Also, I don’t think my kid would even remember what it was like to be a student -academically- if she deferred to next fall. Spring was a joke for graduating seniors. She hasn’t done meaningful academic work since 2/28/2020.
Maryland delaying start of in-person instruction.
I am therefore announcing today that the University of Maryland will begin the semester as scheduled on August 31 but will delay undergraduate in-person instruction until September 14. Undergraduate instruction will be delivered online for the first two weeks. All graduate-level instruction and approved research activities will proceed as planned.
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If you are proactive you can indeed find things to do. S19 found the paid, full-time internship of his dreams and is doing that during this semester instead of taking class. It took a lot of networking and hours of research but it can be done.
There are also less expensive online classes that can boost a resume even if they don’t transfer for credit.
One absolutely does not have to pay for remote classes this semester. If it’s not worth it to the family, the student can find something productive. We don’t know how long all classes will be remote and one can’t take a break forever but some kids really can make it work. Doesn’t mean options fall into their laps. They have to find them.
When were the BC students supposed to move in?
If BC reverses course, I expect to see the announcement next week, after tuition is due.
^This makes my blood boil (if it happens).
FYI - as of today, Mass at all time low % postivity. 1.56%
But your son is a sophomore. I was talking about freshman. Mere mortal freshman, who have been expecting to go to college until a minute ago, are not going to get an online internship. Most of our kids have already quit their summer jobs, packed their bags and are ready to go.
“Some kids really can make it work”. Yes, well connected kids that attend prestigious colleges have a good chance of getting an internship. Mere mortal students (especially freshman) attending normal colleges will have nothing. Many will never make it to college. And colleges that would have taken them in will close if they don’t.
Well, low positivity rates in other states haven’t kept schools open so I’m not sure the low one in MA will help BC. The problem, too, with BC’s plan is that it’s all students and most in-person classes. Not sure they could pivot to something like fewer students or hybrid at this point. It seems more likely that, if they make a change, it would be to all remote and no one on campus.
@suzyQ7 it makes my blood boil too, but I have heard some things that make me feel this is a real possibility.
@suzyQ7 , I forgot to answer your question. Freshmen are scheduled to start to move-in 8/26.
I’m sorry that plans are changing so last minute. We know some incoming freshmen too who are in the same spot. So sad. I get it. @milgymfam and @socaldad2002 both have incoming freshmen who don’t have internship plans who have decided to take a break. If S19, didn’t find work, he was still going to defer. At the very least, he could take some free Coursera courses that interest him, get a certificate in Excel, try to volunteer or work somewhere part time, get a LinkedIn account going and do some informational interviews with people we know to start thinking about careers.
At some point, it could just be to hopefully salvage a more traditional freshman year. Of course, a year is a long time to wait and we don’t know what fall 2021 will bring but, for some kids, it could still be worth waiting. It’s harder when the college is changing its plans so close to go time. And I really do understand that it’s hard to turn on a dime. Colleges are counting on that too.
I should say, too, that S19 didn’t really use his college that much for this particular opportunity. One physics professor suggested he call one particular government entity but didn’t introduce him or anything. S19 took it from there. He only has one year of college under his belt and won’t be using anything specific he learned. Still, I understand this wouldn’t have been something an incoming freshman would have done but certainly any incoming sophomore from any school could have gotten this job if they did everything S19 did research the company and present himself.
First-Year International Student Move-In: Monday, August 24 - Tuesday, August 25
First-Year Student Move-In: Wednesday, August 26 and Thursday, August 27
Upperclass and Transfer Student Move-In: Friday, August 28 and Saturday, August 29
I’m trying to imagine my friend’s son, a rising sophomore at a low ranked Virginia state school with a solid B average coming from a family with normal (blue colarish) jobs finding an internship. Not gonna happen. His older brother just graduated from the same low ranked school with the same mediocre grades and landed a great new software sales job in Virginia paying 65K a year, with help from career services. Successful mediocre college student athlete getting a good job out of undergrad. If college goes online for the rising freshman, what will he do on a gap year? How will he ever have a chance to be even a mediocre college student after being out of school for 9+ months? This is the reality of most ‘regular’ college students.
From UVM, published today:
“Our COVID-19 testing protocol is more aggressive than any college in the state of Vermont, and one of the most aggressive in the entire nation. Students will be required to take weekly PCR tests supplied by the Harvard/MIT-affiliated Broad Institute, which has assured us of their ability to return tests within 24 hours. Employees may also access this weekly testing. All testing will be done without charge to students or employees. After September 18, with results from 4-6 weeks of testing (depending on their arrival dates) for students, our medical/epidemiological advisors will consider the testing data and recommend the frequency of future testing based on their scientific analysis.” https://vermontbiz.com/news/2020/august/10/uvm-president-responds-burlington-mayor-covid-19-testing-and-protocols
I don’t go to UVM but I go to a college relying on Broad Institute testing, so this is interesting to me. According to Holy Cross, Broad can’t return tests quickly enough, but apparently UVM isn’t having that problem? Maybe it’s a money thing, but Holy Cross has a pretty big endowment relative to its size, and it’s going to lose a lot of money off room and board.
Are there going to be so many of these students that they need 2 days to move in? Not just at BC but at any school?
I understand there could be international students who are already living in the US and could get to Boston or NYC or LA, but I don’t think ANY school should be encouraging international students to come from other countries, even Canada and Mexico, to attend and bring themselves to the US. If the schools don’t want the students from California or Ariz or Florida, why should they have international students this year?