Where did you hear that? They’re doing well in their trading business as the equity market has gone up significantly (and there’re opportunities in distressed assets), but the trading business is notoriously volatile. Their fee businesses, including investment banking where many of the liberal arts majors are hired, aren’t, as there’re few deals worldwide. Recoveries aren’t on the horizon either.
Manu of the bulge bracket banks aren’t even opening full time recruiting-they gave offers to summer interns, and that is it. Business has declined sharply at MBB, and they have delayed start dates for many. It is a brutal recruitment season. My sources are close relatives at BB and,MBB.
And to say a lot of students from Bowdoin, Williams, and Dartmouth even go into those careers is just not accurate. It’s a small percentage at each. PE is very rare, IB hiring is down across the board, MBB intern classes will be down across the board and full time hires way down. Rumor is one MBB isn’t hiring for full time at all for most offices. I’ve also heard that several tier 2 consulting firms are also not hiring full time. It’s rough out there for class of 2021 and 2022.
I’m not sure I’ve seen that in my kid’s experience. Other than freshman writing seminar, her peers were all over the place in the classes they’ve been taking and she didn’t have more than one class with any one person last year (including the writing seminars). Same for this fall. There would’ve been no way to base a pod of freshman course schedules for her. Maybe for some of the STEM kids.
Homer, has S19 thought about transferring to another NESCAC? These things come across more and more as non-negotiable demands. I’m thinking it might make more sense transferring to Tufts than taking another gap year for the sake of talking to five people without a mask.
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Homer, has S19 thought about transferring to another NESCAC? These things come across more and more as non-negotiable demands. I’m thinking it might make more sense transferring to Tufts than taking another gap year for the sake of talking to five people without a mask.[/
No. He’s not interested in transferring. First, it’s me writing these posts and not him. And I don’t think I see his hopes as demands. I probably shouldn’t comment here so often because, until there’s a vaccine and classes can be in person, I’m going to be a broken record.
Monastic? Because of needing to live in a single?
Here’s a typical day/week for my D, who is in a single with a private bath:
Wake up 8:30
Meet 7 other students in her major to watch their online synchronous lecture.
F2F classes x 2- 3 depending on the day
labs 2 -3/week
TA F2F 1/week
Tutor virtually 2/week
meals outdoor or under a tent with the same 7 friends (they have a pod of 8 inclusive of D)
study/homework time with above 7
zoom meetings for her theater club (1- 2 x/week)
in person, socially distanced meeting for her council work (3 x/week) and her other club (1 x/week)
movies, dinner, games, workouts smattered in there with the pod (in HS she referred to her friend group as the squad. Now it’s the pod ; )).
Finally to bed midnight - 2 am depending ; )
She’s engaged with profs and thrilled to be back on campus. Same as last year? Heck no. Worth the COA? Yes, in my book (I don’t think I’d feel any differently if the bill was a full pay private). Her profs have been nothing short of amazing, including last year when they had to pivot on a dime.
Like most everyone else, D’s making the best of the new normal and still finding the joys every day. (Which is also what she did when she was working from home last Spring from the dining room table.). She’s busy, engaged, and sees peers daily.
Focusing on the positives, instead of what’s missing, goes a long way in getting through life.
I am wondering but at what colleges is this happening? I agree much will be similar next fall but solitude? I hope they are studying…lol…Its just not what I am hearing on the ground per se. My son’s in a co-op house (probably not the best year for this), he does have a single but can see people as often as he wants to. They all eat dinner at the same time either outside and yes, some go back to their rooms but there is plenty of “green” space with tree’s etc if he wants that. Perfect…no. but solitude, I guess if he wants that , that is there. He has no issue being in his room and socializing online. He does this anyway and it’s part of his culture before all of this.
UMD-College Park is doing well from my perspective as a parent. My daughter is off campus but was required to be tested within 14 days prior of her own personal arrival date and then again when she arrived within the first week. She is scheduled to be tested again on 9/15. Her next round will be in October. She is a bioE major and all but one of her classes are online-one Physics lab is in person. The first 14 days was planned as all in person classes to be online only and as scheduled they are able to now move in person on Monday. The school is reporting on it’s Covid DB the self reported positives as well but not reporting that in the positivity rate because something to do with can’t calculate the total number of those tests…that was over my head. Anyway. I am happy with that transparency as well.
President Pines took to the streets on LDW and hit the local water holes to check up on students for SD and mask wearing as well as I think take a look at the issue of bars serving minors. That is a big issue in CP. Those bars are packed with freshman who get by flashing credit cards. They really could de-densify those bars by only letting in 21 and up! Maybe the year to press that issue is this year.
My other daughter is a senior this year and I am really taking a hard look at how the other schools are handling this. She has JMU on her list and they are not getting a penny of our money. I told her to take if off immediately.
You are so funny since you just described like all engineering freshman (just having fun here). When my son grunted as a freshman and put a few sentences together for us, our biggest joy was walking by his bedroom hearing the laughter and conversations going on. He actually as you know put on a major tech conference at school and did the introduction and we were shocked to see how proficient he actually is.
But what you said about independence to me is key. One of the main advantages of kids going away is their maturity level when they return. Just part of body and mental maturity. Like send one human being away and get a totally different and improved human being in exchange. He even would sit down with us and have total full conversations!!! Really…!! You will see , it’s coming, I promise you…LOL (as a senior he is totally great BTW).
It’s very clear here that some students are having positive experiences, which is great. However, I don’t think this means that students who aren’t thriving look at things as “glass half empty” or can’t make the most of difficult circumstances.
Seems some schools did a nice job of creating pods and having activities for the students - this is definitely not the case everywhere.
And the experience of a returning student who already has a group of friends is much different than that of a quiet freshman.
It’s great that your kid can cope, but it doesn’t mean that something is wrong with the kid who can’t.
My D created a “dorm room” in the basement with her desk and we even brought a twin bed down from the guest room (said room has been taken over by her brother for WFH). We experimented with our router and Wifi and moved some things around so that everyone could get a good signal, since 4 of us are now WFH.
She is pretty introverted so she isn’t missing parties and big events. But she does miss seeing other faces her age and while half her classes are fully virtual, half are also in person, so it is hard to be one of a few remote students. She loves the academics so she is able to fully concentrate on that and not worry about whether her dorm mates are being COVID conscious.
Yes, but are there any examples out there of children who did everything; got tested, went through quarantine; started some sort of class schedule - then, decided to go home because it was too much for them? I’m serious. Are there?
You are 100% correct. But for those freshman there are still ways to join groups and activities, aren’t there? There should be some facebook groups to find kids to form study groups to join? Most freshman are taking the basics. I am sure there are groups to study with other freshman. As in normal times, I assume that they want the interactions as much as the others want it also. Maybe her RA or college counselor would have some suggestions to meet other’s during these times? At least it doesn’t hurt to ask.
@Leigh22 I absolutely agree that there are many kids, especially freshmen, who are struggling under the current conditions. I was responding to the repeated comments that seemed to doubt that students were able to have a meaningful experience in spite of all the restrictions.
I have a sophomore on campus with several in person classes and a senior living off campus with only remote classes (she has been there since January so didn’t move off campus as a result of COVID). They are both making the most of what they have. I certainly don’t knock the kids who are having a rough time and not able to adapt. I was merely pointing out in my previous comments, that for many (thousands) life is not nearly as awful as homerdog seemed to think, but I don’t discount that for many, it is not working out.
I have a senior who will be applying to colleges this year. TBH, depending on the situation, we may have him take a gap year. I already think he is a little immature and not ready for the huge change campus life brings. I was already worried about him having a hard time making friends, etc., so COVID restrictions will only make that worse. It will be a tough conversation to have with him if that is what we think he should do (gap year).
Each kid is different. I don’t think any who have said their kids are doing well under the circumstances thinks there is something wrong with the kid who isn’t coping.
If things go well, hopefully schools (talking about smaller lacs), can loosen restrictions, but they are not likely to do so until kids have been on campus for several weeks perhaps a month. 2 weeks in, is too soon to declare victory and let the guard down.
And for spring, even if fall has gone well, they do have to start almost at square 1 again. They have to get kids back to campus virus free, which will mean initial quarantines and strict measures at the beginning of the semester. They won’t know which restrictions they can lift until that initial phase is over. Hopefully the national numbers will be lower then, so the process will be easier, but it will still be a process, likely with lots of rules and then a gradual easement if things go well.
Agreed that my post was in response to the “it is so terrible for everyone” type comments. I didn’t mean to take away from anyone else’s experience. It’s certainly much harder for new freshmen.
For anyone hoping that Spring semester will be different…more open, more access - I have to say that I highly doubt that will be the case. What lots of ‘optimists’ (for lack of a better word) seem to forget is that Spring semester is a bit of a misnomer. It is really Winter semester with a possibility for more spring-like weather the last month or so or the semester.
Winter is already being described as a highly volatile time for Covid infection rates - most likely to increase sharply as many people are driven indoors due to the weather which is the preferred transmission location for Covid and other infections during this time. Depending on cold/flu rates (and severity) this could be one of the worst winters we’ve seen in decades.
I cannot see any of the schools that took a highly conservative approach to the Fall semester deciding to ride into Spring semester by throwing their doors open and relaxing protocols. I know why families and students are hoping for a different answer but I think that leads to probable disappointment.
My daughter’s Fall semester has been mostly remote (one class out of five F2F). In lots of ways it is a life of solitude and studying for her…each class really does require 2-3 hours of work for each hour she meets in the class and 4 of her classes are writing intensive so it isn’t work she could be doing in a group (she placed out of most introductory classes through APs and placement tests). She loves her classes and her teachers have clearly worked hard to make remote learning a success. A lot of break out groups formed and re-formed each class to make sure students are getting to know one another. She’s made a lot of new friends…even if most of their interactions are via instagram message while they are all remote from each other.
She has been able to get a lot of feedback from both professors and TAs on draft ideas/writing with fairly quick turnaround which leads me to believe few other students are taking as much advantage of those resources, or professors and TAs are really trying to prioritize meeting with students even if it needs to be remote only at this time.
She gets along well with her roommate, they are figuring out the best meals to order from both the main dining halls as well the smaller coffee shops and cafes on campus. She is also trying to get as much exercise outside as possible before the weather gets too cold for her. A lot of pick up soccer and frisbee games. A ton of running/long walks with her roommate and other dorm mates. She was invited to virtual rush parties but chose not to explore the Greek system this first year.
As I said on our smaller class of 2020 forum, she and her roommate also have a (MUCH) cleaner room than they probably would pre-Covid. They are doing laundry regularly, they’ve figured out a good schedule of washing linens mid-week and doing clothing early morning on the weekends. I’ve received a couple of funny tiktok videos of their masks hanged to dry near their box fan (it looked like a Tibetan prayer flag scene in a movie)… roommate’s mom and I might have gone a bit overboard with the number of re-useable masks we sent! Not what either of them thought they would be spending as much time doing but they are figuring out ways to constructively stay busy.
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I expect they will (ease restrictions) as we are in this for the long haul and have to learn to live with the virus.
I have to say, I think the fact that Bowdoin has already announced online only for professors for Spring is ridiculous and the only restriction that I find unacceptable. Some professors would happily teach in person, so why not offer some in person and some online? This is a small remote college, I really can’t understand how it’s some great risk to be in the front of a classroom masked with masked students - especially if it’s a choice. @homerdog I don’t see how professors will be willing to meet with the students in person in spring if they are all online… nor should they. If it’s too dangerous for them to teach then why isn’t it too dangerous to meet one on one? If I had a younger student looking at that school, it would come right off the list. If they can’t manage Covid on a sprawling spacious campus and testing - with some in person learning then forget it. It makes me suspect that it’s all about the sports. If they were doing sports, they’d find a way for in person. Bowdoin has 7x the endowment total and half the students vs my daughter’s New England college and they can’t figure something out for safe in person even in the Spring?