I care because apathy and silence are contagious. Bad community behavior in a meeting is contagious. The class is a community. I’m not delivering a lecture in a huge hall. I do have a participation grade. I don’t understand your hostility. In a work environment, if you have apathetic and rude colleague, it’s annoying. Why is it so hard to understand that professors like to work with students? I want to enjoy what I do, not endure it.
My larger point is that it’s hard to get a good group dynamic going on Zoom. I realize that it’s what I have to do right now, but I am looking forward to being back in the classroom where people feel more accountable for at least pretending to pay attention.
My employer also has a pass/fail option in place and I believe it’s causing a lot of students to be checked out this semester.
So you think people come here to learn universal truths, and return because they need reinforcement?
I think folks come here in an attempt to gain some insight into their very difficult and expensive decision making. Nobody has my issues, and nobody has yours. Add in the apparent randomness of the college admission process at above average schools, and the only thing that’s consistent in every discussion is inconsistency.
There is no right answer on COVID, and there is no school that has figured it out, just as though is no best school for engineering or best school for the money.
I’m happy to be wrong…but I can’t see one thing that works for everyone on these boards.
Darcy123, my D24 is in the same situation as your daughter. She is planning to apply to a MD/PhD program, that means 11 years (best case) including the 4 undergrad years. She chose her school based on the research opportunities the university offers in her interests. On one hand it is difficult to go through a virtual college year as a freshman, because she doesn’t have her friend groups yet. But at the same time, she is able to dedicate more time to her coursework, which is very heavy, and establish a strong foundation in her first year towards her academic goals. Let’s hope for on-campus and in-person instructions for the 2021-2022 year.
@homerdog - if no one has chimed in yet, ND goes back to indoor dining next week. The outside tents are very substantial. I suspect they will be heated when the temp gets too low so they have extra seating.
Here’s an update from Colgate University. As of today, there are 2 active cases. The rate of positive cases on a 7-day rolling average is at 0.4% on campus, 0.3% for Madison County. 3 students came up positive a couple of weeks ago, after being discovered to break the no travel outside the campus community, 47 students were quarantined after being identified as having close contacts with these students. Those 3 students who violated the travel restriction, were sent home after the 14 day quarantine. The school was suppose to move to Gate 2 early last week but held off and stayed at Gate 1 for an additional week. Yesterday, the campus moved to Gate 2 with moderate restrictions. The school is on week 5 of fall classes.
Sophomore daughter so far is enjoying her stay on campus. She has adapted pretty well to their new normal. I am hoping infection will remain low. Unfortunately, partying is still happening in small groups but campus security is on them most of the time. Flu clinics started this week as well. My daughter was lucky to get a schedule early. Link below about Gate 2.
My D is one of those gap year kids. Working almost full time as server in a restaurant, making good money (helping to pay some of her a anticipated college costs) and taking two online classes at a community college to better herself (she will not get college credit) She is not sticking her head in the sand, she is making a smart decision in my opinion and I know she will be better for it in the long run.
Remember an “education” is not just the diploma you hang on the wall.
I like this thread and find it interesting to read people’s individual stories and perspectives, but it does sometimes get lost that there’s no one right answer. Each kid is different, each school is different, each family is different. My S19 is loving his on-campus experience at Denison, maybe even in part because of the unusual situation they are in, but I know that there are other kids at the school who have decided they would be happier studying off-campus or taking a break. Everyone needs to make the best decisions they can given their particular situations.
It’s interesting to me that no matter what some posters say about their kids having a meaningful experience on campus this fall, there are others who insist that this can’t really be true.
My D20 is at a NE SLAC this fall that invited ALL classes back, in a mix of singles and doubles. They test everyone 2X/week. Since starting in August, they have had ZERO positive student cases. They had ONE positive employee a few weeks ago, but that person was working off campus anyway. 3/4 of her classes are in-person, dining is open, buildings are open for studying and socializing (D and her friends sometimes pick a room to study or watch a movie together), and the gym/rec center is open. She has had in-person office hours with two professors already. Clubs are meeting both in person and virtually, depending on their size. In fact, last week she participated in an on-campus photo shoot for an article she’s writing for the fashion magazine, and she is working to help plan activities for Latinx heritage month. She has made a lot of friends, and is even working with a professor on a new play she’s writing. Since starting in August, they have actually increased the size allowances for groups given they haven’t had any positive student cases. She texts almost daily how much she loves her college and that she’s having a great time. (Though this week was a bit rough with all the back-to-back papers and exams!) Yes, she’s not attending any wild parties, but she still has a social life and has even managed to start casually “seeing” someone. She is already anticipating missing her friends and classes when she returns home Thanksgiving-late January.
So while I understand that there are many “doom and gloom” campus reports out there, that is certainly not everyone. She has a friend at another NE SLAC that is also having a good experience. (And all classes were invited back there also.) Again, we only seem to hear about the cases that aren’t working. There are many colleges where students are doing fine and having meaningful experiences, they are just not posting about it.
So, feel free to discount her as another student that “just can’t possibly be actually enjoying college like this.” I have no regrets paying her tuition bill.
I too appreciate all of you that post positive experiences as well. I’m glad your D is doing well.
I hope other schools can learn from this too and we all have a much better spring.
"Most students don’t want to extend college further out and be in college until they are 23. "
The average age for a college student is 26. Most college students are not 18-22, that’s a big misunderstanding, maybe 20% are. This thread oozes judgment, it’s concerning, it really is. If covid reduces or eliminates the residential dorm system, that’s probably a good thing.
Yes, that’s true for the UK (2-week quarantine). Regular US citizens cannot travel to the EU, but there’s an exception for US students enrolled in EU institutions. Much the same the other way round, exceptions are only for EU/UK students to the US too.
The ideal college system for me is one that gives a 40 year single mother in poverty the opportunity to have an employer sponsored education that allows her to study around her kids needs and her living expense paying job. She would have a mix of online and in person learning that is an affordable bus ride from her own home and is done within her normal 40-60 hour working week. She was would be paid to climb the socioeconomic ladder. The residential college system shuts out the people who need a college education the most. The ones who have responsibilities that doesn’t allow them to move or reduce working hours. This explosion of online education because of COVID is celebratory to me.
My D20 is at a NE SLAC this fall that invited ALL classes back, in a mix of singles and doubles. They test everyone 2X/week. Since starting in August, they have had ZERO positive student cases. They had ONE positive employee a few weeks ago, but that person was working off campus anyway. 3/4 of her classes are in-person, dining is open, buildings are open for studying and socializing (D and her friends sometimes pick a room to study or watch a movie together), and the gym/rec center is open. She has had in-person office hours with two professors already. Clubs are meeting both in person and virtually, depending on their size. In fact, last week she participated in an on-campus photo shoot for an article she’s writing for the fashion magazine, and she is working to help plan activities for Latinx heritage month. She has made a lot of friends, and is even working with a professor on a new play she’s writing. Since starting in August, they have actually increased the size allowances for groups given they haven’t had any positive student cases. She texts almost daily how much she loves her college and that she’s having a great time. (Though this week was a bit rough with all the back-to-back papers and exams!) Yes, she’s not attending any wild parties, but she still has a social life and has even managed to start casually “seeing” someone. She is already anticipating missing her friends and classes when she returns home Thanksgiving-late January.
So while I understand that there are many “doom and gloom” campus reports out there, that is certainly not everyone. She has a friend at another NE SLAC that is also having a good experience. (And all classes were invited back there also.) Again, we only seem to hear about the cases that aren’t working. There are many colleges where students are doing fine and having meaningful experiences, they are just not posting about it.
So, feel free to discount her as another student that “just can’t possibly be actually enjoying college like this.” I have no regrets paying her tuition bill.
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So what is Hamilton doing for international students who couldn’t get back to campus? Is there inequity there assuming they have to take all remote classes?
I can’t wrap my brain around why Hamilton looks like you say yet other NESCACs (even some with all kids on campus) don’t have 3/4 of their classes in person. Maybe Hamilton is lucky to have newer and larger buildings where they can spread the students out enough? Bowdoin is saying classroom space is so limited. Is Hamilton having classes into the evening and on Saturdays in order to use the classrooms that work for social distancing? If that’s true, I wonder if there was any pushback from faculty. Also, if sports start again in spring, those kids all practice at 4:30 and again on Sat mornings so that would limit which classes they can take.
I’m not questioning your post. I want to know more in hopes that other schools can moved to do what Hamilton is doing.
I think she is saying 3/4 of her D’s classes are in-person. That could just be the luck of the draw. I would be very surprised if 3/4 of all Hamilton’s classes are in-person. If that’s true, I’d want to know the average age of their faculty.
