So, it’s not a Plan A. You’re not applying to Bowdoin in 2021 (just
using it as a hypothetical) with the hope that it will eventually go back to all in-person classes in 2022; you would actually be hoping it will be all in-person by Fall 2021. It may or may not, but it’s not like you’re using the Fall 2021 application as a reservation for whenever they return to in-person, right?
@GoldPenn There are definitely schools that were closed in the fall that will be open this spring, even if they haven’t officially announced their full plans. And definitely there will be lots of changes by fall '21! I’m not sure I’d make my list based on fall '20 covid response.
@homerdog I totally understand why students want to take time off. Online U is awful.
Oh sorry no. We are totally hoping she has options for fall where kids are on campus and in class even if they are in masks! Most of the schools on her list have all kids back now with varying degrees of remote and in person classes. She’s not applying to Bowdoin. 
Not sure how cumulative numbers for colleges figured but of note is that several SEC schools-UOfSC for sure- kept original date for start of class with students on campus. Clemson delayed student return until mid September (started class virtually) so students (other than athletes I guess) have been on campus half the time as some other schools. Now Uof Sc had a huge surge that they seem past (or maybe not testing as much?), so Clemsons numbers may stabilize as well.
Just saw that Yale will test all students 72 hours before leaving campus for Thanksgiving. Not perfect but something. Other colleges with aggressive testing may be doing similar.
@homerdog
I agree with your comment that we’re buying a very specific experience. I watched some videos posted by freshmen arriving at some of the schools on our list and I was struck by the loneliness of it all. Student arrives to empty room; no parents allowed to help unpack; no roommate; quarantine alone in room for up to 2 weeks; food delivered to room. It’s pretty awful.
Re Middlebury. I was so surprised by the lack of weekly or regular testing that I double checked, and just checked again now. There is no regular testing. They’ve done about 8,000 tests. Amherst, Williams and Wellesley have done between 24,000 and over 30,000 tests. Middlebury tests students upon arrival and their website says there is random group testing done occasionally throughout the semester. On one hand I find this disappointing; on the other hand, their numbers are the same as schools that are testing twice weekly. ?♀️
To add to the discussion about Class of 2020 gap year. In my world:
—Niece at Washington U: gap year
—Nephew at Gettysburg: online at home
—Nephew at Colorado College: gap year
The trouble with a gap year is there’s not much to do!
@PetraMC agree about remote class. We know quite a few kids who went to college this fall and are unhappy with how it’s going and are now considering deferring for spring.
Simmons University just announced they will be fully online for spring semester. D20 extremely disappointed. We will be looking for an off-campus apartment for her for spring, as continuing “college” from her childhood bedroom is not a good option for her. If we had the ability for her to take a gap semester, I would be encouraging it, but given her scholarship constraints, it isn’t.
Get a job in package handling or delivery, or grocery store?
They are holding out for a managment position.
Re: gap year, I know lots who are taking time off, either as an incoming freshman or a leave of absence.
In terms of what they are doing, there are kids who have found year-long volunteer gigs through AmeriCorp or temporary jobs with campaigns. Another is living in an apartment with other college-aged volunteers at an environmental advocacy group. A few living abroad, either with family members, friends, or with a program (there are some running in places that accept Americans and/or have quarantine restrictions for Americans like Croatia, some islands in the Caribbean, Costa Rica, some other places in Europe if you go through an educational program etc.) I also know some outdoorsy types who are hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and road-tripping. One working on a cattle ranch and another on a farm in VT. A few just working regular jobs at home and saving money.
Some of these options are expensive.
Or one can look for an internship. They do exist! Companies know that some kids are not happy with remote college and are offering internships during the school year even when they have not done so in the past. Worth looking at Handshake or Indeed. S19 might just have stumbled onto a company he could work for after college this way. If all goes well with this start up, it will grow exponentially by the time he graduates and he will have been one of the first ten involved at the beginning!
I think it’s more important than ever to consider health care facilities/capacity issues when making college lists this year.
For example, Amherst seems to be doing well with their response as an institution, but the campus is smack dab in the center of town. The recent outbreak at UMass has already affected the community, because so many students reside in off-campus housing located in town, and the residential community has already protested having students there at all. The Commonwealth has placed the area in their ‘red’ zone. The nearest hospitals are in Holyoke and Northampton, and the region which the College draws its faculty and staff is largely rural, and not rich in health care resources. The VA hospital in Holyoke was the site of a tragic COVID outbreak earlier this year.
The North Adams/Williamstown area had an outbreak in the spring. North Adams has a small regional hospital, but if it becomes overwhelmed, one has to go to Pittsfield or Albany. Combine these facts with a very rural location with rough weather and poor infrastructure, and it’s a tough call.
Middlebury is a larger town by Vermont standards, and has a regional hospital. But if there is an outbreak, and the local hospital is overwhelmed, one might need to go to Burlington for care. Vermont’s community health systems were already under tremendous financial stress pre-COVID.
Rural New England colleges might bear the brunt of health care system capacity issues during the pandemic.
That sounds great, I hope it works out for him.
I think if there’s any time to take a step off the treadmill for some personal growth, it’s now. If possible of course, there is no perfect path for all.
There are colleges out there (most notably Northeastern) where kids go back and forth between going to class and working at internships. I don’t see any reason why students at other schools can’t mock up that plan for themselves. Take a break from Covid-land campus and work in an industry they might consider as a career. Then go back to school. I get that, if it’s not a part of the colleges’ plan, it will take longer than four years to graduate but it’s also a bonus for students to start to figure out what they might want to do after college. Typically reserved for summer, internships during the school year play that same role.
Yale tests all students, on and off campus, twice/week all semester long, as are several other schools mentioned here. I wonder what will happen if a student tests + at any of these colleges conducting twice weekly surveillance testing? Will student still be allowed to travel home?
@CT1417 haverford is testing all students prior to departure for the semester, and a student who tests positive can go home in some situations- all semester long, students who test positive have the option to leave campus and go home… if they’re picked up in a private car by family. At no point, even end of semester on campus, can a student who tests positive leave to travel on any sort of public transportation.
Wesleyan (not to be confused with Wellesley) is likewise located in the middle of town (Middletown, CT pop. 46,000 - no pun intended), but only four blocks from the nearest hospital. I’ve seen helicopters land there, so there must be medivac capabilities, just in case. Connecticut is not generally considered a rural state, but once you’re outside of Hartford and New Haven, things can get wild:
http://wesleyanargus.com/2020/09/24/coyotes-on-campus-sightings-in-middletown-are-nothing-new-middletown-animal-control-says/
@milgymfam – Sounds like a good policy. I truly fear for the outbreak this country will see between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Not just due to college students traveling home–especially from schools that are not testing students–but also all the family gatherings with K-12 students and older grandparents.
I’m on a parents gap year FB page and and believe me there is a ton of things to do during a gap year (e.g. Aardvark in Isreal) even within the confines of CV-19. For my D she is working almost full-time at a restaurant and taking two online classes (for fun).
We recently asked her if she has regrets for taking a gap year and she said no that she is really enjoying her job and classes. The only thing that slightly worries her is that she has always been mature for her age and doesn’t know how it will be being 19 as a freshman. But I’m sure she will be fine and she knows a dozen or so other gap year kids so she will have some freshman her age next year. I’m not too worried about her…