@TomMW4 - First time on this topic in a few weeks…and opened to your question (no idea if you ever got an answer).
Swat had first and second year students (plus need based) on campus in the fall, and recently announced that their plan for Spring (Jr. / Sr. on campus) remains. They had hoped to bring everyone back.
They recently had an uptick in positives, but overall I think the school is doing OK. Val Smith is an amazing leader, and has a knack for getting out in front and making decisions that consider the complexities of her students for travel, remote learning, etc.
At Rice, kids who report any symptoms that could be covid (sore throat, fever, cough, etc.) are put in isolation until the are tested a couple of times and their roommates are quarantined. The key is they have to report their symptoms. Rice is a pretty close knit community and they have kept numbers pretty in check. Kids seem to be honest about their symptoms because no one wants to be the student responsible for an outbreak.
Many students use financial aid and scholarships to go to college. For my kids, one at a private school and one at a public, it would not have worked. Both had scholarships that were for 8 consecutive semesters. One did take one semester off and she thought it was all approved and it wasn’t. She only got her scholarship back after a lot of begging and pleading (some by me). It also caused her loans to go into repayment so she had to get that straightened out too.
The one at the private school did have a lot of kids who went on co-ops and internships, but those were through the school and they usually took one or two classes, most often online, while they are off on their co-ops.
Some kids can enjoy renting a house with friends and working at home or going to Europe for a year, but many others cannot afford it.
The problem is, most of these symptoms (other than fever) are common and usually something else, like common colds, or something that does not involve an infection with anything at all. If every single sniffle, cough, etc. were treated as COVID-19, would most of the students end up in isolation or quarantine?
Also, COVID-19 may be asymptomatically contagious, so chasing symptoms would miss a lot of cases.
There is, even with covid, but some options are expensive. Even if it’s affordable and doable to work out FA with the school, it’s still not always the best option for every student.
That doesn’t mean that there isn’t much to do if what the poster’s child wanted was to look into a gap year.
They test everyone weekly so they aren’t just chasing symptoms. And when there were a couple of cases in a dorm recently they tested everyone there twice a week for a week or two.
I agree that it could potentially be an issue if they isolate/quarantine everyone with a mild symptoms, but hopefully if kids continue to follow the masking and distancing rules, even mild illnesses will be less frequent. Plus, Rice is in Houston so the kids can spend most of their social time outside for a lot of the year. Events that normally would be inside have been moved outside this year. Currently they are not even allowed to eat inside unless they take it to their rooms.
What a great example of, “where there’s a will, there’s a way!”. Although it was not automatically approved–it sounds like your daughter was in fact able to keep her scholarship without going into early repayment, despite taking a gap semester. Good for her (and you)!! I think in 2020, there’s a real effort to be extraordinarily generous and flexible with students of all circumstances, so while I would say it’s much safer to “ask permission” first, it is often okay to “ask forgiveness instead of permission”…
My hs sr is one who is leaning towards taking a gap year.She would just work and hope things are better for fall 2022. We are chasing huge merit and can’t pick a school for how they handle Covid. All 3 schools she has been accepted are big state schools with the typical off campus parties, etc. Praying for a vaccine and a more normal campus life in Fall 2022.
Different people will have different comfort levels with the seeking forgiveness approach. Risk of forgiveness is the scholarship isn’t re-instated and you have to cover cost scholarship would have going forward or your kid transfers. Something some families will be more comfortable doing than others. Also will depend on the amount of the scholarship and how much longer it runs.
No, her loans did go into repayment at 6 months; Jan to June, then repayment started. She returned to school in Sept, so then they went back into deferment. That would be the federal rule, so a school can’t override it.
She did not intend to spin the wheel and hope the scholarship would be reinstated by begging. She asked before she went on the ‘internship’ (it was the Disney college program, which isn’t really an internship). She thought she’d asked the right department (FA) but she’d really asked the registration office (I think) and they said no problem to take a semester or 2 off, that she’d be reinstated. Sure, academically but not for her merit aid. If it wasn’t pre-approved, she would have had to decide if she was giving up college or explain how she would have come up with the $10k she was forfeiting. It took me calling and saying she wouldn’t be returning unless they reinstated the scholarship. The woman specifically said they do not approve absences for hiking through Europe or going to Hollywood to see if acting might be a good career. They want academic experience and probably would not have approved Disney.
I think some schools are being more generous with their gap years, either before freshman year or during later years, but not all are and I was just pointing out that not everyone is free to just take off because there are financial consequences that some students have to consider. Florida Bright futures requires you to start school within a certain number of months after hs graduation (I think it was 15 months, so you could take one year off) and then there are rules about taking semesters off once you start. You can go on a religious mission or join the army, but all other absences require permission. Some OOS students asked this year if they could live OOS and still get the Benacquisto scholarship and the answer was no, even if classes are online, the scholarship requires the students to live near the college town.
UNC Charlotte has announced their revised academic calendar for spring:
classes beginning in their assigned instruction method on January 20 and continuing in that manner until March 28.
Spring Break will be March 29-April 3, and then all classes will resume online for the remainder of the semester. Classes will end on May 5, and exams will continue through May 13.
I really appreciate that this announcement was made before class registration for next semester.
Just another note that co-op programs are highly structured. Not only to ensure FA isn’t disrupted, but that course sequencing isn’t impacted so students can graduate in 8 semesters. There are also housing consideration. It’s not as easy as just going back and forth.
Tufts opened and are testing every three days at a rate of 0.003%…IN Addition to this Tufts is also testing the surrounding areas for free!! They are testing surrounding residents every three days. Tufts is committed to keeping the community safe while remaining open. You can do both. During the peek of the pandemic Tufts opened its campus to house first responders, doctors , nurses and patients.
Good for Tufts, that’s awesome of them. They also came up with the social distancing picnic blankets right? ?
I am sorry for the harsh tone of some of my posts. The socioeconomic gap of provision just really saddens and frustrates me but like Tufts the well funded colleges can be part of the solution.
I get the harshness, it has been a stressful time. Especially when there are so many gaps in testing and treatments.
I try to look at the positives. If colleges can do their part to help surrounding communities, it can have a big impact.
It’s also nice to see my fellow students all doing their part to keep our community safe. Masking and compliance with all the safety regulations really is uniting and driving our community with the common goal of remaining on campus. I have yet to see any student breaking the rules. (even off campus).
I will add, though, for the sake of accuracy, that their (7 day) positive rate is 0.03% (not 0.003%), similar to other schools doing semiweekly testing through Broad.
LMU released their “plans” for Spring of “limited, low-density, in-person classes and campus experiences in the spring as soon as public health authorities allow.” Public health officials have stated they will not release higher ed opening plans until after Thanksgiving, and LA County is in Tier 1 (the worst tier) and that must change for campuses to reopen.
@homerdog if you want me to PM the email, let me know. Other details include a priority for seniors who need on campus classes to graduate, protection for international students under the O1 visa, continued cancellation of spring study abroad and creation of “remote global” opportunities, and plans to open up 1100 beds for on campus housing if allowed.
I believe the timing of this “announcement” really was pushed by registration which needs to start, so it is starting with everything online. Many parents are sounding frustrated but it really seems like in LA County, schools’ hands are tied. Chapman just opened up a little, they are not too far away, but in Orange County.
Sure! PM me the link! I’m surprised that they need to start registration for spring semester. Bowdoin had a virtual town hall last night. Lots of good news. Sophs, juniors and seniors back on campus. “Many” professors want to teach in person and the deans are collecting info on which classes professors want to teach and if they want to teach them in person and then figuring out a schedule that can try to fit the classes into the spaces that could work. Classes all posted mid-November (including whether they are in person or remote only) and students don’t have to decide on whether they will enroll or defer until 11/30 so that they have time to look over the class list. Registration starts early Dec.
S19 will likely go back. Some in-person classes is promising. Track will practice but not compete in winter. NESCAC hasn’t decided on spring yet but it doesn’t look great. The dining hall is starting to open for in-person seating with reservations. The cafe is now open for grabbing coffee, sandwiches etc. Buildings are open for studying and the gym is open with reservations. Of course, the kids coming back for spring will have to go through everything the fall kids did - test upon arrival and quarantine until they have three negative tests in about a week and a half time period. They will be allowed to mask up and go pick up food during that time and I believe exercise outside (cold weather doesn’t stop running boys just not sure where they would be allowed to run during this short time - maybe just on the track or on the school’s XC race path which is usually plowed for winter.) Once the college gets a grip on everyone being Covid-free, it opens up to “yellow” where they are now.