Anyone else here have a kid in college?

[Dunn_IU]

I have a daughter that just finished her freshman year at VA Tech. Came home 1st week in March and finished online. She hated the dorm so she didn't mind being home and said it was much easier since the profs cut them slack and in some cases didn't even cover all the material on the syllabus. Plus her BF was back here too so she was fine. Now waiting to hear how they plan to go about fall semester which they plan to announce 1st week in June. Maybe it varies at each school, but I can't help think the on campus atmosphere is going to be bizarre at best. First off they have to figure out who doesn't get to live in the dorm since there's most likely only one to a room. Dining halls will be grab and go or delivery, or maybe they can only go at certain times. Very limited social interaction, common areas off limits. Wearing masks and gloves in class and everywhere else? Or maybe take most of your classes online in your room. Probably no fans at FB and BB games. Bus service for kids living off campus which is like 75% of them will be useless since they'll have to social distance and take maybe half capacity on what is normally packed buses. They may restrict kids from going home on weekends and also restrict family visitors from outside areas. These schools can't afford to shut down campuses and continue only online learning. And haven't even mentioned what happens with testing or when kids test positive and have to quarantine somewhere.

She's accepted to transfer to two other schools, including George Mason where she can live at home for free and commute 30 min each way. We have to decide by mid June, so we're just waiting to hear each schools plan and go from there. Or maybe they just throw them all together like normal and hope for herd immunity. Either way its going to be interesting and tough for them to have anything close to a normal campus environment.

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

This is pretty limited feedback, but I’ve witnessed IU students in Bloomington who have mostly acted as if nothing has changed and that they (or their loved ones) are invincible.

*shrugs*

 

[kkott]

I have a daughter that just finished her freshman year at VA Tech. Came home 1st week in March and finished online. She hated the dorm so she didn't mind being home and said it was much easier since the profs cut them slack and in some cases didn't even cover all the material on the syllabus. Plus her BF was back here too so she was fine. Now waiting to hear how they plan to go about fall semester which they plan to announce 1st week in June. Maybe it varies at each school, but I can't help think the on campus atmosphere is going to be bizarre at best. First off they have to figure out who doesn't get to live in the dorm since there's most likely only one to a room. Dining halls will be grab and go or delivery, or maybe they can only go at certain times. Very limited social interaction, common areas off limits. Wearing masks and gloves in class and everywhere else? Or maybe take most of your classes online in your room. Probably no fans at FB and BB games. Bus service for kids living off campus which is like 75% of them will be useless since they'll have to social distance and take maybe half capacity on what is normally packed buses. They may restrict kids from going home on weekends and also restrict family visitors from outside areas. These schools can't afford to shut down campuses and continue only online learning. And haven't even mentioned what happens with testing or when kids test positive and have to quarantine somewhere.

She's accepted to transfer to two other schools, including George Mason where she can live at home for free and commute 30 min each way. We have to decide by mid June, so we're just waiting to hear each schools plan and go from there. Or maybe they just throw them all together like normal and hope for herd immunity. Either way its going to be interesting and tough for them to have anything close to a normal campus environment.

Definitely a strange time. My oldest daughter just graduated and finished her classes online. No graduation... she just went back to campus over the weekend and took some graduation pics in her gown.

My son is a rising senior at NC St. He lives off campus so that simplifies the dorm/dining hall issues somewhat. Still waiting to hear on their plans for many of the same areas, although I believe they've confirmed their plan is to start 2 weeks early and finish the first semester at Thanksgiving. Seems logical, but it is bizarre and unprecedented times.

 

[Hoopsdoc1978]

Sophomore at Vincennes and a freshman at Ball State. My son says VU is talking about drastically different class structures for next year, mainly wrt online availability. Which I suppose is normal everywhere.

My daughter is moving back home when her lease is up and transferring elsewhere. She hasn’t decided where yet.

 

[UncleMark]

Good time to take a year off. Live at home, do some lame manual labor like stocking shelves at Kroger, or doing some down and dirty volunteer work. Kids from privileged backgrounds need to see how people across town live.

 

[i'vegotwinners]

This is pretty limited feedback, but I’ve witnessed IU students in Bloomington who have mostly acted as if nothing has changed and that they (or their loved ones) are invincible.

*shrugs*

college age kids are pretty much safe from covid, their older relatives not so much, and less safe the older they are.

any strategy going forward needs to accept the reality of the age thing, rather than insisting on a zero strategy for all ages approach.

college students need to stay on campus/in town all yr till a remedy or vaccine is perfected and proven safe, which could be yrs, decades, or beyond our lifetimes.

refusing to acknowledge the age thing while trying to figure out how to deal with this is beyond insane.

we need a national strategy that accepts the reality of the age thing, and that a certain percentage of higher risk people want to take a wtf, i'm willing to roll the dice, but not willing to ride things out in my house forever.

don't let the olders f things up indefinitely for the youngers and wtf crowd, and don't let the youngers' and wtf crowd's situation, affect any strategy towards the at risks who don't want to play Russian roulette.

we need a 2 universe strategy.

not a one universe non strategy, that doesn't work for sht for half the people, regardless.

does no one find it strange that the media posts the death totals 24/7, but never never never never never ever breaks the death totals down by age groups.


US covid death thru 5/16/2020 by age per CDC

under 1 yr old, 3 deaths
1- 4 yrs, 2
5-14 yrs 7
15-24 yrs 76
25-34 yrs 463
35-44 yrs 1,186
45-54 3,338
all ages 68,998

to my knowledge, contributing health conditions were not taken into account, only age.

we need facts that break everything down.

we are getting beyond horrible reporting by all the media, as facts matter.

creating strategies without knowing and considering all the facts, is idiocracy.

only thing worse, is no strategy at all. (our current approach to a pandemic).

stats broken down by age groups were hard to find.

if anyone thinks these are not correct, feel free to post your contrary findings.

 

[outside shooter]

My son is going into his senior year at Cornell. We are waiting to hear their plan. He had a sweet very relevant summer internship lined up that fell through, of course.

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

college age kids are pretty much safe from covid, their older relatives not so much, and less safe the older they are.

any strategy going forward needs to accept the reality of the age thing, rather than insisting on a zero strategy for all ages approach.

college students need to stay on campus/in town all yr till a remedy or vaccine is perfected and proven safe, which could be yrs, decades, or beyond our lifetimes.

refusing to acknowledge the age thing while trying to figure out how to deal with this is beyond insane.

we need a national strategy that accepts the reality of the age thing, and that a certain percentage of higher risk people want to take a wtf, i'm willing to roll the dice, but not willing to ride things out in my house forever.

don't let the olders f things up indefinitely for the youngers and wtf crowd, and don't let the youngers' and wtf crowd's situation, affect any strategy towards the at risks who don't want to play Russian roulette.

we need a 2 universe strategy.

not a one universe non strategy, that doesn't work for sht for half the people, regardless.

does no one find it strange that the media posts the death totals 24/7, but never never never never never ever breaks the death totals down by age groups.


US covid death thru 5/16/2020 by age per CDC

under 1 yr old, 3 deaths
1- 4 yrs, 2
5-14 yrs 7
15-24 yrs 76
25-34 yrs 463
35-44 yrs 1,186
45-54 3,338
all ages 68,998

to my knowledge, contributing health conditions were not taken into account, only age.

we need facts that break everything down.

we are getting beyond horrible reporting by all the media, as facts matter.

creating strategies without knowing and considering all the facts, is idiocracy.

only thing worse, is no strategy at all. (our current approach to a pandemic).

stats broken down by age groups were hard to find.

if anyone thinks these are not correct, feel free to post your contrary findings.

About 1/3 of our population is 'at risk' when you lump in age, pre-existing conditions, obesity, etc. And that doesn't even factor in smoking, which is less clear if it impacts your likelihood of being high risk.

So no, younger people are less likely to be sick, but are certainly potential carriers of it to infect others...and not just their families, but the people who make these college towns 'go' around them.

80 years ago, kids their age were going off to war......and we can't even expect for them to maybe not have keg parties and wall to wall people and beer pong tournaments for the health and safety of others?

 

[kkott]

About 1/3 of our population is 'at risk' when you lump in age, pre-existing conditions, obesity, etc. And that doesn't even factor in smoking, which is less clear if it impacts your likelihood of being high risk.

So no, younger people are less likely to be sick, but are certainly potential carriers of it to infect others...and not just their families, but the people who make these college towns 'go' around them.

80 years ago, kids their age were going off to war......and we can't even expect for them to maybe not have keg parties and wall to wall people and beer pong tournaments for the health and safety of others?

Yeah, I think his point is truthful, but the reality is, that you'd be talking about 2 divergent sets of rules and "college kids" would esssentially be quarantined to campus and couldn't safely get back amongst family members without a self-quarantine period, which would be nearly impossible to make work. We can't even come up with 1 reasonable national policy, let alone crafting 2... and then every other identified grouping would also be asking for special regs.

 

[Cream&Crimson]

I have a daughter that just finished her freshman year at VA Tech. Came home 1st week in March and finished online. She hated the dorm so she didn't mind being home and said it was much easier since the profs cut them slack and in some cases didn't even cover all the material on the syllabus. Plus her BF was back here too so she was fine. Now waiting to hear how they plan to go about fall semester which they plan to announce 1st week in June. Maybe it varies at each school, but I can't help think the on campus atmosphere is going to be bizarre at best. First off they have to figure out who doesn't get to live in the dorm since there's most likely only one to a room. Dining halls will be grab and go or delivery, or maybe they can only go at certain times. Very limited social interaction, common areas off limits. Wearing masks and gloves in class and everywhere else? Or maybe take most of your classes online in your room. Probably no fans at FB and BB games. Bus service for kids living off campus which is like 75% of them will be useless since they'll have to social distance and take maybe half capacity on what is normally packed buses. They may restrict kids from going home on weekends and also restrict family visitors from outside areas. These schools can't afford to shut down campuses and continue only online learning. And haven't even mentioned what happens with testing or when kids test positive and have to quarantine somewhere.

She's accepted to transfer to two other schools, including George Mason where she can live at home for free and commute 30 min each way. We have to decide by mid June, so we're just waiting to hear each schools plan and go from there. Or maybe they just throw them all together like normal and hope for herd immunity. Either way its going to be interesting and tough for them to have anything close to a normal campus environment.

I can't even imagine trying to wade through the decisions you and your kid face. This really sucks for you and for her.

 

[i'vegotwinners]

About 1/3 of our population is 'at risk' when you lump in age, pre-existing conditions, obesity, etc. And that doesn't even factor in smoking, which is less clear if it impacts your likelihood of being high risk.

So no, younger people are less likely to be sick, but are certainly potential carriers of it to infect others...and not just their families, but the people who make these college towns 'go' around them.

80 years ago, kids their age were going off to war......and we can't even expect for them to maybe not have keg parties and wall to wall people and beer pong tournaments for the health and safety of others?

yes, maybe 1/3rd are at risk.

yes, non at risks are still carriers, which is why at risks need segregated from them.

why i think those going to college need to not go home all yr, (even Thanksgiving/Christmas), if their parents aren't in my "freed" universe.

btw, i'm not at all a fan of IU's new plan, where kids all go home from Thanksgiving to start of 2nd semester.

that's just a recipe for disaster. they need to stay on campus/in town, unless parents are also in freed universe.

all off campus housing is 12 month lease anyway, and on campus, dorms/greek, can easily transition to all yr.

 

[kkott]

yes, maybe 1/3rd are at risk.

yes, non at risks are still carriers, which is why at risks need segregated from them.

why i think those going to college need to not go home all yr, (even Thanksgiving/Christmas), if their parents aren't in my "freed" universe.

btw, i'm not at all a fan of IU's new plan, where kids all go home from Thanksgiving to start of 2nd semester.

that's just a recipe for disaster. they need to stay on campus/in town, unless parents are also in freed universe.

all off campus housing is 12 month lease anyway, and on campus, dorms/greek, can easily transition to all yr.

I don't think most of the milque toast parents are ready for that. I think the kids would be fine, but Mommy and Daddy are probably insisting their kids come home for Tgiving and Xmas and often Spring Break anymore. Did you mean "if their parents are in my freed universe?" Not sure I understood your point there.

 

[kkott]

I can't even imagine trying to wade through the decisions you and your kid face. This really sucks for you and for her.

Honestly the best thing to do, especially for undergraduates if you really believe in the social value of being on campus, is to take a hiatus year or have your kid take online classes at the local community college. My son's a senior, so he's got to get courses in his major.

 

[bshields]

I have heard that UT San Antonio (not sure if it is the whole UT system) is going to be on campus this fall but won’t return after Thanksgiving (extended Christmas break) and take exams online after Thanksgiving.

 

[kkott]

I have heard that UT San Antonio (not sure if it is the whole UT system) is going to be on campus this fall but won’t return after Thanksgiving (extended Christmas break) and take exams online after Thanksgiving.

that's NC St's plan. They're starting early and the 1st semester ends at Tgiving and kids won't come back til 2nd semester in January, anticipating the possibility of a 2nd wave next fall/winter. That seems reasonable to me, so kids only go home once, but doesn't provide the isolation for students some seem to be suggesting. The biggest problem I see with that is the kids will still be interfacing with professors, staff, advisors, vendors, etc... while on campus so that would provide a pathway to the general population, although possibly reduced. College kids I don't anticipate doing well totally fending for themselves, and they'll still need to eat and maybe work, even if taking classes online.

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

It just strikes me that bringing kids from all over the country (and the world) seems like a potential recipe for bad stuff to happen (depending on the trends of the virus at the time). Not much different than the conference in Boston that kind of kickstarted things on the eastern half of the country, but in reverse.

We'll see. I think it will be an interesting fall.

 

[cryano]

It just strikes me that bringing kids from all over the country (and the world) seems like a potential recipe for bad stuff to happen (depending on the trends of the virus at the time). Not much different than the conference in Boston that kind of kickstarted things on the eastern half of the country, but in reverse.

We'll see. I think it will be an interesting fall.

Im of that thought too - idk why I feel like most HS sports have small crowds that space generally isnt an issue. Plus it’s generally locals that work together and live generally in the same community or one apart.

Football - its outside and there is a lot of standing room only space...
Basketball, that may be an issue as indoor and large crowds.

I could see a HS sports environment where the away team is given an allotment of tickets per player(2-4 per maybe), and the home team does pre-sale tickets only - w a 50% capacity or so.

However - Ive also found that absolutely no one, myself included. thinks what they are doing is ignorant or unsafe, and all at some point make some statement like ‘I mean, Im not going to ——- like those guys I saw ———‘ . while we choose to rationalize the risks we decide are worthwhile...