Among Friends

[Annabellethecat66]

My oldest daughter, her husband and my grandson came by today to return my car (they got it inspected, washed, waxed, etc. for me).

My oldest granddaughter (her daughter) is going to Va Tech in the fall as a freshman.

This daughter has paid through the Va something or other where you can pay fully for the 4 years of college for your child.  She's paid for 3 of her 4 children ahead of time.

Anyway, she has friends who are on the boards of some of these colleges and offer some insight ahead of time.  Well....at least she did know ahead of time...the virus changed everything.

She rattled off all of the changes and (well...some of you might remember my brain retains about 1/3 of information that flows inward).  

What I do remember with this college.  The kids will come home right after the Thanksgiving break and instead of going back (like always) they will stay home and get instructions from home.  I don't know if or when they go back to finish their freshman year but I know it will definitely be AFTER 

There are so many changes it's crazy.  They have downsized the Freshmen who can stay on campus.  They must have housing off of the campus.  

My daughter thinks it's because they are saving one entire housing building for kids that might be getting sick and/or come back after being sick.  

I can't remember all of the changes.  This daughter and her husband met first day at University of Va, dated through the 3 1/2 years and married right after graduate school.

The granddaughter didn't want to go to UVA but that's OK because many other family members went to Tech so it's familiar too.

My daughter said she told her daughter that it's going to be difficult learning over the internet and not getting the one on one (well person) like she did in high school. 

Although one good thing the virus did was prepare the kids for some of this by going through the motions the last few weeks on the internet.

This daughter has 4 very intelligent (schools for gifted kids, etc) but even she and her husband said they were ready to pull their hair out trying to get the kids to keep up with their studies.  They definitely weren't challenged.  In all fairness the teachers did the best they could because they were learning how to do this too.

Emily (my granddaughter's name) is bright, easy going and a delight (over the years it was this grandma who got to take Emily and her sister shopping..) ...so much fun, I loved it.

Anyway, I digress.  It seems to me these colleges have a win-win situation.  If the kid has problems catching on, it's not easy to find help.  The meals will be eaten in their rooms (did I say that)...can you imagine the mess that's going to create?

There are so many changes.  The problem I have with all of this is the cost hasn't dropped one penny.  It seems like these colleges have (as they say) "no skin in the game".  

My daughter said she told Emily, "If she flunks out..that's it".  She said she can come back home and go to a Community College in the area.

She's been taking college courses in high school and already has a lot of college credits.  They only count if you make straight A's through the year and she did.

This is going to be interesting.  My two other daughters went to Va colleges...but they both had different experiences.

I haven't seen where anyone else has posted about the changes their grandchildren or young people will be encountering this year.

I'm curious what any of you have heard through your family grape vine as far as changes due to the virus.

Some of Emily's friends are taking a 'gap year'.  I'd never heard of this but I googled Va Tech and this came up about it.  That's one of the 'choices' being offered college freshmen....some suspect because the college accepted way above the number of freshmen than they can house....

https://www.nbc12.com/2019/05/30/amid-over-enrollment-concerns-virginia-tech-offers-incoming-freshme...

As I've stated here before I have a very large family.  Everyone talks to each other (ummm...some would say we all know each other's business)..but other than what my daughter tells me I haven't heard much.

Have any of you ladies with families all over the US and going to other colleges heard of the changes taking place at 'your neck of the woods'?

[May5]

Wow, from everything you said, it seems like you retain more than one third of what you are told.

[Snowpuppy]

Here's my thought: It's always about the money.

Schools are hard hit. I read my alma matter has laid off 700 staff and faculty and remaining employees will have a 25% pay cut. Along with mandatory 30 day furloughs.

My belief is schools that open will say all is well, come on back!  The devil will be in the details, fine print. They will likely alter their refund schedule and dorm fees to benefit themselves, not students. Students get sick, miss too many classes and withdraw, too bad. 

[stevieb]

Were I a matriculating college freshman (or even more advanced), I'd ask the college to defer my admission or continued study until such time as school will proceed 'normally'. Historically, colleges have been willing to defer admissions or to grant reasonable leaves of absence. College is a wonderful time and a valuable time for learning. Going about it the way they're being forced to do it is not 'the college experience'.

[FancyPhillyshopper]

The news has been full of the facts that college students who went on Spring break this year spread the coronavirus extremely widely across the USA.

Many higher education institutions are adjusting their calendars to start earlier in the Fall and finish in-person by Thanksgiving, so when students travel home they can just stay there instead of returning to campus and potentially bringing back germs right before the holidays.  

Universities (and colleges) can then resume in-person classes in January--and perhaps they will even eliminate Spring break.

My nieces did several years of higher education online--it was cheaper and faster, and they were able to enter the work world promptly and gain experience and then prepare for graduate school.

Educators still have to prepare the classes, check student work, and calculate grades, whether online or in person, so personnel budgets will really not change at all.

The bigger challenge will be for elementary/high school students who may not have the same level of motivation and maturity, and may also have to do a larger portion of work online, as states decide how to prepare for K-12 education.

[Nuttmeg]

@Annabellethecat66

Your grandchildren will be just fine. We are dealing with the new normal. They are smart children, have nice parents and a cool granny. You will have some interesting stories to share. 

[teganslaw]

@Annabellethecat66 , you mentioned that your daughter already paid for college for 3 of her children. What if costs rise in the future? Will she have to pay more to make up the difference? I don't assume that the price of college would stay the same. 

Also, what if her son or daughter decides not to attend college? Is it possible that she would be refunded the money? 

The whole college situation sounds like a headache. Somehow, though, they'll manage.

[Vivian]

Having worked at a large and very expensive university for over 30 years, I don't know if I'd send a child or grandchild there for freshman year under these circumstances. It's been a tradition in my family to attend this university. My husband, brother, children, and I earned one or two degrees from the school...and yet, I'd probably want my child to ask for a deferral of admission for one year. She could attend a school close to home while the administrators sort out how to deal with this mess we're in.

[busymom22]

My son is going back for his sophomore year. I feel bad for colleges as they can't make anyone happy.  For many colleges, not opening up will mean losing so much money that chances are they won't last.  If they have students back they will be held responsible for any virus outbreak and for not protecting all students and staff. If they stay online only ,students will complain and many will drop out. If they do open up but have very tight restrictions in the dorms/cafeterias students will complain about losing the "college experience". And even going online has a lot of expenses with platforms, online instruction, etc.  Colleges can't win.

I hear parents and students talking about taking a gap year but truth is all of education will not be the same for a long time until there is a vaccine.  So what does a student do?  Postpone college or a year or two or three?  And what would a kid do during that time?  Traveling abroad isn't a realistic option. Then postponement just makes the graduate lose that much more time in the working world.  As it is I am encouraging my son to continue on with school whatever form that might be.

[jeanlake]

@busymom22 You make sense with your practical approach. I retired with 30 years of higher ed experience in student development, 4 ot those years including teaching business classes. Since my retirement in 2012, I've been working 30 hours a week in a faculty dean's office at a different college. He's 55 yo and I've watched him go from dark hair to practically all gray since March. He's encouraging over 200 faculty in his division plus communicating with many parents, students and other administrators. I don't think anyone was ready for this challenge. It's all online this summer with 50% online this fall. F2F, face-to-face campus classes will have 9 students maximum. And these classes will be prepared to go online if needed. 

Staff shows up one or two mornings a week and work from home the rest of the time. I see fall semester going this way as well. Trusting the virus will be contained as citizens take precautions. I hope students move forward with educational plans. There will be better days ahead.