Fierce competition for Fall 2021 admissions, if lots of current seniors defer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a mess. I do feel bad for my high school senior. They've missed out on some big milestones and it looks like their freshman year of college is going to be equally a mess.

Colleges do need to say what the plan is going to be: people pay a lot of money for college and honestly it's disturbing to think they may go for 2 months and be told to pack up and move back home. And then have to finish the year homeschooling.

And what about majors where the first year involves a lot of hands on work? You can't do that from the armchair at your house.

I get deferrals aren't the answer, anyone can see that's only going to cause problems with subsequent years, but there's a ton of uncertainties for the class of 2020.

Problems for subsequent years? One kid has a crappy educational experience so another has a good one? What is the criteria for who gets the crappy year and who gets the good one? How should that be decided and by whom?

It shouldn't be "decided" at all. The pandemic happened and everyone's plans are thrown out of whack. The only thing to do is move forward and work with things as they come, not try to engineer them in your favor. Teach your kids that things often don't go as planned, but you have to be strong and move forward making the most of the situation. Not that you just sit at home for a year waiting for things to go your way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one is making important college desicions based on some snarky dcum post. DCs college has indicated that requests for deferrals will be honored. My DC will matriculate as planned but I could see that not being a good choice for some students...for more then normal based in these circumstances.

Lots of students need to think this through carefully. And not just freshman. What if your major needs hands on learning for proper mastery? Makes no sense to do that remotely. A lot will be changing for education from graduate education on down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a mess. I do feel bad for my high school senior. They've missed out on some big milestones and it looks like their freshman year of college is going to be equally a mess.

Colleges do need to say what the plan is going to be: people pay a lot of money for college and honestly it's disturbing to think they may go for 2 months and be told to pack up and move back home. And then have to finish the year homeschooling.

And what about majors where the first year involves a lot of hands on work? You can't do that from the armchair at your house.

I get deferrals aren't the answer, anyone can see that's only going to cause problems with subsequent years, but there's a ton of uncertainties for the class of 2020.

Problems for subsequent years? One kid has a crappy educational experience so another has a good one? What is the criteria for who gets the crappy year and who gets the good one? How should that be decided and by whom?

It shouldn't be "decided" at all. The pandemic happened and everyone's plans are thrown out of whack. The only thing to do is move forward and work with things as they come, not try to engineer them in your favor. Teach your kids that things often don't go as planned, but you have to be strong and move forward making the most of the situation. Not that you just sit at home for a year waiting for things to go your way.

A deferral is a deferral..offered , even encouraged in cases by many colleges for many reasons way before the pandemic. There will be more this year then normal but they are not unique to the pandemic. They have existed for many years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a mess. I do feel bad for my high school senior. They've missed out on some big milestones and it looks like their freshman year of college is going to be equally a mess.

Colleges do need to say what the plan is going to be: people pay a lot of money for college and honestly it's disturbing to think they may go for 2 months and be told to pack up and move back home. And then have to finish the year homeschooling.

And what about majors where the first year involves a lot of hands on work? You can't do that from the armchair at your house.

I get deferrals aren't the answer, anyone can see that's only going to cause problems with subsequent years, but there's a ton of uncertainties for the class of 2020.

Problems for subsequent years? One kid has a crappy educational experience so another has a good one? What is the criteria for who gets the crappy year and who gets the good one? How should that be decided and by whom?

It shouldn't be "decided" at all. The pandemic happened and everyone's plans are thrown out of whack. The only thing to do is move forward and work with things as they come, not try to engineer them in your favor. Teach your kids that things often don't go as planned, but you have to be strong and move forward making the most of the situation. Not that you just sit at home for a year waiting for things to go your way.

Waiting for things to go their way? You are a troublemaker. This situation affects every single student. It will take several years to work it all out. I have a HS senior, junior and sophomore and as best I can see.. all of them will have a big impact from this. patience and fortitude all around are called for. My senior is off to a rocky start in college. My junior has to go through an uncertain process with lots of deferrals, testing issues, athletic recruiting issues and so on...maybe many juniors will also have delayed starts to college. Same for sophomores. Ugggggg.