Reply to Colleges and Universities almost universally plan to be open in the fall

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Colleges and Universities almost universally plan to be open in the fall"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think a big  issue is that even if the fatality rates are low in the college-aged population, there's really likely to be high outbreaks in dorms as there are in all the residential settings.  If kids are sick for the 2-3 weeks that is typical for a mild case of  Covid 19 they will be miserable, likely have to do a medical withdrawal from classes (where they don't get credit, only get some prorated money back for course, but it doesn't harm their GPA).  Maybe if they've done enough for the class could get by with an incomplete.  But there are pretty high odds that going to campus during a second wave is going to result in a missed semester of classes.   As a parent, even my kid is okay with taking the health risk, there's kind of a big academic/financial risk implicit in going to residential classes in the fall.  I have a college student who is itching to get back--and I really want them to have the full college experience, but I feel like I don't know what the right decision will be if they offer a hybrid option.[/quote]

This age group is barely even getting sick from CV. Your scenario is not the likely one.[/quote]

No that's not true.  They just aren't needing hospitalization at the same high rates due to fewer pre-existing conditions/age. 
They are just as likely to get infected and get a "mild" case which often means 2 weeks of severe impairment.  They would also have to self-isolate until they had negative test results. If there's an outbreak there will be required self-isolation all over.  That's enough to derail a college semester, trigger depression etc.  I'm not sure I want to spend 20k on a semester of a reduced experience, where contact tracing keeps making kids have to take classes on-line in their rooms and not participate in social activities, and there's let's say a 5% chance (given the close quarters I don't think that ) my kid gets sick enough to have to withdraw.  I don't know--just doesn't sound like a fantastic investment to me.
 Given that we have little knowledge of how the first full season of Covid 19 is going to go  I think taking on-line courses for a semester and then returning for the spring semester makes more sense.  It sucks--my kid loves their college and hates taking the courses on-line, but it's just really hard for me to see how colleges will take on a full residential population without making their lives miserable with all the social distancing measures and then inevitable self-isolation when you test positive--let alone get sick.

Maybe they'll make a "positive Covid-19 dorm" that can all live together and take on-line classes and have meals delivered to the common room and activities planned for just the "positives" and regular medical/psychological supervision. Actually, that's not the worst idea...If a college had that planned and I had a kid with no pre-existing conditions I might be willing to take the risk. They are away from families who have higher risks and that would be a new kind of social/college experience... [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics