Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What would they do in a gap year? Surely not travel around the world....

I think the reason to do a gap year is if you want your kids (and they want it too) to have a 4 year typical college experience. So, you're sort of saying that you really value the typical 4 year college experience and it's worth it to hold off potentially starting online to have it.

Unless the school will not grant you the deferral and hold the spot.

Anonymous wrote:What would they do in a gap year? Surely not travel around the world....

I think the reason to do a gap year is if you want your kids (and they want it too) to have a 4 year typical college experience. So, you're sort of saying that you really value the typical 4 year college experience and it's worth it to hold off potentially starting online to have it.

What would they do in a gap year? Surely not travel around the world....

Professors will have the summer to prepare. From #1 to #whatever, the majority of summer classes are taught by adjuncts and PhD students with professors, and most full-time instructors, taking time off or concentrating on their research. They will have the extra time to prep for the possibility of an online/hybrid fall.

Also, remember, that Spring semesters wrap up mid-May. It is like 14 weeks before the start of the fall semester - plenty of time to rework a course.

Anonymous wrote:A big consideration for us (with a HS Senior) is what else would they do for the year. Travel is out. Jobs and internships will likely be quite scarce. I would rather a semester of on-line classes then a semester of nothing.

Agree. I asked my DD what she would do if she deferred and she held up her gam controller. Uh. Nope.

BTW, our high school college counseling department is discouraging deferrals for this reason. They think if classes are online there will be little opportunity for travel, work or gap year programs and the students would be better off doing online classes.

FWIW, my husband is an adjunct and teaches an master’s level class for a small university. Even before the pandemic, they were half online and half in person. He has had no issues teaching online. If the professors are prepared and know how to do it, it can be effective. I think the issue this semester is that the professors had to learn midstream.

Talking to admin at his school last Friday - large top 20 public - they are being hopeful that Fall will open up on campus, possibly with restrictions. But, they also recommending doing what you need to do to register for your local JC admittance. There are a some transferable classes that they will accept for credit (math up through Calc 1, English Lit, Humanities, etc.). Sort of typical freshman stuff. Their view, right now, is if campus is fully open then come. If not, JC classes will count for credit this year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the issue will be the cost. Local junior colleges will be offering freshman on line classes for 75-125 a credit. It is hard to justify 400-500 a credit for freshman English from college x when both classes are taught on line.

As it stands now my kid will be doing freshman year at his college IF offered. Otherwise he will take JC classes and work. His school year job is starting back up - warehouse job very limited people contact. It is a lousy freshman experience if it comes to that but he can get through it.

Will his college offer a deferral and hold his spot for next year if he goes the JC route?

Was just on a call with college admissions officers who said at their schools you cannot use a deferral to take classes for credit.

+1. Talked to my kids SLAC. You can only transfer in 5 classes and not be a transfer student. That includes summer college credits, DE, AP. AS PART OF THE 5, you can get one class credit during a gap year, if it’s approved by the college.

So, my kid will transfer in AB/BC Calc to cover the quantity ave requirement), one of the history APs to fill a divisional requirement, AP Lit (assuming a 5) to cover the basic English class requirements and a class taken over the summer at a 4 year VA college for credit for a divisional. He’s leaving a lot of credits I transferred and being smart about choosing transfer classes that fill requirements, rather than just bumping up credit hours taken.

He could swap out on for an approved in advance class taken over a gap year. But that’s it.

Parents who think their kids will online at NOVA and get a year of distributional requirements done, then start need to talk to their school. Doing that at most decent colleges makes you a transfer applicant. And they want to see you finish the AA degree before you transfer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the issue will be the cost. Local junior colleges will be offering freshman on line classes for 75-125 a credit. It is hard to justify 400-500 a credit for freshman English from college x when both classes are taught on line.

As it stands now my kid will be doing freshman year at his college IF offered. Otherwise he will take JC classes and work. His school year job is starting back up - warehouse job very limited people contact. It is a lousy freshman experience if it comes to that but he can get through it.

Will his college offer a deferral and hold his spot for next year if he goes the JC route?

+1 Yep. Most colleges will count you as a transfer student if you take an college classes after high school graduation.

+2
at my dd’s college, it is nearly impossible to get actual credit for a course. It requires a lot of prep work in obtaining the course description, syllabus, and sometimes contact info for the prof if more info is needed...then the student has to get their advisor and the department head for their major to review the materials and approve or deny the course. If it’s for the major? Forget it. If it’s supposed to be. 4 credit class and it’s offered as a 3? Forget it. Most petitions are awarded things like “bio elective” for another college’s Biology 101.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the issue will be the cost. Local junior colleges will be offering freshman on line classes for 75-125 a credit. It is hard to justify 400-500 a credit for freshman English from college x when both classes are taught on line.

As it stands now my kid will be doing freshman year at his college IF offered. Otherwise he will take JC classes and work. His school year job is starting back up - warehouse job very limited people contact. It is a lousy freshman experience if it comes to that but he can get through it.

Will his college offer a deferral and hold his spot for next year if he goes the JC route?

Was just on a call with college admissions officers who said at their schools you cannot use a deferral to take classes for credit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the issue will be the cost. Local junior colleges will be offering freshman on line classes for 75-125 a credit. It is hard to justify 400-500 a credit for freshman English from college x when both classes are taught on line.

As it stands now my kid will be doing freshman year at his college IF offered. Otherwise he will take JC classes and work. His school year job is starting back up - warehouse job very limited people contact. It is a lousy freshman experience if it comes to that but he can get through it.

Will his college offer a deferral and hold his spot for next year if he goes the JC route?

+1 Yep. Most colleges will count you as a transfer student if you take an college classes after high school graduation.

Anonymous wrote:I think the issue will be the cost. Local junior colleges will be offering freshman on line classes for 75-125 a credit. It is hard to justify 400-500 a credit for freshman English from college x when both classes are taught on line.

As it stands now my kid will be doing freshman year at his college IF offered. Otherwise he will take JC classes and work. His school year job is starting back up - warehouse job very limited people contact. It is a lousy freshman experience if it comes to that but he can get through it.

Will his college offer a deferral and hold his spot for next year if he goes the JC route?

Anonymous wrote:I think the issue will be the cost. Local junior colleges will be offering freshman on line classes for 75-125 a credit. It is hard to justify 400-500 a credit for freshman English from college x when both classes are taught on line.

As it stands now my kid will be doing freshman year at his college IF offered. Otherwise he will take JC classes and work. His school year job is starting back up - warehouse job very limited people contact. It is a lousy freshman experience if it comes to that but he can get through it.

Will his college accept credits from the junior college if he wants to attend later? It is not uncommon for selective colleges to not give transfer credit for community college courses.

I think the issue will be the cost. Local junior colleges will be offering freshman on line classes for 75-125 a credit. It is hard to justify 400-500 a credit for freshman English from college x when both classes are taught on line.

As it stands now my kid will be doing freshman year at his college IF offered. Otherwise he will take JC classes and work. His school year job is starting back up - warehouse job very limited people contact. It is a lousy freshman experience if it comes to that but he can get through it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My HS senior is not deferring and will start "on time," however the college he chose defines it. He hasn't been in school since March, so deferring an entire year would not mean being out of school for a year, but rather something like a year and a half. If schools are closed, it is unlikely he can work or travel instead, and I can't have him sitting at home doing nothing for all that time. However non-ideal the situation, he will be in the same boat as other kids his age all around the world, and he will press on and do his best.

Same for my HS senior. And I am a college professor with a pretty good idea of what will be missing from my kid’s first year. It’s not ideal but they will be okay.

My HS senior as wel. They are eager to move on to the next chapter of their lives. What are they going to do while they are deferring for a year? I want to launch a resilient adult who can roll with the punches. Online school will not be ideal, but, it will be something productive towards earning their degree and preparing for a career and independent living.

Anonymous wrote:My HS senior is not deferring and will start "on time," however the college he chose defines it. He hasn't been in school since March, so deferring an entire year would not mean being out of school for a year, but rather something like a year and a half. If schools are closed, it is unlikely he can work or travel instead, and I can't have him sitting at home doing nothing for all that time. However non-ideal the situation, he will be in the same boat as other kids his age all around the world, and he will press on and do his best.

Same for my HS senior. And I am a college professor with a pretty good idea of what will be missing from my kid’s first year. It’s not ideal but they will be okay.