My son is an incoming freshman and the uncertainty about everything is pretty tough. Last week, the coach held a Zoom meeting with all the players to update them on what they’ll be doing as far as he can share at this point and to introduce the new players. Evidently, they will have a structured fall practice with all the rules of social distancing in place. He’s also given them a summer practice plan. Evidently, one hurdle is the fact that the gym equipment can’t be used because it’s indoors so there is some discussion of moving it outside. I appreciate the meeting if for no other reason than it gave my son something positive to look forward to and to feel he’s part of a team going forward.
The downside in all of this is just the nature of the college experience overall. As mentioned in previous posts, these kids who actually return to campus will be living in a lockdown mode. Others will take all their classes remotely online. Most who return to campus will be taking most if not all classes online but living in a single dorm room. Those who don’t want to return to campus under these conditions but also don’t want to pay full tuition for online courses are requesting a gap year or ability to get a deferment for a year. Originally, Dartmouth, for example, told the incoming class that they either had to show up or reapply next year. The students challenged this with a Change.Org petition and Dartmouth relented immediately. Evidently, many students are planning on taking advantage of this because Dartmouth quickly went to its Waitlist, something it hasn’t done in years. Other Ivy League schools are evidently doing the same. There is some undercurrent of unhappiness among the students because it appears that the schools are first taking the kids off the Waitlist who can pay full tuition. This week will be key in how all of this plays out because the Ivy League will give some direction about it’s plans and students will have to let the school know if they plan to attend or defer. This is anticipated to result in further use of the Waitlist which predictably will have a ripple effect among other schools.
All of this said, everything can change in an instant depending on what happens with the pandemic as the kids learned last spring. This experience is and will continue to be a roller coaster for parents and students alike.