We spoke with college students about whether they'll defer if they can't return to campus, and with seniors who are graduating into the void
Photo-Illustration: Joe Darrow The mythical American curtain-raiser to adulthood, the four years of finding-yourself freedom and higher learning, is having a reckoning. May 1, the date when most colleges ask that the students to whom they’ve offered admission declare their intentions for the fall, has come and gone with many students unsure of what they should do.
Six Students on Whether to Defer “I’ll definitely defer. Most international students do not get financial aid. And so the cost-benefit analysis of paying $35,000 per semester to take classes on Zoom is just not worth it. Especially with the global economy at the moment, most of the foreign currencies have devalued very, very heavily against the dollar, which makes it more expensive for us.
“I think that people are starting to get the hang of online learning, so it wouldn’t be a huge deal if we still had to stay home. It would, however, be a problem for my financial aid because I am relying partially on work study. But if they end up having in-person classes, I will still go. I want to graduate more than anything, and I’m not going to let this pandemic get in the way of that. I’m going to school as a backup plan.
There are scenarios floating around where schools just bring their freshmen to campus so they can have the “full experience” and then have the upperclassmen live off campus. There’s also been the idea that schools will bring the incoming freshmen and the seniors and have the sophomores and juniors go virtual for the year. The other scenario we’re hearing is a fully virtual fall, which is obviously not very appealing.
Some of the tougher conversations are with the athletes because they may or may not be able to play their sport. Our international students are the most unsure if they’re going to be able to attend in the fall, even if school is open. But we’re also talking to families where the student is on a wait list and all they want to do is get off the wait list. They don’t care if school is online.
Four Professors on Gaming Out the Fall “I think that in the next year or two, life overall is going to get smaller. There will be less travel, less mobility, less ambition, less wealth, more concern for health. Life at college will grow smaller too. Social life will be more circumscribed and cautious. The demand for smaller classes will rise, both for the safety they provide and for the close connection with the professor and other students.
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