College parents...fall semester?

[mrs. magoo]

My daughter moved back in on Sunday. She is in an on campus apartment with 3 other girls. They all share one bathroom. My daughter a sophomore is struggling right now because she is not comfortable with going out and her roommates are all going out. They are required to wear a mask whenever they leave their rooms and she will start lacrosse with masks on the 1st. I told her yesterday that everyone has a different experience with Covid. Some kids have not had their life changed in any way while others have had relatives die. We are in the middle. This is causing her lots of anxiety. We have not been able to use gyms since March so she is not ready to use the gym at school and wants to do workouts outside but others think she is crazy. Its so hard when your kid who was so excited to get back now wants to come home.

 

[Hikergirl]

We moved my ds in on Sunday. The college doesn't start classes until the 31st but he moved back early to finish in person labs that he couldn't last semester. He shares a townhouse with 9 other guys and only one other moved in that day too. The rest will be moving in this weekend or next.
Labs are going well so far and no word on any infections, but all his school required was a questionnaire.


My dd has been in an off campus for over a year. She had to scramble to find an apartment that offered a 6 month lease since she only has one semester to complete. Luckily she found one and moved from her old apt to that one at the end of July. Then she got her schedule, at first it was all online and she was upset since she could have saved money and just came home. Then it changed so she has 1 lab in person. It's a shame that she'll end up spending thousands of dollars in rent for one in person class. At least her Prof is giving her a research opportunity so it's not a compete waste.
Her friend is in the same boat, she has one in person class so had to find an apartment in the area. Luckily she was able too, but it is more money than she wanted to pay.
They start classes the 31st. All incoming students, on campus and off will be required to take a COVID test. They are being provided by the school.
They are going to be cracking down on parties and gatherings on campus, and they are allowing students to form their own pods to be able to gather together without masks and social distancing.
That is great for on campus but in reality its not going to make any difference once the students go off to parties and bars.

 

[okeydokey]

Many schools are already making adjustments due to infection. Hoping for good experiences with our students on this thread,

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Senior DD went back a week and a half ago for her on campus job training. Classes start this coming Monday. She had 2 online and 3 in person classes at the beginning of the summer but that switched to all online. We are disappointed with that. She’s living in an off campus house with 4 other sorority sisters, so I know she’s having fun with her housemates. Her school is cracking down on off campus parties as well. They already suspended 7 kids due to large off campus gatherings this past week. I just keep telling DD to follow the rules!!!!

 

[ADisneyQueen]

My daughters are both staying home and doing their classes remotely. Younger one is a sophomore and was supposed to live in the dorms and the older one a grad student who smartly did not renew her off campus apartment lease in May. They both made the decision for themselves. My husband is a college professor and is teaching remotely bc of his diabetes. I just don't think this is going to go well. There are too many students who will go to parties and bars.

 

[mom2rtk]

Parties are apparently in full swing at Mizzou. Students have now had to sign a statement saying they won't be in groups of more than 20, either on or off campus. Apparently the University has decided to partner with local police to crack down on the large parties that have been happening off campus. Local ordinance only limits groups over 100, but University policy (signed agreements) is 20. So it's not illegal, but students identified at these gatherings will be referred to the University for disciplinary action.

I'm all in favor, but am shocked at the number of parents ranting online about their kid's constitutional rights. I'm pretty sure there's no constitutional right to party though.

 

[kymom99]

We moved my ds in on Sunday. The college doesn't start classes until the 31st but he moved back early to finish in person labs that he couldn't last semester. He shares a townhouse with 9 other guys and only one other moved in that day too. The rest will be moving in this weekend or next.
Labs are going well so far and no word on any infections, but all his school required was a questionnaire.


My dd has been in an off campus for over a year. She had to scramble to find an apartment that offered a 6 month lease since she only has one semester to complete. Luckily she found one and moved from her old apt to that one at the end of July. Then she got her schedule, at first it was all online and she was upset since she could have saved money and just came home. Then it changed so she has 1 lab in person. It's a shame that she'll end up spending thousands of dollars in rent for one in person class. At least her Prof is giving her a research opportunity so it's not a compete waste.
Her friend is in the same boat, she has one in person class so had to find an apartment in the area. Luckily she was able too, but it is more money than she wanted to pay.
They start classes the 31st. All incoming students, on campus and off will be required to take a COVID test. They are being provided by the school.
They are going to be cracking down on parties and gatherings on campus, and they are allowing students to form their own pods to be able to gather together without masks and social distancing.
That is great for on campus but in reality its not going to make any difference once the students go off to parties and bars.

Not sure how far from the campus you live. One idea we kicked around was having my son stay at a hotel one day a week if he was going to only have one in person class. We are about 2 hours away. But as it turns out he has classes 4 days a week in person. So he’s in a dorm.

 

[CarolAnn856]

Our youngest just wrapped up her first week of classes, all on campus. They tested everyone on move-in, has everyone quarantine for 48 hours,, and isolated the five positive cases that they had. They are doing another full round of testing next week, so we’ll see how that goes. Crossing my fingers. Our son’s school decided last week to go fully online for the fall. He’s a senior and has an off-campus apartment, so he’s already up there and will stay for the year, even if the whole thing ends up remote.

 

[PollyannaMom]

DS goes back Monday, and classes start Wednesday. Three are hybrid, one is small enough to meet on both days, and the other is overbooked by just one student, so they are looking for someone is willing to move to another section. The other time slot would really unbalance DS’s schedule, so he’s hoping someone else jumps at it.

We are currently standing in line for the required Covid test (supposed to get within 72 hours of heading back to campus). We were here at 11:00, but they were at capacity for the morning, and told us they’d resume at 2:30. The line started forming again at 1:45.

 

[lifesavacation]

My daughter moved back in on Sunday. She is in an on campus apartment with 3 other girls. They all share one bathroom. My daughter a sophomore is struggling right now because she is not comfortable with going out and her roommates are all going out. They are required to wear a mask whenever they leave their rooms and she will start lacrosse with masks on the 1st. I told her yesterday that everyone has a different experience with Covid. Some kids have not had their life changed in any way while others have had relatives die. We are in the middle. This is causing her lots of anxiety. We have not been able to use gyms since March so she is not ready to use the gym at school and wants to do workouts outside but others think she is crazy. Its so hard when your kid who was so excited to get back now wants to come home.

College can be hard enough under normal circumstances. COVID really adds another layer of adjustment. I feel for all those heading back with some anxiety about the circumstances. Hopefully, campus mental health services is prepared to support these students through the adjustment.

 

[katie01]

I am having my 3 college kids go to the functional medicine doctor this week for blood work to check for nutrient deficiencies as part of their back to college plan. LOL.

2 have had health concerns already. The 3rd has never had any health concerns. It will be his first full blood workup.

Want to boost their vitamins with what they may be deficient in. One has his results and he is low in b12 and vitamin d. He is nocturnal, very fair skinned and hates the sun.

They all happen to be home this week and I am handing quality vitamins out to them with their dinner. Lol

Making our lists for items to get them for back to school and including new thermometers, Emergen C and Cold Eeze zinc lozenges and some powerades for electrolytes with the usual back to college stuff.

Most of their classes will be virtual or hybrid. Daughter has a lab that she'll need to go to in person one day. She'll be in a dorm room. One son (apartment) has to go on campus for several different things on Tuesdays. The other (my pale nocturnal one, lives in an apartment) has most classes online, but he will have times that he has to be in person in the local hospital for different lessons and experiences. Several of his friends live in the same building and they are discussing studying together. Fortunately, my kids are being cautious this summer.

MIL was diagnosed yesterday in her town. She went to a work meeting last Wednesday, sat next to her boss, signed some paperwork together. Boss tested positive on Saturday. MIL positive yesterday. We were so careful bringing our college kids to visit her over July 4th and threatened them that they could not bring Covid to grandma. When we got the news she had it yesterday, DH and I first thought oh no did the kids bring it to her. But it has been over three weeks and she knows she caught it from her boss. Seems it's running through the boss's family-in laws have it, etc.

I’m so sorry, I pray your MIL will recover quickly. Do you have any idea if she and her boss wore masks? I only ask because my DH is working from home and they do most of their meetings virtually, but every now and then his boss schedules some in person. They all wear masks, so I’m just wondering how we’ll masks did or didn’t work in your MIL’s case (this is not a debate about masks or any kind of blame, like I said, purely for maybe peace of mind for the meetings DH goes to)

 

[Southernmiss]

I’m so sorry, I pray your MIL will recover quickly. Do you have any idea if she and her boss wore masks? I only ask because my DH is working from home and they do most of their meetings virtually, but every now and then his boss schedules some in person. They all wear masks, so I’m just wondering how we’ll masks did or didn’t work in your MIL’s case (this is not a debate about masks or any kind of blame, like I said, purely for maybe peace of mind for the meetings DH goes to)

Mil did recover fast! Thanks for asking. This is the end of her second week back at work. We need to check in with her this weekend to see if there are any lingering effects.

All in attendance at the meeting -were- wearing masks.

I was disappointed to hear that the virus still transmitted between them. I am guessing they did not social distance at the meeting.

When we visited MIL at the 4th of July she was so careful. I believe she thought she was still being as careful as she could be. But I guess she slipped at the meeting by not social distancing.

She's 77 and this is more of a fun 'after retiring from a good career position' for her to have a little extra spending $. She's in better shape health wise than her 40 year old boss!

 

[katie01]

Mil did recover fast! Thanks for asking. This is the end of her second week back at work. We need to check in with her this weekend to see if there are any lingering effects.

All in attendance at the meeting -were- wearing masks.

I was disappointed to hear that the virus still transmitted between them. I am guessing they did not social distance at the meeting.

When we visited MIL at the 4th of July she was so careful. I believe she thought she was still being as careful as she could be. But I guess she slipped at the meeting by not social distancing.

She's 77 and this is more of a fun 'after retiring from a good career position' for her to have a little extra spending $. She's in better shape health wise than her 40 year old boss!

Oh wow, that’s scary that they were wearing masks and everything, and it still transmitted! Thank goodness she is ok now though. She sounds like a great MIL, I hope I can have that much energy at 77!

 

[PollyannaMom]

We are currently standing in line for the required Covid test (supposed to get within 72 hours of heading back to campus). We were here at 11:00, but they were at capacity for the morning, and told us they’d resume at 2:30. The line started forming again at 1:45.

we are finally now registered and in line to pay. Then we’ll get a time slip for the swab, then it’s an hour to an hour and a half for the “15 minute” results. Tearing my hair out.

 

[Hikergirl]

Not sure how far from the campus you live. One idea we kicked around was having my son stay at a hotel one day a week if he was going to only have one in person class. We are about 2 hours away. But as it turns out he has classes 4 days a week in person. So he’s in a dorm.

My ds actually has a few in person labs so he's good in his townhouse (off campus but still campus housing).
The hotel is a good idea and would work for him, he's a little over 2 hours away plus we have a camp property about 40 minutes from his school that he could stay at, but no real access to it once the snow falls.
Truth be told after having him home all spring and summer it was nice to drop him off last weekend
My dd is 4 1/2 hours from home so too far to travel for a day.

 

[mom2rtk]

we are finally now registered and in line to pay. Then we’ll get a time slip for the swab, then it’s an hour to an hour and a half for the “15 minute” results. Tearing my hair out.

I hope you're finally done and still have some hair intact!

 

[kymom99]

My ds actually has a few in person labs so he's good in his townhouse (off campus but still campus housing).
The hotel is a good idea and would work for him, he's a little over 2 hours away plus we have a camp property about 40 minutes from his school that he could stay at, but no real access to it once the snow falls.
Truth be told after having him home all spring and summer it was nice to drop him off last weekend
My dd is 4 1/2 hours from home so too far to travel for a day.

I hear ya! I miss my son terribly. He was good company for me but it was good to send him back.

 

[leebee]

Well... Move-in week at UMaine doesn't start until August 24 (Monday) but the fraternities started moving in this week. We were notified today that 3 students have tested positive for Covid-19. I'm not feeling very optimistic about the semester...

 

[PollyannaMom]

I hope you're finally done and still have some hair intact!

Yes, we were finally home by around 7:00 - documentation of negative results In hand, and feeling much happier. I meant to post, but was tired and behind on my normal daily stuff and just forgot.

It blows my mind there isn’t a more efficient way to do this. (Actually, I’m sure somewhere there is, and we will be researching if it is needed again next semester.)

For one thing, if they ended up making us register on an app while standing there, couldn’t we have done that from home and just showed up at our scheduled time?

For another, there was no separation based on why you were there. I think there should be one time for symptomatic testing, one time for contact testing, and one time for pre-whatever testing. Why risk college kids just trying to get a piece of paper being in line (even with masks) around people who think they might actually have it?

A couple of weeks ago, when we were calling around to see what our options were, most only had the send-out tests, and they were running 10 days on results. We found out about this place (40 minutes away, but that has the rapid tests) from my in-laws because their neighbor went there and had a much better experience. But I think they just got swamped lately by back to school, and were unprepared.

 

[mom2rtk]

Yes, we were finally home by around 7:00 - documentation of negative results In hand, and feeling much happier. I meant to post, but was tired and behind on my normal daily stuff and just forgot.

It blows my mind there isn’t a more efficient way to do this. (Actually, I’m sure somewhere there is, and we will be researching if it is needed again next semester.)

For one thing, if they ended up making us register on an app while standing there, couldn’t we have done that from home and just showed up at our scheduled time?

For another, there was no separation based on why you were there. I think there should be one time for symptomatic testing, one time for contact testing, and one time for pre-whatever testing. Why risk college kids just trying to get a piece of paper being in line (even with masks) around people who think they might actually have it?

A couple of weeks ago, when we were calling around to see what our options were, most only had the send-out tests, and they were running 10 days on results. We found out about this place (40 minutes away, but that has the rapid tests) from my in-laws because their neighbor went there and had a much better experience. But I think they just got swamped lately by back to school, and were unprepared.

Wait, you had to stand in line for an extended time mixed in with people who really thought they had it? That's crazy.