online classes Archives - Merit Educational Consultants

As COVID-19 ramps up this summer, colleges are struggling to justify opening up their campuses to students this fall. They need to offer on-campus courses and bring students back to the dorms in order to justify charging full tuition, room and board, yet they don’t want faculty and students to succumb to the coronavirus on their watch. This indecision about opening up campuses and the unknown about the second wave of the coronavirus this fall is now causing a new trend of students taking a gap year.

Normally, just a few students take a gap year between high school and college. These students either aren’t quite ready to make the big jump into a 4-year program or they have sports or projects that need to be completed before transitioning to college. Others take this opportunity to travel abroad or immerse themselves in research or work. They know college will be there for them when they’re ready.

But this year, students are choosing to take a gap year because they don’t want to miss their “college experience.” Living at home in their old bedrooms under family rules – and now “shelter-in-place” rules – stuck behind their laptops is not quite how they want to spend the next school year. They only get 4 years of living the college dream and they don’t want to waste one (or more) of those years living and studying from home. Parents are also on board for gap years because forking out $30,000 to $70,000 just doesn’t make sense when their kids are living and eating at home and taking classes online.

Taking a gap year while sheltering in place will be a completely different experience for these students. Most will not be able to travel abroad, do internships, or get jobs. The big difference this year is that many students are opting to take gap years because they want to live on campus, whereas previously, students took gap years to do something special.

Not all colleges allow gap years so check with your college to lay out a plan. Some colleges require that you reapply the following year. Others don’t allow students to take classes at other institutions during the gap year.

If taking a gap year makes financial sense, make good use of this year. Volunteer and support programs that help people struggling while sheltering in place. Work with your political party to get out the vote. Learn a foreign language. Build technical computer skills. Read, read, read! Consider your options and lay out a plan to ensure that you’ll be happy and satisfied with your decision to take a gap year.

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July 23, 2020

Gap year trend for college-bound students

As COVID-19 ramps up this summer, colleges are struggling to justify opening up their campuses to students this fall. They need to offer on-campus courses and bring students back to the dorms in order to justify charging full tuition, room and board, yet they don’t want faculty and students to succumb to the coronavirus on their watch. This indecision about opening up campuses and the unknown about the second wave of the coronavirus this fall is now causing a new trend of students taking a gap year.

Normally, just a few students take a gap year between high school and college. These students either aren’t quite ready to make the big jump into a 4-year program or they have sports or projects that need to be completed before transitioning to college. Others take this opportunity to travel abroad or immerse themselves in research or work. They know college will be there for them when they’re ready.

But this year, students are choosing to take a gap year because they don’t want to miss their “college experience.” Living at home in their old bedrooms under family rules – and now “shelter-in-place” rules – stuck behind their laptops is not quite how they want to spend the next school year. They only get 4 years of living the college dream and they don’t want to waste one (or more) of those years living and studying from home. Parents are also on board for gap years because forking out $30,000 to $70,000 just doesn’t make sense when their kids are living and eating at home and taking classes online.

Taking a gap year while sheltering in place will be a completely different experience for these students. Most will not be able to travel abroad, do internships, or get jobs. The big difference this year is that many students are opting to take gap years because they want to live on campus, whereas previously, students took gap years to do something special.

Not all colleges allow gap years so check with your college to lay out a plan. Some colleges require that you reapply the following year. Others don’t allow students to take classes at other institutions during the gap year.

If taking a gap year makes financial sense, make good use of this year. Volunteer and support programs that help people struggling while sheltering in place. Work with your political party to get out the vote. Learn a foreign language. Build technical computer skills. Read, read, read! Consider your options and lay out a plan to ensure that you’ll be happy and satisfied with your decision to take a gap year.

Source

July 10, 2020

Our youth are facing tough decisions — and stress!

I’ve had some interesting conversations about future expectations and plans with both young and old people. Now that we’re in our 4th month of shelter-in-place with new COVID-19 surges in half of the states, we’re really feeling the stress of the unknown. When can we see our families again? Will schools and colleges offer on-campus classes this school year? Will I ever go back to work again? How did this pandemic become so political that misinformation has become rampant? I’ve addressed these questions in past blogs.

Learning how to deal with pandemics may become part of the way we live our lives. All of the brides and grooms who have postponed their weddings and honeymoons for months are having to make difficult decisions about their nuptials and who they can invite. Guest lists have been stripped from 250 people down to 40. Church and restaurant venues are now being replaced with outdoor beach gatherings with social distancing. Grandparents and at-risk family and friends are watching the event on Zoom or Google Meet.

Deciding when or if they should have children has also become a serious conversation. Grandparents are missing opportunities to be there for baby arrivals and celebrations. Many 30-somethings are considering not having children – after all, should they bring babies into a world where pandemics isolate kids from family and friends? What about another real threat: climate crisis? While our climate problems have been sidelined as the world focuses on finding a vaccine for the coronavirus, we still need to reduce our CO2 and develop sustainable energy.

High school and college students are stressed as they make decisions about how to finance an online college experience and how far away from home they should go. Parents worry that their children may become infected by other students if they return to campus this fall, yet parents need to go to work and school has always been the place kids go during the day. If we knew that the coronavirus would be contained in 6 months, we could make plans and start living our lives. But this pandemic may take years to understand and eradicate.

70% of current college students (who took a survey) have lost income due to the recession caused by the coronavirus. 50% changed their living situations in the spring; and 25% dropped at least one course. Over 90% are concerned about their colleges shifting to online learning.

It’s time to rethink how we socialize, work, learn, and celebrate. We need to look ahead and make smart decisions. And, we need to do this as people, not political parties. It’s time to work together so we can move on.

April 25, 2020

How will college classes be taught this fall?

High school seniors have been robbed their senior top-dog activities like formals and proms, and most won’t be able to walk at their high school graduation with their classmates in May or June. What’s worse is that college-bound students don’t know if their colleges will have classes on campus this fall. Current seniors/soon-to-be college freshmen, may also be robbed their “freshman experience” if they are taking online classes from the bedrooms at home. With the May 1st deadline quickly approaching, seniors need to make final decisions about which college they plan to attend this fall.

The coronavirus pandemic has taken the nation by surprise and colleges are scrambling to announce how they will offer the fall term. Most colleges transformed onsite classes to some version of online classes when they sent students home for spring term. And, they’re getting heat from students and parents about housing and meal refunds. Colleges are struggling with financial obligations (paying professors and staff) while balancing difficult decisions about sheltering in place (at home) and exacerbating a pandemic that is nowhere near running its course.

Here are the 10 possible scenarios colleges may offer this fall.
#1. Classes back on campus
… See you on campus! Everything back to normal.

#2. Late start in October or November
… After there are vaccines or better testing, students start classes later.

#3. Skip fall term and start up in spring
… Then, move spring term to summer.

#4. Freshmen only
… Sophomores, juniors, and seniors would take online classes at home, while freshmen would be on campus following social distancing guidelines so they have their freshmen experiences.

#5. Graduate Students only
… Just grad students would be on campus to continue their research while undergrads take online classes only.

#6. Targeted Courses
… Students take some on-campus classes that require that face-to-face interface while other classes are offered online. Housing may be an issue for dorms and dining halls.

#7. Block Courses
… Students take one course at a time for 3-4 weeks and complete the same number of courses over the term. This gives flexibility should students be ordered to move back home while giving them full credit for courses completed on campus.

#8. Low-Residency Model
… Students take online courses from home, but participate in on-campus face-to-face classes with a small portion of the class and the professor for short periods of time. This allows for making friends and improving on-line discussions with people they met on campus.

#9. HyFlex Model
… Classes are offered both online and on campus. Students choose which works best for them. Professors and TAs teach on campus and online classes.

#10. Online Courses only
… All classes are taken online from home, similar to the structure used this spring term.

Colleges will announce their decisions about how fall term will be conducted. For many freshmen, this decision may determine which colleges they start this fall. This will be interesting to see how each college develops their plans to retain their reputations while offering what students need.

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