How was that first semester of College 2020?

[luvsvacation]

I’d say it went pretty well. DD is a freshman which I think makes it easier in a way because she doesn’t have past years to compare it to to know what all shes missing out on. She lives on campus and has 3 in person classes and 2 online. She has finals next week but so far has straight As. She works about 20 hours a week at a gas station/convenience store. She lives about an hour away and comes home some weekends.

 

[kdonnel]

My son is full time dual enrollment at college for his senior year in high school.

His first semester went well. At the moment he has 3 A's and a B that may or may not become an A based on the final assignments turned in Friday.

Between the 4 classes he averaged 1 class a week in person. The plan for his college is to increase the amount of in person next semester from 25% in person to 50% in person.

He is looking forward to next semester.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I voted mildly disappointing for my daughter, a senior in college. She has 5 online classes. 3 were supposed to be in person or hybrid but changed to online over the summer. She loves her roommates! She lives in a house off campus with 4 other friends and sorority sisters. All sorority stuff is online; no students are allowed at the football games; all pregame tailgating was shut down, all parties were shut down. She has a small group she gets together with for very small house parties. They just had a 5th Christmas party last night. They drew names and bought each other 5ths of liquor to exchange. The restaurants are open with reduced capacity, so to get a seat for the evening, you have to show up at 5:30 or 6:00. They stop serving alcohol at 10:00 and close at midnight. The party scene at her school has been really decimated. She says she gets so sad when she sees the Instagram and Snapchat memories that pop up each week letting her know EXACTLY what she’s missing this year.

She says it’s depressing to sit in her bedroom all day watching classes, doing homework, working her virtual internship (doing corporate recruiting - they asked her to stay on after the summer ended), filling out job applications, and doing virtual interviews. She felt like she rarely left her room some days! She and her boyfriend also broke up after almost 2 years together. He graduated in May, and the long distance thing just wasn’t working. He was also a little depressed as the transition from college kid to working adult is kind of lonely. The breakup has been really hard on her. They still see each other when she comes home though.

A couple of positives - Her grades are really good, and she’ll probably make Dean’s List this semester. She also got 3 good job offers and accepted her favorite. She’ll start her career this July! We are really proud of her.

We are all prepared for her May 2021 graduation with a rental cabin and dinner reservations, but I’m not sure her school will have a real graduation. It may be virtual just like last May. If it is, we’ll still go to the cabin and make a special weekend if it. But it will be disappointing none the less. I hope things go back to normal soon!!!

 

[nicole88s]

I would say it went great! He has had an amazing time so far. He was one of 9 in a dorm room and basically loved all his roommates. There are 2 to a room and the guy who is in the room with him pretty much lives with his girlfriend. He has only spent 2 nights total sleeping at the dorm, so it is like my son has a single. He has his own bathroom too!

His classes were all in person. The university put video cameras in all classrooms so students could watch the lecture if they were sick/on quarantine/etc. They figured out you can watch the lectures at double speed so his "early" classes (10 am, haha) he would sleep though and just watch later at the double speed.

He decided to change his major from Information Systems to Computer Science. He registered for his spring classes and cannot wait because he is taking all math and computer classes. He loves learning when it is subjects he cares about. All classes are in person.

His university was offering free rapid tests, so I asked him to take one before he came home for Thanksgiving. It was positive!! I was so shocked. He was completely asymptomatic. We talked to over and decided he should stay in his dorm room for the isolation period. It was a really hard decision and we went back and forth on it, but in the end it was the right choice. If he was feeling sick I don't think I could've left him there, but he felt completely fine the whole time. So much so I'm hoping it wasn't a false positive.

He is now home and converting the guest room into his gaming room/office/man cave. We have been painting and moving/selling stuff so we are busy. It's just dh, dd and me when he's not here and we all have our schedule down, so it sort of seemed like a whirlwind came though when he got home. We all eat at home every day and eat very healthy, so it is weird to see how much junk and fast food he eats!!

 

[Colleen27]

I think parents know more because the kids are frustrated and worried. My daughter has 3 semesters left before grad school, and she’s only had in person classes for 1 1/2 semesters. With my older kids I had no idea what classes they were taking or their grades, and they graduated. My daughter was also home an entire week after not seeing her for over 3 months, and I don’t even talk to her once a week when she’s at school.

Yep. Freshman year, I heard from DD maybe once every other week or so, unless she was sending me some silly meme on FB Messenger or gloating about the California weather via Snapchat. More than anything else, it is how often we've spoken this year that let me see just how frustrated and worried and lonely she's been out there... because when things are normal, she's a really independent kid. She spent 8 weeks in Japan a few years ago without a single Skype/Messenger call home! I kept up with her adventures via her infrequent Instagram posts and the occasional snail mail letter she sent younger DD. So for her to be calling every couple-few days is in itself a sign that she's struggling.

 

[dreamer17555]

My freshman's school closed campus in September but allowed hardship, athletes, and honors college stay (which she is a part of). She stayed in her dorm room (her roommate already choose not attend leaving her with a single room). She made friends, volunteered, took remote classes, attended online club meetings, and probably socialized more than I want to know.

She ended up with a 4.0 including her honors classes (all A's, no pass fail or any of that mess) but like many worries how much she actually learned. All in all it wasn't a terrible semester. She lived away for HS already and was also familiar with online classes and taking advantage of things like office hours.

More students are welcomed back this Spring Semester... I am not confident at all about how that will go but trying to stay hopeful.

 

[dreamer17555]

Boy, some of y'all know a lot of details about your college kids lives!

My kids went to college, had some zoom classes, a couple in person classes, like their roommates. Feel like they made the best of the experience considering the year.

Made good grades.

And came out healthy.

And will go back next semester.

Pretty much all I need to know.

My daughter started living away from home at 13 and before that started spending the entire summers away starting at 8 years old to train in ballet. She communicates a lot more than her friends do with their parents but it is what she knows and how it has just worked for our family. It is my job to listen and try my best to keep my mouth shut. I know she is beyond capable.

On the flip side I enjoy hearing about her life. I miss her. She is a really kind, thoughtful, insightful voice that I enjoy getting to listen to. You have to find a balance that works for your relationship with your children. It is okay if some know more, or some hear from their kids less.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My freshman's school closed campus in September but allowed hardship, athletes, and honors college stay (which she is a part of). She stayed in her dorm room (her roommate already choose not attend leaving her with a single room). She made friends, volunteered, took remote classes, attended online club meetings, and probably socialized more than I want to know.

She ended up with a 4.0 including her honors classes (all A's, no pass fail or any of that mess) but like many worries how much she actually learned. All in all it wasn't a terrible semester. She lived away for HS already and was also familiar with online classes and taking advantage of things like office hours.

More students are welcomed back this Spring Semester... I am not confident at all about how that will go but trying to stay hopeful.

I don't know why but it kinda rubs me the wrong way that honors college would get to stay as if those who aren't in it aren't deserving of the education on campus. I think some degrees are much more hands on making distance learning hard but saying separating out honors college to non sends an elitist message to me when the education of all students may be negatively impacted by not being able to go onto campus. I'm sure that's not the intent though.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My father-in-law's wife's son says he's been doing pretty well at college (he's a senior though) but he's an RA which has a slightly different procedure than other students for things like move in, breaks and other such stuff. I think if this had been his first year at college he might have been more negatively impacted. His mom is a helicopter mom but the several years at college have at least allowed him a chance to live on his own more. When he was a freshman he relied so much on his mom to do things that I think he would have struggled more with the stress of the unknown. Now that he's been able to get a job, his mom isn't as involved in his day to day life (though she's still overly involved) and he settled into college life this upheaval he's had hasn't him him as much.

On the other hand speaking to another relative with several younger kids one of them told us after we asked him how school was that he wished he could have in-person instead of hybrid (where they go several days a week to school and the other days virtual). He isn't doing well on the days he does remote learning and he says too much time is spent fussing (well he didn't use that word lol) with the technology and he can't pay attention as well.

 

[dreamer17555]

I don't know why but it kinda rubs me the wrong way that honors college would get to stay as if those who aren't in it aren't deserving of the education on campus. I think some degrees are much more hands on making distance learning hard but saying separating out honors college to non sends an elitist message to me when the education of all students may be negatively impacted by not being able to go onto campus. I'm sure that's not the intent though.

All classes moved remote so even those allowed to stay on campus did not get hands on learning. I think it is similar to athletes allowed to stay across the country. They want to make sure those students don't jump ship. Honors college at her school is merit only, normally with a scholarship. They are very high achieving students. Most of her honors college went home anyway. Hardship cases as always were the first priority. Those that needed a safe place to study should always come first.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

All classes moved remote so even those allowed to stay on campus did not get hands on learning. I think it is similar to athletes allowed to stay across the country. They want to make sure those students don't jump ship. Honors college at her school is merit only, normally with a scholarship. They are very high achieving students. Most of her honors college went home anyway. Hardship cases as always were the first priority. Those that needed a safe place to study should always come first.

I totally got the hardship and athletes. I actually almost typed that out in my first comment lol. But now that you added on it probably makes the most sense that like athletes they don't want them to leave the school to go elsewhere where they can be accommodated how they want to.

 

[Donaldswife]

My daughter finished her first quarter right before thanksgiving, she got her grades last week and did great! Dean's list for the quarter. She is living in Chicago in an off campus dorm like apartment with 3 roommates. She made a few friends with the limited socializing available, all classes online, didn't catch Covid even when one of her roommates got it in October, and had 2 really great professors out of 4. She is a freshman so she didn't really have a lot to compare the experience to so I am sure it is different for upperclassmen.

It wasn't what she pictured, and some of it was tough, but she did great and is looking forward to all the additional things she will get to experience her Sophomore year once we can put this pandemic in the rear view.

 

[holden]

I responded based on my friend's son's experience. He's a freshman at Penn State. All of his classes were online. He sat in his dorm all day and night. He's depressed and barely passing his classes. He lost 20 pounds (and he was thin to begin with). It's been a horrible semester for him.

 

[mom2rtk]

I don't know why but it kinda rubs me the wrong way that honors college would get to stay as if those who aren't in it aren't deserving of the education on campus. I think some degrees are much more hands on making distance learning hard but saying separating out honors college to non sends an elitist message to me when the education of all students may be negatively impacted by not being able to go onto campus. I'm sure that's not the intent though.

I will say that honors classes tend to be smaller classes, so probably more likely to be able to be in person with social distancing.

Of all my DD's classes this semester, the only one that remained in person was her Honors Physics 2 class.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I responded based on my friend's son's experience. He's a freshman at Penn State. All of his classes were online. He sat in his dorm all day and night. He's depressed and barely passing his classes. He lost 20 pounds (and he was thin to begin with). It's been a horrible semester for him.

Oh wow, that's my son's school, I had no idea some students were stuck there, it's such a big place and must be so lonely, how terrible.

They have a procedure for medical leave, I think a student needs to see an on site counselor as a step and then go to a Dr at home. I do hope they would be reasonable though and just release students who aren't doing ok, it can't be a surprise to anyone. This makes me so deeply sad.

 

[mjkacmom]

I will say that honors classes tend to be smaller classes, so probably more likely to be able to be in person with social distancing.

Of all my DD's classes this semester, the only one that remained in person was her Honors Physics 2 class.

But that poster said all classes were remote.

 

[mrs. magoo]

My daughter's experience was ok. She did contract Covid in mid November and came home after her 10 day quarantine. School was not bringing kids back after Thanksgiving and all her classes were online so it worked out. She finished up last week have not heard about grades. She is a kid who is very intense. She rides highs and lows and she had some pretty low points this past semester. I have asked her repeatedly if she wants to transfer or quit her sport but she does not want to do either. She is currently trying to find a job but all these places that say they are hiring for seasonal help keep telling her no. She just needs a 10 hour a week job but so far that is alluding us. She is really hard to read. My other daughter lives off campus and is finishing her student teaching this week so for her this has not been that much different. She is just missing the bars.

 

[Pink Partridge]

Boy, some of y'all know a lot of details about your college kids lives!

Well, since we are in a global pandemic and depression/suicide is really high among college aged students, I applaud all of these parents on this thread for keeping up with their young adults.

My college students had a great semester grade-wise. However, they miss their friends immensely. Their social lives are suffering. They crave normalcy at this point.

But I do ask more questions now than even when they were in high school. I am also doing that with my husband and siblings as well. Asking details of how they are doing and what is going on in their work lives/life in general.

I think it's what we need to do with our loved ones during this time. Check in. Ask questions. Have conversations. Care more than ever.

So I am very happy that I know a lot of details of my college kids lives. I am thankful they are opening up and sharing with me.

 

[mickeyboat]

I have two college juniors, and I would say mildly disappointing. DD21 ended up with her small on campus apartment to herself because her roommate chose other accommodations. Although I worried, DD seems to enjoy having the place to herself. She had five online classes and one hybrid. She does not enjoy on line learning, feels like she is teaching herself the material, and does not feel she is getting the quality of education she is paying for and expects. Her campus did well with COVID because of weekly testing and their robust contract tracing and isolation / quarantine program. She is not a very social person, but she has definitely been feeling lonely. Her grades will be good as she is an incredibly good student, but she will have five online classes and one hybrid again next term, and I am not sure she can take another semester of this. Hopefully her summer internship will happen in person and will be successful enough to drive her past the finish line next year and on to the career she is hoping for.

DD20 does trimesters at her school and is home on break now, sleeping and working. She needs a lot more socialization, and since she wasn't getting it on campus, she got a part time off campus job. She had one in person and two online classes last term, and she did fine. She is not a good on line learner, and this term she will be taking a couple of hard classes, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that she does o.k. She lived on campus in a single, which she really enjoyed. Her school also did a great job with COVID. They didn't have many cases, but even with social distancing, plexi-glass and mask wearing, the county health department quarantined entire classes if there was a positive case among them. I think they have revised their plan going forward to allow for a little more flexibility.

I hope and pray that their senior years will be back on track so that they can have a more normal senior year experience.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Well, since we are in a global pandemic and depression/suicide is really high among college aged students, I applaud all of these parents on this thread for keeping up with their young adults.

My college students had a great semester grade-wise. However, they miss their friends immensely. Their social lives are suffering. They crave normalcy at this point.

But I do ask more questions now than even when they were in high school. I am also doing that with my husband and siblings as well. Asking details of how they are doing and what is going on in their work lives/life in general.

I think it's what we need to do with our loved ones during this time. Check in. Ask questions. Have conversations. Care more than ever.

So I am very happy that I know a lot of details of my college kids lives. I am thankful they are opening up and sharing with me.

One of my greatest resources as a parent is friends with older children. When my husband started traveling more frequently and my kids started with college a good friend shared the fact her somewhat older family kept in constant contact with a family GM. Since I felt we were way more disconnected that I wanted I tried it and & over the past few years it totally kept us all feeling like we belong. Now in all honesty, I am the most frequent person to post to the GM and it's mostly fluff, happy things, endearments, little scribble drawings and well wishes for big events, plus good mornings and good nights.

Truth, I did frequently get discouraged because my family would rarely respond in the GM and out chit chat seemed to be only one on one, and many times I thought I'd just ditch it as a fail but I kept doing it anyway. It was a big surprise when we all got stuck under the same roof over SARS-Cov-19 and I learned that my son was reading all my messages and links and my daughter was saving every single scribble. Anyway, figured I'd share this as a way to keep children, friends and family feeling attached even if we can't be in the same place.