海角大神

The past year was a whirlwind of activity for Samantha Beeson, a high school senior who was looking forward to end-of-year rituals before heading off to college in the fall.聽

As the president of the marketing club at Johnson Ferry 海角大神 Academy in Marietta, Georgia, a trained Italian opera singer active in theater, and a cheerleader, she was already anticipating mixed emotions as all her activities came to an end and a new stage in her life commenced.聽聽

鈥淚 think of the senior year of high school, it鈥檚 kind of the end of being a kid,鈥� says Ms. Beeson, who just sent her deposit to enroll in Furman University in South Carolina. 鈥淏ut then the coronavirus kinda took that closure from us in such an unexpected way and in such a fast amount of time.鈥�

鈥淎nd I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 anything harder than hearing your graduation, when you鈥檙e going to walk across the stage and with all your friends, and your family is going to be there, and, you know, now that鈥檚 going to be over a Zoom call. It鈥檚 kinda disheartening,鈥� Ms. Beeson says. 鈥淎nd now the beginning of college might be taken away as well.鈥�

Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service,聽all our coronavirus coverage聽is free. No paywall.

The first week of May has long been among the most busy for admissions officers, as the traditional deadline for high school seniors and others to choose which college to attend. But with uncertainty surrounding the ongoing impact of COVID-19 across the country, many students like Ms. Beeson can't bring themselves to put down the deposit. The decisions they make could have huge ramifications for institutions of higher learning, some of which were already cash-strapped before the pandemic meant a financial hit worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

鈥淚 know that getting a college degree is definitely a better start and you get better pay,鈥� says Devon Post, a senior at Plainfield High School聽in rural Connecticut, who enrolled at his first choice: the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.聽

鈥淏ut if they decide to do online this fall, I don鈥檛 know if I can justify paying thousands of dollars and taking out loans,鈥� says Mr. Post, an ambassador for the National Society for High School Scholars (NSHSS).

He hasn鈥檛 enjoyed finishing high school online, either. Living in a relatively remote part of Connecticut with his mom, a manager at Foxwoods Casino, he can鈥檛 get Wi-Fi. Using his cellphone as a hotspot for his aging computer has been spotty.

鈥淚 need to be hands-on. I don鈥檛 know if the online courses can work for me,鈥� he says.

Ms. Beesen feels similarly, even though she still plans to enroll in Furman University even if they start online.聽

鈥淭he idea of doing my first semester of college online is hard for me, because it鈥檚 already so expensive,鈥� Ms. Beeson says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not only paying for classes, we鈥檙e paying for the experience. We鈥檙e paying for the dorm life, the cafeteria life, the outdoor life, and all those things why I chose to go to Furman in the first place.鈥澛�

Across the country, about half of high school seniors and returning students say they could deal with e-learning and online classes in their colleges this fall, though they would much prefer in-person classes, according to a national survey released last week by the NSHSS. About a third of U.S. students, however, said they would rather not enroll this fall if classes meet online.

A number of colleges and universities in California and other states have already announced they plan to hold online classes this fall, while other U.S. institutions say they will reopen with in-person classes. In a survey of college officials by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, more than half said they were making plans for the possibility of putting the fall semester entirely online.

鈥淚 see a lot of families doing a huge sort of philosophical shift in their minds, asking, like, why were we going to a particular college to begin with?鈥� says Craig Meister, an admissions consultant based in Baltimore. 鈥淲as it for the name? Was it for the prestige? Was it for the experience?鈥�

鈥淏ut I think a lot of students and families are realizing, it鈥檚 not just the five classes you are going to be taking in the fall, or the name you鈥檒l graduate with, but the experience of being in dorms, networking, fraternities and sororities, making new friends, being independent,鈥� continues Mr. Meister. 鈥淎nd if that鈥檚 all taken away from you 鈥� and so much else has seemed to be recently taken away from these students and families 鈥� is now really the time to proceed?鈥�

Students like Mr. Post have begun to consider taking a 鈥済ap year,鈥� and deferring their enrollment until the fall of 2021. Some are beginning to question the need to spend 鈥� or borrow 鈥� the exorbitant costs of going to college in the first place.

鈥淚鈥檝e never had a job, so maybe just getting an apprenticeship might be nice,鈥� says Mr. Post. 鈥淎nd once I start getting work skills and ability 鈥� meaning the kinds of stuff that my future employers can see I have 鈥� maybe I need to just take a couple leap years before deciding on going to college. I鈥檒l even have some money in the bank.鈥�

The uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and its ongoing impact going into the fall has also left college admissions officers scrambling as many see enrollment numbers decline and requests to take a gap year rise.

鈥淲e鈥檙e definitely seeing a lot of students take advantage of the deadline flexibility that we offered,鈥� says Adam Miller, director of admission at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, noting that a number of families want to wait before submitting a deposit.

鈥淏ut there鈥檚 the possibility that when it comes down to it, and it鈥檚 July or August and students start considering their options for next year, there may not be very many attractive options,鈥� he says. 鈥淎 lot of gap year programs involve summer work, maybe some sort of academic experience, or maybe travel. And those are all pretty severely impacted as well by COVID-19. It鈥檚 not clear to me what the comparable alternatives will be for students.鈥�

Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, has also seen a lag in enrollments so far, says Kristen Capezza, vice president of enrollment management. 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing the aftermath of those students who are trying to hold out for a level of certainty before making their decision,鈥� she says.

鈥淎s much as hopefully we can work to resume an in-person semester, I do think there鈥檒l be some added precautions either way,鈥� she says. The university has been setting up classrooms to follow social distancing guidelines and starting to look at the possibility of testing students to create a bubble on campus, or resume group gatherings with temperature scans or required masks.聽

鈥淯ntil a vaccine becomes available, I think you鈥檒l start to see a lot of that at campuses in the fall,鈥� Ms. Capezza continues. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 see how you can resume business as usual without some of those added precautionary measures in place.鈥�

Still, rather than delaying the start of a college education, she says now is actually the best time to begin. 鈥淭ypically when economies weaken, you鈥檒l see education actually start to pick up because it鈥檚 the perfect time to go in and strengthen skill sets and learn and prepare yourself for when the economy gets stronger and things start to boom again,鈥� she says.

This is one reason Ms. Beeson is planning to start Furman this fall, even if her summer orientation has already been cancelled and her college career will begin with online classes at home in Georgia.聽

Despite the disappointments of the disrupted end-of-semester rituals, she has been discovering something completely new about herself, she says, as her yearslong frantic schedule has slowed to a home-bound crawl.

鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the biggest things I鈥檝e learned, how we live in such a fast-paced world, and how important it is not always having to be busy,鈥� Ms. Beeson says. 鈥淎nd just the power of being bored 鈥� so many creative ideas, so many values I鈥檝e suddenly realized.鈥� Among those: 鈥淏eing with my family, getting to spend a lot more time with my sister, getting to know her better 鈥� especially if I鈥檓 about to move to college.鈥�

鈥淒on鈥檛 get me wrong, this hasn鈥檛 been easy for me,鈥澛爏he says. 鈥淏ut I definitely have reprioritized and learned a lot I probably wouldn鈥檛 have.鈥�

Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service,聽all our coronavirus coverage聽is free. No paywall.