Paulcg87

Haha, I think I was assuming that it's a possibility if there's a change in administration in January 2021. Totally fair in terms of the skepticism/humour.

I wonder if the US will adopt the Canadian model at all and offer federal aid specifically to students? Canada is also offering I think $1200/month to Canadian citizens who are students studying at foreign institutions, including in the US, so Canadians currently at American universities will be eligible for the pay this summer.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/university-students-demand-lower-tuition-fees-as-classes-move-online-1.5543239 An article from Canada about some of the changes going on at UBC and the University of Toronto, including Toronto's altered fee structure for students.

Thanks for your perspective, it's much appreciated. I must admit I'm 100% guilty of being stressed too. Talking about it helps, especially when I can't even talk to my neighbours right now because we are all stuck inside. The fact that most of us on here are in very similar situations is something that brings us together I think. One thing is for sure - when we are on campus, actually matriculated and doing all of the things that encompass a PhD, it's going to be remarkably refreshing (for me at least). I never, ever thought I would look so forward to TAing undergrads, taking a seminar on political theory (no offence to my theory brethren, I'm just an IR guy or writing an exam in person. I guess I took it all for granted in undergrad and my master's degree; who didn't? I never thought I'd miss just sitting with a class full of people or going to the campus bookstore to buy the course textbooks versus zoom and buying everything on Amazon.

Thank you. Your opinion is welcome, as long as it isn't hostile for no particular reason. I think we can all agree we're trying to avoid making this forum another PSR. I think treating everyone on here with respect goes a long ways right now given how stressed most of us are. Anyway, moving on, I truly hope you're doing alright and staying sane in these tough times. I know it's a genuine challenge for all of us, especially those of us who are in quarantine or unemployed right now. I personally have taken up video gaming again, to a degree that would put my undergrad days to shame

To anyone who is now afraid to post on here: Please do not be. I (and others) truly welcome your perspective, input and thoughts on this. It's ok to speculate. It's ok to talk about your fears, concerns and analysis. It's ok to re-post articles. I created this thread for this precise reason, and as long as I'm on here, I will stick up for you if you want to talk about this. Discouraging thought, speculation or the sharing of mainstream media articles on COVID-19's effects on higher ed is not healthy, and it has the added negative effect of discouraging discussion on the wider/broader topic. This is a discussion forum, and last I checked, it isn't authoritarian. It doesn't have the same standards as an academic journal, and it isn't a journal. As long as you aren't turning this into PSR and attacking others, fear mongering or contributing to a negative atmosphere, you're free to comment and I hope people do. With that said, I completely understand that we are all nervous, on edge, and stressed out right now. I'm part of that group as an incoming PhD student who is relying on a funding package from a major land grant institution, and I'm worried too. With that said, if this is getting to you too much, for the sake of your own blood pressure, I recommend you take a break rather than lash out and/or make others feel bad. Mental health is a real issue for all of us right now, and it's important that we all take care of ourselves. I've said it before and I'll say it again: We are ALL in this together. Take care of yourselves above all else.

I appreciate the apology. Just to be clear, I'm guessing you saw the number of mainstream media sources, ranging from KTLA to NPR, that extrapolated the same thing as the Mercury News and announced that CSUF was going online for the fall. Some subsequently edited their articles to account for Oliver's statement regarding CSUF. I am not at fault for this, and it's equally as misleading to even imply that my posting of mainstream media articles that got it wrong is somehow my fault, or that I bear the burden of their failed extrapolation. Several users on here have posted mainstream media articles. It is not on me that when I posted, I was in fact posting about something that the mainstream media got incorrect. This is what I meant when I said "do not shoot the messenger". If multiple media sources, including NPR (which I respect a great deal), post something this important and then happen to have gotten it wrong, this is NOT on me. I disagree, and I would respectfully suggest that I created this thread specifically to share information. Posting articles from CNN, NPR, etc., regarding university plans and interviews with faculty et al., isn't something that "generally does no good". I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that. But I again ask that you not jump to conclusions and assume that because I post something that the media subsequently gets wrong, that I too am at fault. I also ask that if you do not like people posting mainstream media articles on here, you simply stop monitoring this thread. I for one appreciate articles about the current situation in the United States and North America, particularly as someone who is overseas right now.

That's all totally fair and it makes sense. In my case I was referring to other users who have been outright combative and/or patronizing when I've posted articles in this thread. No one here is trying to spread misinformation or fear monger, but this is a thread created specifically to discuss this very topic, so there will be some discussion, some speculation/hearsay and posting of articles/publications. Anyone who loses their sh*t over this should probably stop reading this thread, full stop.

Fair enough (about the edits). Clearly I was completely off base about this. To be honest, I saw this originally because I was streaming youtube tv overseas and watching a Bay Area news station (NBC Bay Area). They had a segment a few days ago on local universities and COVID-19 and they announced in the segment that San Jose State University was going "completely online" for fall 2020. Turns out that was an exaggeration/misinterpretation too, but it got me interested in the topic, which is what led me to the CSU Fullerton announcement reported by NPR et al... I guess the takeaway is that many schools seem to be considering it but even local media is getting a lot of things wrong right now.

I am too. It seems like several users on here, including people I respect a great deal, are on edge right now. Maybe it was a mistake for me to create this thread. People are starting to get argumentative, patronizing and condescending for no particularly good reason.

Interesting, thanks for this. I guess literally every mainstream media source that reported on this and stated that this was "announced" extrapolated it incorrectly. I wonder if Oliver's response was damage control as a result of feedback/pushback from the media interpretation or something else. Regarding the rest of what I said, I'm re-posting what was stated by multiple sources ranging from local media to NPR. I resent the earlier implication by another user that I'm doing this to spread misinformation in any way. Quite a few other users here, including Dwar, have re-posted mainstream media articles regarding the pandemic's impact on higher ed. My point to everyone: please do not shoot the messenger or resort to condescension. We're all in this together, and the reason I created this thread is to discuss, not to patronize.

"California State University Fullerton announced Tuesday it would begin the fall semester with online classes only, one of the first universities to signal its intention to keep the doors shut." https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/04/22/sjsu-cal-state-east-bay-considering-hybrid-of-online-and-in-person-classes-for-fall/

I lived in on-campus housing myself for the first year of undergrad at UBC. It's nice, and it's a beautiful campus with access to some great views and beaches. Also, are you a runner? If so, one of my favourite events every year is "The Longest Day" road race, which is on the UBC campus. It's a 5K/10K road race through the campus, in the evening, usually on (or close to) the longest day of the year. I've been doing it since I was an undergrad about ten years ago; usually they get a few hundred runners including a lot of students and it's so much fun! I expect it will be postponed this year but keep it in mind if you're interested. https://www.thunderbirdstrack.org/longest-day-road-race

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/04/22/sjsu-cal-state-east-bay-considering-hybrid-of-online-and-in-person-classes-for-fall/ "California State University Fullerton announced Tuesday it would begin the fall semester with online classes only, one of the first universities to signal its intention to keep the doors shut." I did read the article. I read quite a few articles about this earlier today and I posted this one because I like the LA Times. It clearly left a lot out compared to the other articles and I mixed them up without catching that the others specifically state that CSU Fullerton is going online. It's an understandable mistake but it's not quite the dire spread of misinformation or baseless speculation that you seem to have accused me of in the tone of your comments. I created this specific thread to discuss COVID-19's impact; I believe it's a useful discussion and clearly so do others. We're all on edge about it, not just you. Everyone is struggling. None of us want this. I can understand your response and your logic/rationale, and I'm sorry the LA Times article isn't as useful as the other articles I'm posting here. Additional sources: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/21/839623300/cal-state-fullerton-announces-plans-for-a-virtual-fall-will-other-colleges-follo https://www.ocregister.com/2020/04/20/cal-state-fullerton-announces-plans-to-start-fall-semester-with-virtual-classrooms/ https://ktla.com/news/local-news/cal-state-fullerton-classes-will-continue-online-during-fall-semester/ https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-04-21-this-cal-state-campus-is-one-of-the-first-to-commit-to-online-only-classes-for-fall-2020

California State University Fullerton has announced it will only offer classes online this fall: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-21/cal-state-fullerton-cancels-in-person-fall-classes-online From what I'm hearing, San Jose State University and other CSU campuses are either going fully or mostly online for this fall too.

I think that next year's admission cycle will be more competitive, as others, including most of the "regulars" on this forum, have already speculated. With that said, it's not going to be some kind of apocalyptic scenario where everything is still shut down or online like it is right now. There WILL be a vaccine (most likely several, from different countries and manufacturers) and they will almost certainly be available a year from right now if not much sooner. This is a fact, and the vaccine(s) will be a gamechanger. But what is more difficult to speculate on is the longer term economic effects of this shutdown and the worldwide recession that is currently occurring. Some economists seem to think that it will last years, others think it will be over in a few months. Personally, I hope the latter is true because we are all adversely affected by a bad economy in one way or another. Realistically, I think if the world is still in a recession during the next admissions cycle, there will be fewer scholarships and less overall funding, compounded by smaller PhD cohorts. Schools will have smaller endowments and departments and professors will have less institutional/government/private funding to spend. This will affect the social sciences disproportionately compared to certain other similar fields because social science PhD's are typically fully funded but similar professional programs are not, and as we saw during the last recession, similar professional programs (JD's, LLM's, MPP's, etc) actually had increased admissions and larger cohorts, so what might happen in other closely related fields isn't necessarily comparable to ours. As a side note, interesting article today in the WSJ (https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-big-question-for-colleges-will-there-be-a-fall-semester-on-campus-11587474000) about online classes this fall. It's a paywall article (sorry) but if you have an iPhone and you're in North America you probably got this article for free today. It's worth a read.

Congrats! UBC was my undergrad alma mater. You'll love it there. If you decide to live off campus, I highly recommend Kitsilano. Kerrisdale is also nice but not as young/fun as Kits. PM me if you need any help with getting to know the area

Like I said, I hope so. I'm not American but being from the country next door, I guess nothing surprises me anymore when Trump tweets something and it has unexpected consequences.

I see that Trump is suspending immigration to the United States, as announced a few hours ago. Hoping this is clarified in the coming days and that it won't affect student visas.

Such a strange year (and time) to be starting a PhD! But yes, agree with you 100% - I’m in a very similar situation to you (school is in an urban, high cost area) and I’ll actually save significant rent/cost of living money if even the first term is online. I’d also rather have everything in person than online, but I guess I’m not losing any sleep over the possibility because this is going to be a 5+ year endeavour so even if it’s a full term or a year, it’s not like I won’t be on campus eventually.

Congrats on Stanford :) Also, same here about the math/quant training. My school is being very ambiguous about the fall term but Canada is also significantly more cautious than the USA so if I had to bet right now it would be that we'll be online this fall and in person for the winter (spring) term.

For me this question is about cost of living. If my program announced online classes for the year, I would definitely not move to Toronto. Toronto has about the same cost of living as NYC, SF and LA. So if your question is: 1) do I move to a place where I need to pay $2500/month for a one bedroom apartment even though I won't be able to go to classes in person, or 2) do I stay in Asia where I have a job and can go to part time and still take classes, or alternatively, 3) do I move back to the part of the country where I already own a condo and the cost of living is lower and just take classes from there.. I can tell you the answer is #2 or #3. If you're going to a school in a smaller city or town, I think the affordability isn't as much of an issue. But if your school is in a big expensive city, and you're on a budget, I think it does make a difference and the cost benefit analysis is really important. Even with generous funding, I'd be saving a significant amount of money by not moving to the big city if my classes are online.

I don't think offers of admission or funding will be rescinded for most of us; this appears (so far) to be an anomaly relegated to a few departments at a few schools but it isn't catching on like the wildfire that we were worried about. There was an interesting article today on CNN about US schools preparing for online classes this summer and fall: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/14/us/university-may-cancel-classes-fall-2021-trnd/index.html Ultimately, whether we're on campus or online, I think it'll depend on the individual school and the city/state. Look at how wildly different the current travel restrictions are in the USA right now. POTUS is running the country in the true spirit of "states rights" in the sense that states are not only competing against each other for medical supplies, but have been free to make their own travel policies and restrictions. California is shelter in place while Oklahoma and Wyoming are business as usual. There hasn't been much of a coordinated federal policy, and there isn't reason to believe there will be. Canada is more coordinated but also extremely cautious. I expect we'll all get to start our PhD's this fall, but I think there is a strong possibility that some of us might be in online classes through the rest of this year.

If you mean for polisci PhD graduates, I'm sure you already know that UBC is notoriously mum on specific placement numbers or statistics. They've got a "placements" page (https://politics.ubc.ca/phd-placement/) but it doesn't have much actual data. This is in contrast to McGill (https://www.mcgill.ca/politicalscience/grad/placement-history), which at least provides names and placement locations, and UToronto (https://politics.utoronto.ca/graduate/phd-program/job-placement/), which is the only one of the three that actually provides solid data (name, placement, year of graduation). It's very odd that UBC doesn't provide more info; they pride themselves on being an American style PhD program and they're the only major Canadian polisci PhD program that requires the GRE but they don't publish substantive placement data. I don't know if it's a general reluctance for whatever reason or if their PhD placements just haven't been as good lately.

Not surprised about cost of living. Cambridge is horrendous. I went to MIT, which while not H, is about a mile away and in the same overpriced housing/rental market. Not that Palo Alto is cheap, but people have no idea how expensive living in Cambridge/area is if you aren't an undergrad and/or have a spouse/kids.