Will there be a fall semester?

[Artgirl87]

I, personally, doubt it. At least, it will not be the kind of semester that you (and I) are expecting — with in situ learning, etc. 

So, it is perhaps something for people accepting Masters (esp. the expensive ones) to consider, as there is a large divide between online and in-person learning. 

[roving99]

I agree. There’s potential there for it to be 50% or more online to promote social distancing, especially in relatively major metropolitan areas. If you are taking out major loans to go to places like NYU, Columbia, Temple, SAIC, I would highly advise to reconsider the fall semester. I don’t think you will be getting what you are paying for.  
 

however, if you have a funded masters or PhD offer, I see no reason why not to continue. In my program, professors are acutely aware of the struggle and will go out of their way to bring incoming students up to speed as soon as possible. Also, with a summer of preparation, virtual grad courses will be much more successful in the fall. I actually have not minded the transition education-wise.  
 

If no one accepts funded positions, departments have the potential of completely losing those lines of credit and therefore having less spots to open up to future students. You may ask to defer, but they might not be able to do it come next year if they lose the funding. 

[Artgirl87]

To clarify, this isn't to diminish or shit on anyones offers, etc — but rather to suggest that waiting a year might be the preferable option given all the hard work people have put in.

From what I hear, internal memos are directing professors to start prepping online content for the Fall (although that is obviously subject to change, and shouldn't be taken as gospel). 

[killerbunny]

On 4/11/2020 at 6:29 AM, roving99 said:

I agree. There’s potential there for it to be 50% or more online to promote social distancing, especially in relatively major metropolitan areas. If you are taking out major loans to go to places like NYU, Columbia, Temple, SAIC, I would highly advise to reconsider the fall semester. I don’t think you will be getting what you are paying for.  
 

however, if you have a funded masters or PhD offer, I see no reason why not to continue. In my program, professors are acutely aware of the struggle and will go out of their way to bring incoming students up to speed as soon as possible. Also, with a summer of preparation, virtual grad courses will be much more successful in the fall. I actually have not minded the transition education-wise.  
 

If no one accepts funded positions, departments have the potential of completely losing those lines of credit and therefore having less spots to open up to future students. You may ask to defer, but they might not be able to do it come next year if they lose the funding. 

I like this optimism about the quality of online education benefitting from the test periods of late spring and summer, but I am highly skeptical the quality of virtual learning can approximate even a fraction of the benefit of being in a real classroom setting. I loathe doing my current graduate seminar through a staticky interface, and everyone involved, including the prof who is the most committed I've encountered in my master's program, is struggling to maintain the engagement and enthusiasm we had before moving online. In two words, it sucks. I'd also hate to think of missing the opportunity to develop IRL bonds with my new cohort, the collegiality that has been such a vital support system for all us in my current cohort, and to cultivate a rapport with professors that can only come from in-person interaction. 

[adjunctlifer]

I think that it depends on the geographic location a bit. I know that some schools in the Northeast have already committed to online semesters in the fall, and it looks like others might as well, even if they haven't formally committed to that yet. So in a hotspot in the US? Good chance for online. I don't know about elsewhere though ....

[SocialKonstruct]

The question is if online learning becomes the predominant method for 2-3 years then should one defer 2-3 years for graduate school?

[Artgirl87]

 

5 hours ago, SocialKonstruct said:

The question is if online learning becomes the predominant method for 2-3 years then should one defer 2-3 years for graduate school?

I would suggest that it will vary on a case by case basis (for instance, if you are doing a PhD you may want to dive right in, given the length; but, if you are undertaking an MFA, you may value the in-situ experience more).

And, to be clear, I think either choice is fine. 

My intent on starting this post was really to flag the importance of being informed before people enrol, or take out loans, etc. 

 

 

[Arthistoryiscool]

On 5/10/2020 at 3:37 PM, SocialKonstruct said:

The question is if online learning becomes the predominant method for 2-3 years then should one defer 2-3 years for graduate school?

Totally. My fear personally is that we still won't have a vaccine/cure in 1 yr. and what do I do at that point? I'm just thinking of going for it and hoping for the best.

[SocialKonstruct]

On 7/10/2020 at 2:58 PM, Arthistoryiscool said:

Totally. My fear personally is that we still won't have a vaccine/cure in 1 yr. and what do I do at that point? I'm just thinking of going for it and hoping for the best.

To be honest, it will be quite a few years before any type of vaccine will exist which is safe for humans.