The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted most college and graduate students. Many college campuses are currently closed, and students have been forced to participate in classes online. In addition, numerous schools have adjusted grading policies and other procedures to deal with the ongoing pandemic. Given the current environment, holding off on college because of COVID-19 may be a desirable strategy for many students.
I recently read a New York Times article that discussed holding off on college because of COVID-19. Since it is uncertain if college campuses will reopen in the fall, some students do not see the usefulness of attending many universities in the present environment. Because students may be forced to stay home in the fall semester and take classes online, they might be better served taking classes at a community college or an online university instead.
At first blush, this seems like a useful strategy for many students. Indeed, numerous colleges, including my alma mater, have established mid-year programs in which accepted students take a semester off between high school and college to pursue some other kind of activity. Many mid-year students travel abroad, work at nonprofits, or take cheaper classes at local universities. Many of these students can still graduate on time, since extra credits can be racked up during the academic year.
Of course, the ongoing pandemic may impact what you can do while holding off on college because of COVID-19. It may be difficult to travel, work at certain jobs, or pursue other activities because of the ongoing pandemic. Furthermore, if you decide to take classes at another college, you need to make sure that your university will accept such transfer credits. However, if these practical considerations can be surmounted, holding off on college because of COVID-19 can be a good idea.
A semester of college can cost an incredible amount of money. Indeed, it is not an exaggeration to believe that students could save up to $30,000 by not enrolling at a premier college for a semester and pursue other activities instead. Of course, if you are getting a scholarship to attend school or your parents are footing the bill, it might not be important to save money. However, holding off on college because of COVID-19 can seriously benefit your student debt burden.
In addition, it is usually easy to make up the credits you miss by spending a semester away from college, even if you do not enroll in a community college or another school during this time. Universities typically allow students to take more credits than they need to complete to earn a degree during the course of the academic year. Indeed, I took more than the amount of credits I needed each semester to graduate on time so that I could earn a Master’s degree during my senior year of college. In fact, I earned enough credits to make up for an entire year of study, so earning sufficient credits to make up for a semester is definitely achievable for many students.
Holding off on college because of COVID-19 may also be important for reasons that do not deal directly with finances. College is a truly unique experience, and you will never have another time in your life to have fun, experiment, and meet people from a multitude of different backgrounds. However, the social experience of college has been extremely restricted because college students are not allowed to be on campus because of COVID-19.
As a result, it might make sense to skip a semester of college altogether if it looks like you will have to continue online learning. You can then return to college when universities allow students to be present on campus, and resume the full college experience. Of course, if you do not make up for missed academic credits, you may not be able to graduate with your classmates. However, people often make friends with students in different class years in college, so this might not be a major issue. In addition, even if delaying graduation puts off some of your ambitions such as graduate school, you should still have plenty of time to complete all of the things you want to do at the beginning of your career.
It is worth noting that this strategy may not be feasible for many graduate programs, including law schools. Law schools typically have rigid restrictions on the amount of credits you can take each semester, and since it is only three years long, it would be more difficult to make up extra credits during the remaining time at school. In addition, COVID-19 should not motivate you to attend a lower-ranked school while classes are online with the intentions of transferring once campuses reopen. Law school grades are pretty arbitrary, and schools may be strict about accepting transfer credits, so students should simply delay attending law school altogether rather than skip a semester or count on transferring.
All told, students of all types, especially college students, have been substantially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since college students presently need to take classes online, holding off on college because of COVID-19 might be advisable in a number of situations. Students who skip a semester can usually make up the credits during the academic year to save money, and returning to campus when things normalize will maximize the amount of time you can enjoy the full college experience.