DS has very little hand sanitizer left. Any suggestions for alternatives for when he flies for 23 hours? Maybe a soapy washcloth in a plastic bag?

One of ds's courses last year had a course with 5 take home exams. They were very very hard, took about 10 hours, and were open book. You were allowed to work with anyone you wanted, but you had to write your answers on your own. You had to name who you worked with at the top of each question's answer. The answers included both calculations and essay type explanations. So the prof could see if you were copying someone else's answers. The idea was that they would learn together, but then each student had to understand the content well enough to write the answers individually. With the requirement of the answer being *explained* not just calculated, it required more nuanced understanding. This was actually not a physics class, but a math class with page-long proofs, but I think the concept could be transferable. The main problem would be the time it takes to mark all the papers. You could perhaps select one random question from each student exam to mark the essay carefully, and then for the other 5 to 10 questions, just give credit for the correct answer.

We are just so glad that ds's MIT tuition for next year is not in the stock market.

Thanks, but tomorrow might be too late to make any changes to his flight. I've warned him that if we don't change it now, there is a chance he will be stuck in the US for many months. But please still let me know what your DH finds out.

In good news, day 6 of no new cases in NZ. Gotta love Jacinda!

What about the airport? My son is flying to NZ by way of Houston on Monday.

My MIL is going into isolation. She is 90, has respiratory issues, and lives in Ohio. Luckily, she lives alone!

It will be interesting when all this is over to see the impact of different government policies on the spread. Seems like right now it is individuals companies, universities, schools, etc who are choosing to close, but there is no coordinated government response at the local, state, or national level. The article that someone posted a few pages back was very very good at explaining the data science and the impact of policy. https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca

Yes, he is at MIT and has been told to leave by Tuesday. Thanks for the offer! Actually, 2 other boardies in Boston have also been in touch too. DS is finishing classes tomorrow, then packing on Saturday, boxes picked up on Sunday, flight on Monday.

It seemed so reasonable 2 days ago to pick a Monday flight. But things are moving fast. NZ has no current cases -- the 5 we had have recovered. So I don't think Trump with ban flights to NZ, and NZ would not ban the flights, just require self-quarantine. I am more worried that United and AirNZ will cancel flights for lack of travellers.

I feel your stress. I just want to get my boy home. I need to quit reading this thread, but I also feel like I need to be informed. But there's nothing I can do, either his plane flies on Monday or it doesn't. I think the stress is having a child in a foreign country. I am overwhelmed with FUD. Fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

Now that we have decided to bring ds home, I just want him home NOW. NZ is planning on more restrictions starting tomorrow. I don't think they will impact NZ citizens, but I just need the flight to run! He leaves in 5 days.

I'm not mad, but very sad. We pay a fortune in NZ$ for a US school, and online is really not worth the money at all. But I'm hopeful that it is just for half a term and that they will be back by September. crossing fingers. But what I was trying to say above, is that there are some parents where the money IS a really really big deal. As in their kids have to take donations to eat at MIT (my son donates his unused meals to this charity). There are parents that are actually thinking about paying for food for their kids who will now be at home, paying with money they really don't have. They were discussing needing a refund, and others were getting hacked off at the insensitivity of focusing on money at a time like this. Luckily, calmer voices appeared on the MIT facebook page talking about the need for each of us to understand where the others were coming from. There are simply a LOT of students at MIT who are really poor. My heart breaks to think that they are living in cook-yourself dorms because they can't afford a meal plan, but then they can't afford food to cook either. Students at MIT should not be begging for food. 😞

My ds is telling some real horror stories. One kid is heading back to a hotspot in NY. His father is 60 and has respiratory issues. Unfortunately, he is the only bread winner for the family and is a taxi driver so can't isolate himself. The money is a big issue. Some kids at MIT are food stressed, some kids have visa issues if they leave, some kids cannot go home. One of my son's friends has fled Venezuela. There are currently about 100 families willing to take international students into their homes for free for 5 months.

DS has been told self-timed, self-proctored exams. Given out at 9am and due by 5pm for a 1.5 hour exam. However, it looks like the entire semester for the entire university will be PNR (Pass or No Record), so no grades and no record if you fail. So I suppose this means either the kids want to learn or they don't.

My son is in a junior level lab, and they will be switching to analyzing CERN data. Same paper and presentation requirements, but now the 'lab' portion will be machine learning rather than hands-on tinkering with equipment. Sounds like they will learn different but equally useful physics skills. This course is worth 1.5 credits (18hours at his school) because it fulfills both the university lab requirement and the in-major communication requirement.

In good news, NZ has had no new cases in 4 days. The travel restrictions and self-isolation requirements seem to be working. No exponential growth here.

MIT gave students by Tuesday at noon to leave. Huge problem for the 10% internationals there. But the community has been wonderful and there are about 100 people all over the country willing to take students until September. We just about had a heart attack as with both MIT and Harvard vacating this weekend -- we were unsure if we could even be able to get plane tickets and storage. But we did. Hurray! It was a super fast morning!

Just had a heart attack. MIT has sent all students home effective Tuesday at noon. We live in NZ, so not a small bit of organizing to do.

I did want to mention that kids with learning disabilities can be on a different time table but still get it done. My ds who has dysgraphia at age 12 still couldn't type or write faster than 8 words a minute. By 15.5 after years of remediation he was up to 40 wpm typing, but still no increased writing speed. This means that here in the last 2.5 years of high school we are still working on ways to take notes, organize ideas for a paper, physically draw a diagram for a test, etc. Even at the end of high school there is still time to remediate because kids pick up speed at 16 years old, and the last two years can be incredibly productive. So don't lose hope if you aren't meeting the previous posters' good ideas for what you should have accomplished. Some kids march to their own drummer. Ruth in NZ

Yes, I know the feeling. We left ds in Boston and flew home to NZ. It was very hard.

Yesterday, MIT cancelled Campus Preview Weekend and all international travel by professors and students. Also, although classes are still running, all other gatherings of greater than 150 are cancelled. All international students have been asked not to go home if possible over spring break. And if they do, to plan to self isolate for 2 weeks when they return. I think MIT is running scared about dense dorm housing with a population of 10% internationals. It is just a breeding ground for infection. They have not yet cancelled graduation, but have said they will consider it closer to the time.

I'm also interested in feedback on the age thing. 55 is pretty late to walk into the job market. But I look young -- just need to dye my hair. 🙂

Thanks so much for those ideas and telling me about your experiences! I actually also had geochemistry in my title at first but then it got too long! I definitely think geology is key, but you are saying the masters is in geology and not chemistry, which makes sense. They don't have one in geochemistry. I've been looking at my local uni's offerings and there is lots of geology, chemistry, environmental science, and earth science; but basically no engineering. So chemical engineering or environmental engineering is out unless I move. What kind of skills might I need. Which math? Should I take a course in GIS? In simulation/mathematical modelling? These technical courses seem to be spread throughout many different majors, so I are not easily identified as geology/chemistry useful. There were lots of classes in field work in geology and earth science. What about policy courses? There were quite of few of those in environmental science. Basically, I think I would be building my own course of study as prep for a masters, so I really think I get to pick and choose what I think would be most useful, rather than following some preset undergrad program.

I was hoping you would see this and respond! Thanks for the links! I'll do some reading and some cross referencing with my local uni offerings, and then ask some more questions. 🙂