CA CA - Sydney “Syd” West, 19, University of CA student, San Francisco, 30 Sept 2020

[Andreee]

I wouldn't consider those "secret" accounts. The first one is most likely a finsta/spam account, considering the amount of posts and the more or less even number of followers and following. Meaning, it's an account for friends, she probably posted more private stuff there, and by private I don't necessarily mean something "bad", maybe it's just pictures and videos of her and her friends being silly. The second account strikes me as a place where she intended on sharing her music.
I haven't had a chance to check out her YouTube and her Reddit but I will.

I agree. Nothing mysterious about private accounts at all. Also, the phrasing 'i peaked in middle school' and phrases like that are just all too common these days, nothing out of ordinary.

 

[kaen]

Depression (or, being at risk for depression) is so common among college students, especially students attending very competitive schools. Many of these kids have been pressure cooked at home and in their high schools. Having taken a gap year, Sydney might have also felt many feelings with the new ramp up as she attended the summer program.

I have worked with kids who have this profile. Any number struggled with getting back into the grind as they had just really started to decompress from their high school days and whatever their gap year experience had been. My clients often came from homes where anything but your best, being near the top of your class, and never squandering an opportunity were phrases that reverberated in their heads. Even though I know my clients had families that loved them, many of these parents/guardians were often clueless as to the effect of their expectations/words.

With each passing day, I worry more and more that Sydney is not okay. It is heartbreaking to see her (and many other students in crisis) social media that relates pain and a sense that choosing an alternate path or making a decision that is out of the norm feels to risky.

Where are you, Sydney? Things can always get better! Just come home.



19-year-old UC Berkeley student Sydney West reported missing

 

[distracted]

So... I’ve watched this video FIVE times because I think it is the most unusual plea I’ve ever seen in a case like this. I wonder who filmed it, who wrote the cue cards, and who was holding those cards (my opinion there were some). In other cases, this type of plea is usually made in conjunction with a press release & in partnership with LE, often in a public place. This is most different. True they are in NC- but isn’t LE there working cooperatively with SFPD? Of note, no emotion is displayed, and no personal plea is directed to Syd herself to come home, to hang in there, to know that they are looking for her and that they will not stop. That they don’t care what has happened- just to please come home. Filming was done in a tidy, elegant home with fresh flowers on a grand piano, in front of windows framing a grove/ garden. “We want her to be brought home” instead of “we want you to come home”. I’m not sensing fear, grief, fatigue or panic trying to hold it together. Feels staged & controlled, imo. I’m just getting family conflict here. SW is an artist, musician, athlete, free spirit who perhaps had values and goals very different from those she’s expected to pursue. Jmo, moo, etc.

I thought the same about the video. It seems like they don't expect her to come home of her own free will but to be brought home one way or another. The photo her dad was holding appears to be her high school graduation portrait which really looks nothing like the more recent candid photos of her I've seen.

The only other scenario I can fathom is that they had a falling out about her moving out of the dorm and think that she is acting out, although I don't personally believe that's the case.

I still want to know how she got to the bridge area late the night of the 29th or in the early morning hours of the 30th.

 

[distracted]

I just know without a shadow of doubt that I would be glued to the streets of San Francisco no matter where I was from. I would be interviewing EVERYONE in the metro area 24/7. I would look like a crazy deranged person who hasn’t slept or bathed. I would hire a detective and be in his or her face. I know people do things differently and they must be in pain. I just know I personally would have been in SF the second I thought something was wrong, money be damned. But they may have good reasons. I don’t know their situation.

I couldn't wait it out for 10 days.

 

[distracted]

I don't think this was meant for her? They look staged and awkward and like someone else said " cue cards". Not that anyone would be comfortable in this situation, but I agree- this was like ... I don't have the right words...very very different from Owen is what I will say right now as a fill in.

Maybe LE has reason to think someone has her so her family was coached on what to say. It would explain why they didn't appeal to her to come home on her own.

 

[distracted]

This is spot on. Her CA friends may not even still be there. SW may have hoped to reconnect with those she left behind when moving to NC. But in the meantime, those friends could be at colleges out of state, or transferred to other colleges after SW’s gap year. Or be very active in completely different social groups. Sometimes change feels out of synch & disappointing. And if, on top of that, your goals are at odds with your parents’ goals, sometimes you just have to forge ahead & make your own way for a while. If she establishes residency for 2 years, she’ll get her in-state tuition. Maybe she’s just regrouping & claiming a more financially independent life.

Important: What day did she withdraw from classes? If before drop/add window ended, she could have received full tuition refund. If she also denied FERPA waiver to parents, they’d get no notice. Perhaps she’s using those funds to start anew. Conjecture only.

I checked the withdrawal refund requirements. The semester instruction began on August 26. From day 12-27 she could get a 50% refund. From day 28-54 she could only get a 25% refund. And out-of-state tuition is approximately $45,000.

If she had withdrawn, she would be due a refund of at least $11,250 because she disappeared before the last day a refund would be issued.

 

[Lilibet]

I checked the withdrawal refund requirements. The semester instruction began on August 26. From day 12-27 she could get a 50% refund. From day 28-54 she could only get a 25% refund. And out-of-state tuition is approximately $45,000.

If she had withdrawn, she would be due a refund of at least $11,250 because she disappeared before the last day a refund would be issued.

So based on the linked chart we are using, if she had withdrawn by day 11 of instruction (Sept 9 or 10 depending on whether Labor Day counted), she would have gotten a 90% refund of $40,500 on an approximate $45K tuition. Withdrawing day 12 to the day she disappeared would have given her 50% or $22,500. Am I doing the math right? If this is the case, she could have walked away with significant money to start over. This is assuming the refunded tuition didn’t go back to her parents’ credit card or checking account. I’m not sure how the university handles that, but I figure the money would be refunded to the student.

Refunds After Withdrawal | Office of the Registrar

 

[distracted]

So based on the linked chart we are using, if she had withdrawn by day 11 of instruction (Sept 9 or 10 depending on whether Labor Day counted), she would have gotten a 90% refund of $40,500 on an approximate $45K tuition. Withdrawing day 12 to the day she disappeared would have given her 50% or $22,500. Am I doing the math right? If this is the case, she could have walked away with significant money to start over. This is assuming the refunded tuition didn’t go back to her parents’ credit card or checking account. I’m not sure how the university handles that, but I figure the money would be refunded to the student.

Refunds After Withdrawal | Office of the Registrar

Yes, your math is correct.

The refund would be made to the student even if the parent paid it. Even if you are barely 18 and just left your parents' home, and your parents paid your tuition, there are strict privacy laws protecting the student.

 

[scriabina]

So based on the linked chart we are using, if she had withdrawn by day 11 of instruction (Sept 9 or 10 depending on whether Labor Day counted), she would have gotten a 90% refund of $40,500 on an approximate $45K tuition. Withdrawing day 12 to the day she disappeared would have given her 50% or $22,500. Am I doing the math right? If this is the case, she could have walked away with significant money to start over. This is assuming the refunded tuition didn’t go back to her parents’ credit card or checking account. I’m not sure how the university handles that, but I figure the money would be refunded to the student.

Refunds After Withdrawal | Office of the Registrar

I believe tuition is paid by the semester, though, so you'd need to cut that in half.

 

[SouthAussie]

It sounds to me that UC Berkeley is teaching remotely during covid. There may have been no physical classes for Syd to attend. Just a little something further to add to the small amount of information we have.


This past spring, a group of operational leaders looked at the feasibility of offering instruction outdoors. They looked at a variety of factors, including access to restrooms and Wi-Fi, wheelchair accessibility and protection from the weather. It became clear that offering instruction outdoors on a regular basis was not practicable.

Now that remote instruction may continue into the Spring 2021 semester, the UC Provost has extended and expanded temporary amendments to the residency policy and guidelines for those continuing students in the 2020-21 cohort who will be attempting to establish residency in fall 2021.

UC Berkeley Coronavirus (COVID-19) updates and resources

 

[SouthAussie]

There is also an article here about a student suing UC for refund of tuition and fees due to the quality of the online learning during covid.

I wonder what the housing experience was like for Syd during her (online) classes.


Ritter’s suit in U.S. District Court in Oakland comes as UC president Janet Napolitano said UC campuses lost nearly $300 million from the pandemic through the end of March, mostly in refunds to students for housing and dining.
Coronavirus: University of California must refund tuition: suit

 

[scriabina]

The refund would be made to the student even if the parent paid it. Even if you are barely 18 and just left your parents' home, and your parents paid your tuition, there are strict privacy laws protecting the student.

Looks like there are several ways the refund could be disbursed:
-2 electronic options:
1) into an existing bank account -- This presumably could be the parents' bank account -- I don't see any restrictions about it having to be the student's personal bank account
2) through a BankMobile VIBE account
-Paper check option:
"Some schools offer a paper check as an option for your refund disbursement." - not enough info to know if her specific school offered a paper check

Looks to me that it's not guaranteed she'd have personally gotten the refund...?

LE and parents must know what happened to the tuition. If she absconded with it, that would indicate that their daughter probably did not harm herself and instead has run off with the money. Maybe the parents would be angry about this and that's why their video plea seemed so cold? But if that's the case, and they suspected she took off because she was upset with them, they had to have known that their cold cue card video would certainly not inspire Syd to return. Very strange.

 

[SouthAussie]

Looks like there are several ways the refund could be disbursed:
-2 electronic options:
1) into an existing bank account -- This presumably could be the parents' bank account -- I don't see any restrictions about it having to be the student's personal bank account
2) through a BankMobile VIBE account
-Paper check option:
"Some schools offer a paper check as an option for your refund disbursement." - not enough info to know if her specific school offered a paper check

Looks to me that it's not guaranteed she'd have personally gotten the refund...?

LE and parents must know what happened to the tuition. If she absconded with it, that would indicate that their daughter probably did not harm herself and instead has run off with the money. Maybe the parents would be angry about this and that's why their video plea seemed so cold? But if that's the case, and they suspected she took off because she was upset with them, they had to have known that their cold cue card video would certainly not inspire Syd to return. Very strange.

I think I also read on their website that refunds would be issued within one week.
If any refund went back to the parents - if Syd officially withdrew from classes - the parents may have seen money pop into their account before Syd disappeared.

 

[Lilibet]

I believe tuition is paid by the semester, though, so you'd need to cut that in half.

Thanks. Very true. According to this link, as a non-resident undergrad Syd’s tuition and fees come to $24K per semester. Unless she could prove she was self-supporting, she would be considered a non-resident since her parents live out of state.

Fee Schedule | Office of the Registrar

 

[Lilibet]

I wonder what the housing experience was like for Syd during her (online) classes.

This link describes housing during the pandemic. The dorm rooms would be single, no roommate, with a group sharing a bathroom considered a grouping. It sounds like everyone is expected to stick to their group, no visitors, etc. Plus Covid testing routinely. It sounds awful and nothing like a typical dorm experience.

Housing for Academic Year 2020–21 and COVID-19 Response | Housing

 

[SouthAussie]

This link describes housing during the pandemic. The dorm rooms would be single, no roommate, with a group sharing a bathroom considered a grouping. It sounds like everyone is expected to stick to their group, no visitors, etc. Plus Covid testing routinely. It sounds awful and nothing like a typical dorm experience.

Housing for Academic Year 2020–21 and COVID-19 Response | Housing

Yes, it does sound rough. Masks all the time unless you are in your solitary room (which is great for safety, but perhaps tougher for bonding with new people), no parents or friends visiting, covid testing twice a week, self-sequestering for 7-10 days before online classes even began.

Not a great and exciting start to the school year, and for living away from home, for a teenager.
.

 

[distracted]

I believe tuition is paid by the semester, though, so you'd need to cut that in half.

Thank you for catching my mistake.

 

[distracted]

Yes, it does sound rough. Masks all the time unless you are in your solitary room (which is great for safety, but perhaps tougher for bonding with new people), no parents or friends visiting, covid testing twice a week, self-sequestering for 7-10 days before online classes even began.

Not a great and exciting start to the school year, and for living away from home, for a teenager.
.

It's been awful for freshmen college students at some universities. They can't attend classes and are basically prisoners in the dorms. I can't imagine how anyone could handle that much isolation, especially when your expectations would be completely different. Add to that being away from any familiar faces.

 

[amethystcrystal]

It's been awful for freshmen college students at some universities. They can't attend classes and are basically prisoners in the dorms. I can't imagine how anyone could handle that much isolation, especially when your expectations would be completely different. Add to that being away from any familiar faces.

It is really is! I wanted to start my Master's this fall though decided to defer to spring 2021 since the quality and experience wouldn't be as good as it was pre-COVID. Also a lot of universities aren't decreasing their prices during COVID but are still charging thousands of dollars for Zoom classes, so some people have also decided to drop or wait to start at a different time (I think that could be a reason Sydney decided to withdraw/defer too).

 

[Suglo]

It's been awful for freshmen college students at some universities. They can't attend classes and are basically prisoners in the dorms. I can't imagine how anyone could handle that much isolation, especially when your expectations would be completely different. Add to that being away from any familiar faces.

This is what people assume and university administrators suggest but in reality the kids are socializing and getting out. My nephew started his junior year in August as a transfer student in the dorms and he is definitely not locked in his dorm room wilting away. When he comes by to have dinner he wears a mask and stays about 10 feet away from us outside because he says he has too much of a social life and doesn’t want to expose his elderly aunts If I could get close enough to him I would snap that mask right back into his face for that elderly comment lol