Parents of College Class of 2018 (A.K.A., "Is this the line to the poor house?")

[PlutoPony]

Regarding textbooks..... check the ISBN's carefully. My son had several books for intro type classes that were unique to his university. We'd find the title at Chegg or Amazon but the ISBN didn't match. For those books, the university bookstore was about the only option. And in some cases their prices weren't too bad.

He typically waited until he'd gone to class the first time to get books. Sometimes the prof would mention the book wouldn't be used much or had some other take on what they'd really need for the class. Then he'd go back and check prices, Amazon or Chegg got it there in a day or two which was adequate. Last fall Amazon would let students with a .edu email address sign up for 6 months Amazon prime free and that was very helpful. Might be worth checking to see if that deal is still i place. He used Amazon for several items last year (he was a freshman).

 

[Gina]

Last fall Amazon would let students with a .edu email address sign up for 6 months Amazon prime free and that was very helpful. Might be worth checking to see if that deal is still i place. He used Amazon for several items last year (he was a freshman).

Definitely still available -- Here's the sign up link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/student/signup/info

My son has been looking all his books up, and I think there's about $150 worth of books/workbooks that have to come from the bookstore. The rest he's going to either buy or rent, depending on the class. Several of his classes right from the get-go will be "foundation" classes for his major, and he said he'll probably need to refer back to the Calculus and Physics books, ones like that, so he wants to buy those. He did price all his books out on the bookstore website, and he about swallowed his tongue at the total, LOL. He suddenly saw the wisdom I was preaching of taking a few minutes to hunt down the best deal.

 

[sk!mom]

The Chegg and Amazon rental prices for DD's books are so inexpensive that I'll take my chances. Honestly, I was shocked! That is one area of higher education that has actually become affordable rather than sky rocketing. I also have the recommendation of several real life friends who have used both sites with no problems. Two of my friends have students who will be juniors and seniors and they have never had a problem so I'll take the chance that we could be searching out a code later.

Just saw this deal on bedding if anyone is still looking. http://www.wfaa.com/home/Ways-to-Save-The-best-back-to-school-bedding-deal-268081381.html

 

[PlutoPony]

Several of his classes right from the get-go will be "foundation" classes for his major, and he said he'll probably need to refer back to the Calculus and Physics books, ones like that, so he wants to buy those.

My son had a couple classes (foundation type courses) where the book was used for 2 courses - Calc 1 + 2 in his case - so buying was a better decision vs. renting. It helps to know that up front, in his experience the prof told them this in the first class. One of the Accounting series is also like this I think, and am sure there are others.

Another reason it was recommended to the freshmen that they wait until class starts to get books.....

 

[JeannieNM]

I'm impressed with how many people are done shopping and getting ready for the dorms. We have barely started. Does anyone know of a good online list of what to bring?

Jean

 

[Gina]

I'm impressed with how many people are done shopping and getting ready for the dorms. We have barely started. Does anyone know of a good online list of what to bring?

Jean

If you go to http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/selfservice/FindCollege , a whole lot of colleges listed have lists of not only what to bring, but what's allowed. not allowed, and already provided. Just look for a pdf link on the selected school's page. My son's school wasn't on there, but they have a whole move-in guide pdf on their reslife page.

I have my own spreadsheet that I've been working on for nearly a year, much to my son's amusement ("Sheesh, Mom, should I just got pack my toothbrush right now??"), but that has been mostly for $$ reasons. Had to spread it all out!

I decided yesterday that we needed one last little hurrah together. Between him just getting back from Florida, about to take off in less than a week for California, and working a lot in the little time he has left, I'm afraid I'll barely get to see him at all before I wave goodbye to him at school. We talked about it, and on the day before move-in I'm going to work just a half day and he's going to spend the morning loading his car with everything that's already in the staging area in the living room. What's left will go in my car when I get home, then we're simply going to head to the island that afternoon instead of the next morning. We're going to spend the night there, hit up all our favorite places, and be there and ready to move him in bright and early the next morning.

We have spent so much of the past 18 years there, and it holds so many memories for the two of us together... I'm so excited that he's about to spend 4 years making a whole new set of memories there, but we both want to make a few more ourselves. I'm really looking forward to it.

 

[JeannieNM]

If you go to http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/selfservice/FindCollege , a whole lot of colleges listed have lists of not only what to bring, but what's allowed. not allowed, and already provided. Just look for a pdf link on the selected school's page. My son's school wasn't on there, but they have a whole move-in guide pdf on their reslife page.

I have my own spreadsheet that I've been working on for nearly a year, much to my son's amusement ("Sheesh, Mom, should I just got pack my toothbrush right now??"), but that has been mostly for $$ reasons. Had to spread it all out!

Thank you for the link, this looks like a good starting point. She wants a list of what clothes to bring, etc. I thought we would work on it together tomorrow but she got called for tomorrow....Thanks again for the help.

 

[Gina]

Thank you for the link, this looks like a good starting point. She wants a list of what clothes to bring, etc. I thought we would work on it together tomorrow but she got called for tomorrow....Thanks again for the help.

Especially for a girl, try this

http://www.hercampus.com/life/campus-living/what-bring-college-best-college-packing-list-ever

 

[TLuvsD]

Don't forget to buy "dorm room" insurance. It covers the contents of their room, and things like their laptops/phones/cameras/bikes (check the policy for bike coverage, some cover them, some don't). NSSI is one of the big companies, we've used them for our D. They have very low deductibles and good coverage. They also have renter's insurance, which we use now that D is in an off campus apartment.

 

[JeannieNM]

Especially for a girl, try this

http://www.hercampus.com/life/campus-living/what-bring-college-best-college-packing-list-ever

Thank you this is great!!!!

Don't forget to buy "dorm room" insurance. It covers the contents of their room, and things like their laptops/phones/cameras/bikes (check the policy for bike coverage, some cover them, some don't). NSSI is one of the big companies, we've used them for our D. They have very low deductibles and good coverage. They also have renter's insurance, which we use now that D is in an off campus apartment.

Double check your homeowners policy too. Our policy covers our DD while she is at college.

 

[TLuvsD]

Homeowner's Insurance may have higher deductibles, for us the cost of the policy is much less than the deductible. And better coverage in many areas (cellphone, laptop, bike).
YMMV

 

[tajz90]

Homeowner's Insurance may have higher deductibles, for us the cost of the policy is much less than the deductible. And better coverage in many areas (cellphone, laptop, bike). YMMV

We opted to add a rider to our homeowners for his computer, but we purchased dorm insurance. Covered much more, with less of a deductible for hardly nothing. The insurance would even cover a cell phone if a student was pushed in a pool!

 

[njmom47]

Just a heads-up for those of us (like me!) that missed last weekend's Black Friday in July for Target purchases.
They are having it again 7/25 and 7/26.
NOW I will go ahead and place the order I have in my cart! Yayyy!!!

 

[elgerber]

Does everyone use the company mentioned for dorm insurance, or do you have other recommendations?

 

[sk!mom]

Does everyone use the company mentioned for dorm insurance, or do you have other recommendations?

Dh is checking our Homeowner's coverage and getting a quote from the company mentioned upthread. Unless they are very high, I don't think we'll keep looking. We are starting to get exhausted by this whole process.

 

[sk!mom]

DD's tuition bill posted yesterday. I have stressed and worried over the costs for so many months that when I saw the total with scholarships deducted I said, "Wow, that's not bad!"

DH looked at me like I had lost my mind. What can I say, once again my obsessive worry pays off as things are rarely as bad as I have projected. It looks like we will be able to continue eating.

 

[Gina]

Does everyone use the company mentioned for dorm insurance, or do you have other recommendations?

The two main companies seem to be the above-mentioned one, and College Student Insurance (.com). When I priced both out and compared apples to apples, the premiums were only a dollar apart. I've read lots of reviews on both, and lots of people have had plenty of good thinds to say about both! So I might just flip a coin, lol.

I do know that you should only opt for coverage under your homeowner's policy if you're able to take out a separate rider or supplemental policy as mentioned above. If you just have your regular homeowner's policy extend to your college student, not only will you have to pay your regular deductible for a claim, but any silly little claim is going to count against your rates and your claim record. A drowned cell phone, a tree through your roof, it's all the same to the insurance companies.

DD's tuition bill posted yesterday. I have stressed and worried over the costs for so many months that when I saw the total with scholarships deducted I said, "Wow, that's not bad!"
DH looked at me like I had lost my mind. What can I say, once again my obsessive worry pays off as things are rarely as bad as I have projected. It looks like we will be able to continue eating.

Lol! Glad you're going to get to keep eating! And I'd much rather stress about something and have it turn out to be nothing, than the other way around.

 

[scrapquitler]

Good thinking on his part!

When we were at the Honors breakfast thingy at the new student conference, the director had what I thought was some some really, really good advice. He asked the kids, "What time do your folks get up to go to work?" The answers were all like 6am, 7am, etc. Then he asked what time they got home, and the replies averaged around 5-6pm. The director said, "If you treat this as your job from now on... get up and study or other school stuff at the same time each day, study between classes and in whatever extra time you have, then cut it all off at roughly dinnertime... you can very easily have your weekends free and to yourself." You could see the lightbulbs going off over all the kids' heads. I just thought it was a really smart approach, and wish I had treated my days that way when I was in college!

That sounds like great advice, if only it were that simple. My daughter has gotten her schedule, and she has no classes on Friday. 8AM Classes two days a week, Monday she is done at 2PM, Tuesday & Thursday classes start at 9, done at about 6. Wednesday she has an 8AM class, a mid afternoon class and a night class that ends after 8. Since she is a theater major, she's also expecting that there will be a of required class related extras on the weekends and at night for that. I've been stressing the importance of having a set schedule, but with such variation in her days, that's not going to be a simple prospect. Her roommate is also a theater girl, so hopefully at least they'll both be on a similar schedule.

 

[JeannieNM]

That sounds like great advice, if only it were that simple. My daughter has gotten her schedule, and she has no classes on Friday. 8AM Classes two days a week, Monday she is done at 2PM, Tuesday & Thursday classes start at 9, done at about 6. Wednesday she has an 8AM class, a mid afternoon class and a night class that ends after 8. Since she is a theater major, she's also expecting that there will be a of required class related extras on the weekends and at night for that. I've been stressing the importance of having a set schedule, but with such variation in her days, that's not going to be a simple prospect. Her roommate is also a theater girl, so hopefully at least they'll both be on a similar schedule.

I laughed when I read your post. My DD is a dance major and a theatre minor. She has 11 classes this fall. Like your DD the starts and end times are all over the map, but that is reality for them. My DD is working as background on a tv show this week. Yesterday, she had to be in at 8:30 am and was done around 8:45 pm, she then had to call in at 11:00 pm last night to find out what her call time for today was. She has to be at a different location at 11:00 am today, and will not know what time she finishes until she is done. Our DD's have been juggling crazy schedules for years, college will be nothing new in that way and neither will working when they get out of school. I would not bother to try and get thier schedules to conform to 9-5 as their lives never will. Good luck to your DD.

Have a good day everyone.

 

[njmom47]

I'm clarifying my previous post!
The latest Black Friday in July @ Target was not for bedding.
But I did find a $10 off coupon code that I used. It expires today though.
Every little bit helps!