<p>"The sticker shock when you first see the bill for tuition, room and board, and all those nebulous fees is bad enough. With the excitement and stress that accompanies the move to college, it's easy to let down your guard and pony up the plastic for a whole lot of other expenses. Sure, you want whats best for your child, but you don't have to say yes to every item on his or her wish list." ...</p>
<p>Did the author really recommend college students buy a laptop that " is ideal for streaming movies, playing video games"? Maybe there are 13 things a college students doesn’t need.</p>
<p>I disagree with the printer. I loved to - and needed to - print my papers in draft form. Most people do not edit nearly as well on-screen as they do on the page. Throughout law school, I probably spent about $500 on my printer, paper, and toner - and it was worth every cent. (It also seems penny wise and pound foolish - sorry for the cliche - to drop over $100,000 on an education and refuse to buy a darn printer to save 0.5% of your costs.)</p>
<p>I’m with you on the printer Aries, I know that you can print at computer labs and such all over college campuses but short of having a place that’s open 24 hours in your dorm. The convenience of having your own printer far outweighs the cost, at least for me.</p>
<p>I agree on the printer, although ultimately my kids ended up never using theirs.</p>
<p>My kids used and were glad to have their printers. We also were glad they had credit cards, JUST IN CASE they needed to charge anything, including a plane ticket, gas or auto repair. It also helps them build a credit rating so they can get credit cards and good terms when they start their 1st job after college.</p>
<p>The cable came with all the campus housing.</p>
<p>One thing our kids refused to plug in that we bought them was a landline. They didn’t even know the phone number of it. We didn’t get them data plans until December of the year that the younger one was graduating from college–before then, we just had regular text and phone. Adding data and iPhones was only a bit higher. We pay $225 for 4 lines with unlimited data as well as text; 1500 minutes/month that are to landlines during prime time.</p>
<p>oh my. I say the printer depending on the student is necessary. DS is taking Japanese and there all these homework sheets that he has to print out and trace things…I would also think if a student was in say journalism or some other major that required a lot of papers that a printer would be a good idea.</p>
<p>BTW we sent DS with our old printer so it’s just the cost of ink and paper.:)</p>
<p>That article should be titled “12 Things College Students May Not Need.” </p>
<p>Campus health insurance may not be needed. But that obviously depends on the specifics of the family’s plan and the campus plan–as the article states. The same is true for most of the items on the list.</p>
<p>We got them the $30 printer at WalMart. They could print for free at school, but it spared them late night treks across campus, in weather. It’s small and boxes up nicely.</p>
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<p>Because all of us live on campus and/or in areas where there is public transportation. There are no commuters! </p>
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<p>Right. Who needs to build credit? Psh.</p>
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<p>Right. Because we all come from middle class households where our parents have insurance. Because no one is uninsured in this country.</p>
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<p>Seconded!!</p>
<p>Many schools are now charging a small fortune for printing in the library so I don’t think that a printer is necessarily an extravagance, especially when you can pick up one for $30- 40.</p>
<p>S asked for a cheap printer/scanner before returning to school, as he had to scan homework to submit electronically–long cold/wet walks to library to scan work last year.</p>
<p>If your child has a smart phone, scanners aren’t necessary. I almost exclusively use the free Cam Scanner app and it’s worked wonderfully for most documents. It also has the ability to fax, albeit for a fee. </p>
<p>I agree about the printer though. A cheap one goes a long way in college.</p>
<p>My kids both use their printers frequently. They are handy for a quick photocopy too. ($50 printer/scanner/copiers.)</p>
<p>We dropped off our brand new freshman on Saturday and the first thing he asked for was a cable to connect his printer to his computer. Something about the network at UAB won’t let him print wirelessly and he had some things he needed to print, even the first week of classes. We got him the printer for Christmas and it appears he’s going to use it quite a bit. He even took the time to text me and thank me for sending the cable - he got it today. I think it’s the only time he’s texted or called on his own initiative since we left Birmingham last Saturday.</p>
<p>D never used a printer in high school. Many college profs require a hard copy. I felt like we were going backwards in time.</p>
<p>My D hasn’t needed a printer. She gets an allotment of printed pages and hasn’t even come close to using it. There are computer labs with printers in every dorm. Her papers are primarily submitted electronically. I would say this varies greatly by the situation and you should evaluate it on a case by case basis. </p>
<p>Campus health insurance? She didn’t have it the first term last year and ended up having to pay out of pocket for a lot of things and then get reimbursed. I changed jobs and changed insurances so my insurance no longer met the waiver requirements and I got her the student health insurance plan. It turned out to be a really good thing because she had a pretty serious issue last spring and if she hadn’t had the student insurance, it would have been a real hassle. </p>
<p>A car? Depends on the campus and whether you’re a commuter or not. Whether the student lives on campus or off campus, whether they can get a job in walking distance or if there is good mass transit available. In Ann Arbor, a car is useless. Other places, I could see needing one.</p>
<p>This is an old article that’s been updated. Some of the comments go back three years.</p>
<p>Maybe they should just start from scratch.</p>
<p>The printer issue really does depend on the school, and even which dorm you are in. One school we visited touted the computer labs and free printing available in most every dorm (not the old “historic” dorm, although that one had the largest rooms!). But $9 for a ream of paper? Buy a case on sale at Office Depot and use it for the next 4 years!</p>
<p>We must be indulgent parents, because D has a printer, a pricy smart phone plan (she’s part of the family plan), cable (provided by the school in the dorms), a car and a credit card. Last year she had an unlimited meal plan (required by the school for freshmen). She probably could have lived without some of these, but it’s more convenient for her and us that she have them. I view the printer as a necessity, though. She can print for free on some of the school’s printers, but if she needs to print something in the wee hours, I don’t want her running around campus to do so.</p>