<p>I posted a question earlier asking for a comparison of the cost of two boarding schools. I've received some responses but it didn't seem very productive because as expected it is hard to get a side by side comparison. Now I want to ask the current parents of any BS: other than tuition and stardard fees, where and how do you spend money for your S/D attending BS? I think it is an interesting topic because most of us are focusing on the published cost but overlooking the additional "hidden cost" to support a child attending BS, which can be significant or insignificant (which would be nice to confirm). Please share. Thank you.</p>
<p>Great question! I too am very curious about the real cost’s of BS. Thanks for the post.</p>
<p>$200 to $400 for books, per term, particularly for upper level AP science and math, which are rarely available second hand. (would somebody shoot the teacher who require version 7 of a Lib Arts text, when the campus is awash with version 6!)</p>
<p>BSs have a tradition of the 10:30pm take-out run, when Chinese and pizza are delivered to school. Very important socially and for growing teens after 4 hours of concentrated study -needed. Maybe $50/week at most, usually less. </p>
<p>VERY persistent requests for donations to annual fund, parent fund, capital fund, anniversary fund…</p>
<p>Transport</p>
<p>Extra fees for art and music - $25 to $50/ week</p>
<p>Clothes were surprising cheap/low expense - everyone wears the same, day in and day out. ---- unless you are from a very warm climate and school is in New England. Or if you kid is growing. (hint: lots of kids dump their warm clothes at the end of term, rather then ship them home - hit the free boxes/lost and found on the last day of school.)</p>
<p>Hair cuts: nil - at most schools kids don’t cut their hair - that longer Prep school look is a function of the difficulty of getting one’s hair cut at isolated prep schools. </p>
<p>Test fees: budget at least $200/year. Sophomore: Plan, PSAT, Junior: SAT, ACT subject test, APs. And then Senior year application, transcript and testing report add up quickly budget at least $600. College visits: $thousands.</p>
<p>My son likes to have spending money to take a cab to town with friends to see a movie sometimes and will buy snacks at the grill now and again. That is pretty much parent controlled. I don’t give him lots of spending money because we just can’t afford it. There are also extra costs if you play a sport…uniforms are pretty much covered, but a team jacket with your name on it is often offered as are extra training clothes with the school logo. Also, your child might need a new baseball glove, soccer cleats, etc. Can be pricey.</p>
<p>Most of the kids like to have some snacks available in their rooms (up till midnight doing hw!) as well as replacing toiletries. I don’t really know how much I spend on this…probably not much different than when he was at home. I don’t have any other children at home, so all the snacks I was buying him at home are now just bought to send to school.</p>
<p>Laundry fees - $550 per year (could be less if your student does own laundry but could be more if you think your student will need drycleaning)</p>
<p>Allowance - for such important items as coffees, pizza, etc :)</p>
<p>Medical - varies but may be an extra charge from the school. Also, even if you have your own insurance, double check to see if a child going to school in another state is covered. We initially ran into a problem where all local providers near my son’s school were considered “out of network”.</p>
<p>Team uniforms, tshirts, etc.</p>
<p>Different schools have different additional fees. For example, there is pre-season training at a different location which may generate a fee. Some weekend activities may have a fee. Some schools have an additional activity fee; others charge for some activities like paintball. Some schools charge extra for travel abroad; for others, the only additional fee is the airfare. FA policies vary for fee activities.</p>
<p>Every school has an annual fund (parents fund is a subset of this), so count on that everywhere. Capital fund is usually more targeted to high income supporters.</p>
<p>There are too many variables to generalize. When you go to revisits, there will probably be current parents from your possible schools. Ask them about the additional fees.</p>
<p>At least at Exeter, there are a slew of mandatory fees that caught us off guard. Health fees (even though he is on our insurance), mandatory laundry fee ($150 +/-) (and he does not have laundry service - he does his own or I go get it), a student activity fee, music lesson costs (Not included - it will be $1500 for 3 terms + music books), books were around $350 for 2 combined terms - the Bio book was the most expensive but they use it all year. We have not bought spring term books yet - I doubt it will be more than $75/$100 - hopefully less. Some art classes have an additional course materials fee of around $75. If you take a Photography course you are expected to provide your own digital SLR camera.
There are times when he misses dining hall due to sports, he must order out at those times. Sometimes there are sandwiches provided in such cases (on the bus), but it is usually not enough for a full dinner. He has spent around $350/$400 on food and bookstore supplies so far this year - but that included special hats and shirts for E/A days (obviously a want rather than a need).
I buy all his clothes at an outlet mall where there is a Ralph Lauren, a Brooks Bros, a J Crew , etc. He has around 8 pr pants and 10 shirts and ties plus casual clothes (he can go a while w/out laundry this way) His grand father bought all the initial wardrobe outlay and spent around $600 - which included a half price blue blazer and a pair of past season Gore-tex winter boots.
We spent a lot at Target for room supplies - bedding, lamps, closet organizers, mattress topper, extra pillows, a cheap but comfy chair, electric cooler (no mini fridges allowed) + Staples supplies like paper, binders, scissors, 3 hole puncher, etc. My husband almost passed out when those charges showed up.
He had to spend about $150 on special school sports team apparel (jacket/ sweatshirt). We also had to pay for a plane ticket ($800) for a winter term sports trip. However, other than spending money, the food and lodging was covered by a benefactor/sponsor.
He needed a bunch of dri-wick type shirts for sports and they are around $35 a piece. When he was home, I would keep washing the same 2 or 3, but at school he needs at least a weeks worth. Some Varsity teams require (or strongly desire) that students have a backup piece of essential equipment at school - like 2 prs of skates, 2 Lax sticks, 2 tennis raquets, etc. He needed better sneakers than we originally sent him with for running (the others were almost outgrown, so it was OK). I buy a lot of socks. I don’t really know what happens to them.
At least twice a month we buy study snack food - like Life water, granola bars, etc. All the boys on his floor share what their parents send them - I guess it evens out in the end.
He needed a special calculator for math - I think that was around $140. His old one was not acceptable because the graphing function was not advanced enough. However, we have been assured that he will not need a new one as this model will carry him through 4 years.
You are charged a little over $100 (maybe $125?) for a yearbook and newspaper subscription for your student. If you don’t want it, you have to fill out a million pieces of paperwork. If you want a subscription at your house, it is an extra $50.
I am sure there is other stuff - this was off the top of my head. We are totally broke at this point. We were not prepared at all for the extras.</p>
<p>My guess is toadstool’s child is a boy. Mine’s a girl and the spending habits are much different. Much less on food than $50 per week. That’s more like her monthly budget. </p>
<p>Clothes on the other hand…spend more than we used to spend. Her taste has gotten more expensive and there are numerous semi-formal events per year requiring nice dresses. </p>
<p>Money to for cabs/movies once or twice a month. </p>
<p>Laundry is a good place to save money. Instead of spending $500-600 or more, doing your own laundry should only cost around $100 for the year. If your child is particular about their clothes, they’ll prefer to do it on their own rather than having their favorite pieces “man handled” by E&R or whoever.</p>
<p>Lastly, you may find they are meeting friends from aroudn the country or globe and they’ll be invited for visits so more $$ on travel if you can afford it.</p>
<p>creative…some school’s (mine and toadstool’s) require the laundry fee. You don’t have a choice (which is really too bad because my son likes to save his laundry and bring it home)!
The fee does include use of the washers and driers in the dorms (which my son will use on occasion). He refuses to send his laundry out as he has heard too many horror stories (and he is too lazy too fill out he clothing inventory slip).
I would prefer that the students have the option of paying to use the washers and driers and do their own laundry rather than the $550 yearly fee. Maybe I will contact the school and ask about that…I could certainly use the savings!!!</p>
<p>If you have a high-maintenance kid at home, nothing will change with boarding school. Fortunately, mine is a low-maintenance. Last month she spent a whopping $4.50. </p>
<p>That said, there are things that are necessary that are school specific. As mentioned, some schools nickle and dime you to death for weekend activities, others are all-inclusive. </p>
<p>And if your child has to fly home (like mine) you will find that the limo service to the airport can cost 1/2 as much as the flight. And s/he will be using that service 4 or 5 times a year.</p>
<p>By and large though, the with less “unmanaged” time, boarding school students don’t have the same opportunities to spend as a kid at home.</p>
<p>If your child doesn’t know how to do their own laundry, I would suggest working on that at home between now and September. Or sewing their own buttons on. Also, any other ways to increase their independence. This probably goes without saying but you’d be surprised at some of the skills kids lack or how much we do for them unknowingly. </p>
<p>I also suggest getting them a prepaid debt card. USAA offers one if you are a member there but there are other places as well. It’s free and can be used as both an ATM or credit card. You can add money instantaneously or set up a monthly payment into the account. You can also track their spending online. I put in an amount monthly and it is up to my child to make it work for the month. When its gone, its gone. Good training for fiscal responsibility. </p>
<p>There are kids with limitless $$ at boarding school so be honest with your child about what you can and cannot afford as “keeping up with the Joneses” will be tough.</p>
<p>keylyme - That’s too bad yor son doesn’t have an option with laundry service. The joke at my child’s school is how things will get mixed up by the laundry service - e.g. a boy getting a bra back in his laundry bag. Makes you wonder if the laundry service employees have a unique sense of humor. ;)</p>
<p>My son does his own laundry, and occasionally, I’ll include 2 rolls of quarters in a care package to help. (note: they fit perfectly in the mini m&ms canisters). He had a summer job last year, so he pays for most of his extra stuff. Sometimes, I’ll add $50 to his account (it is in my town) but not often. He doesn’t do a lot of movies and stuff because his school brings in entertainment. It helps that his school is in the middle of nowhere. We do pay a tech fee for his mac, ($800 or so/yr)l, and all standardized tests are charged home. His bs experience is very much like our college experience. He has become amazingly self sufficient. If he needs money, he just has to ask, but he hasn’t so far. Actually, I think he is very proud of the fact that he pays for everything. As far as transportation and such, we either pick him up, fly him home or carpool.</p>
<p>I think these fees vary alot from school to school. St Andrew’s says that they try to have tuition cover everything, so we have very few fees. No student health fee, no laundry fee. I agree with the parent who said setting up the dorm room initially was a big Target or Bed, Bath, & Beyond trip, lots of little items like bedding, calculators, and fans. The amount started to make me question my decision to send her!</p>
<p>My daughter rarely does take out because the dining hall generally has things you can grab, but we do load her up with snacks for her room everytime we see her.</p>
<p>Dress code clothes cost us a lot, because she never wore any clothes like that at her prior school. So we spent what I consider a lot of money, double what we usually do a year, on clothes. Books cost $300 a semester. I tried to be clever and get them online used, and that totally didn’t work out. They wanted different editions etc. I won’t do that again, I’ll just pay. The kids have a school issued debit card they can use on campus - my daughter spends less than $15 in a month, but I load it up at the beginning of the semester and it’s up to her to make it stretch.</p>
<p>Music lessons were $45 a half hour, which we declined. Dance lessons were $40 an hour which we declined. Team jackets can be $100, which we will have to go ahead and do.</p>
<p>On school related trips with sports or choir, the school has paid for lunches and dinners. My daughter has very rarely needed actual cash.</p>
<p>I agree with keylyme that your child will meet other kids who have never in their life had a limit on their spending money.</p>
<p>Schools vary about the “activities fee.” Ours is $400/year and includes pretty much all activities. Unlimited weekend movies - van and tickets covered. He’s been to a concert (face value of ticket over $50) - covered. laser tag, neon bowling, water park - all covered.<br>
We did have a technology fee, health center fee and laundry - there are no onsite washers - all laundry gets sent out. But all these were in the contract when we got it, so we knew upfront.<br>
So many schools do not cover activities to the extent ours does that when my daughter applies, we will be asking.</p>
<p>Books - about $500 for the year - and some were used.<br>
Lab fee and materials fee for woodworking (the only fees I didn’t know about upfront).</p>
<p>Evening snacks in the student center is a big one for boys. It has been between $50-$125/month. He’s paying for that.</p>
<p>One DA parent (with 5 kids at DA in 15 years!!!) was getting killed by requests from the kids to join their friends for expensive Christmas and spring break trips. A split culture developed in the family - parents, struggling financially, and highly entitled kids reinforcing each other. </p>
<p>Now that parents are older. What would be their retirement saving is gone to education; prospects are not bright, particularly because the entitled kids put on blinders to their parents need for help. </p>
<p>Be really clear with your kids about the context of your educational sacrifice and the expected payback later. IF they go all snotty on you - well… you know what to do to bring them back to earth.</p>
<p>And think twice about “prestigious” pay to play summer programs. There is nothing like a summer in a hot kitchen or a plastics factory to remind kids about the real world - and real work looks great on college apps.</p>
<p>It won’t help much for the new student, but once they are returning, a great way to save money on books is to have your child buy them at the end of the school year from an upperclassman who just completed the course. Win/win for everyone. The seller gets more $ than the bookstore would pay for their used books and the buyer spends much less $.</p>
<p>Speaking of summer, what do you typically have him/her do in summer: “prestigious” camps, community services out of state or even out of country, paid job or something else? Additional tutoring in academics or athletics? And Cost?</p>
<p>liddyb4, how much is the activity fee? Does it cover all on-campus night/weekend activities such as dances, movies, players, games, etc.? Do they go off campus for shopping or entertainment? </p>
<p>The cost of books sound reasonable (well I was prepared) to me. The sports and music are expensive. I’d just keep one of the two. </p>
<p>Do you expect activities like pre-season training once a year, or even more? I know it’s optional but he is serious about sports I guess you have to let him go.</p>
<p>My son had preseason for soccer (I think $200). A trip to FL for baseball spring training as well. Not sure, ?$600-800.</p>
<p>Oh yea, forgot about the pre-season lacrosse trip - $850 plus air to FL. A little pricey. </p>
<p>Summer - my son has had a full time job for the past 2 summers and will continue with that. It is important to us and to him, that he earn his own money. It is HIS money that he spends on the monthly crap at the student center. Plus, he can do community service with school, this way he gets employment on his applications too.</p>