<p>Wow, I feel like such a scrooge. My daughter told me she made $5 last two months, and I believed her because I hadn't sent any money. She doesn't have snacks in her room. She's never taken a cab anywhere. There are free movies on campus every weekend - or homework. She keeps very busy and I'm not sure she would have time to spend more than $5 anyway. It looks to me like it really depends on your lifestyle how much money you need to provide. Of course we all have books and travel expenses, but as far as sending money to kids my daughter manages to get by on very little.</p>
<p>I do like the summer job concept though - how does a 14 year old get a summer job though?</p>
<p>it became more expensive over the years. The main outlay the first year is room stuff, but that lasts four years; textbooks were easily $400-$600 a year, but at the end of the semester sometimes they sell or buy books from each other. AP texts are over a $100 each. School supplies about $100 a year, not including computer.</p>
<p>Spending money needs increased. They send out for pizza or what not. $25 a week for a senior boy is the minimum.</p>
<p>Lots of things were covered or provided by the school. I would recommend buying the extended warranty on any laptop. </p>
<p>Clothing was relatively easy -- khaki slacks, 20 polo shirts, t shirts, nice khaki shorts. </p>
<p>SAT and ACT stuff -- about $350. School paid for prep class.</p>
<p>The school paid for your son's SAT prep class? I wonder if my daughter's school does that? Do all the kids go? Do you think it helped with his scores?</p>
<p>Then on the flip side, one can cut costs by saying "no."</p>
<p>I know of two bs kids on zero budgets. One is full scholarship except for books and travel. She borrows books from other students and then sells them at the end of term, giving the money to the leader. Her semiformal dress was borrowed from the costume shop and altered by friends. No sport extras, no music lessons, camps out at school with the internationals and foster kids on breaks. etc.</p>
<p>Yes I said foster kids.... </p>
<p>And I could swear that there are a few kids with so little money and say so little about themselves that they could be in witness protection. </p>
<p>So before you assume the extra costs, know that there are a wide spectrum of incomes at BS, and you can say 'No' to extra spending.</p>
<p>Absolutely, toadstool. One of my daughter's public school friends received a $100 weekly "allowance" in high school for being such a good girl who helped with chores like doing the dishes and taking out the trash at home. Unbelievable. I do give my son at school money....about $20/month. When it's gone, it's gone. He works over the summer to get additional $$. </p>
<p>The book idea is a good one. My son also trades/buy/sells books with classmates. It is the most cost-efficient way to go.</p>
<p>Some schools subsidize the student's music lessons at the percentage of their financial aid. Most of the big ones have scholarship book rooms where the kids can check out their books for the year and use them for free. I know Exeter does! (The books are collected/donated at the end of the year.) Some schools completely cover field trips and sports preseason trips for ALL students. There are earning opportunities on campus as welll...including babysitting. Your financial aid director will be able to give you all of this information.</p>
<p>I agree that there is a range in discretionary spending among kids; my daughter is one of those kids who spends very little.</p>
<p>Back to the OP, some schools have more truth in advertising about the cost of the school and activities itself - mandatory fees (health, laundry, field trip, books) and fees for things that you thought were part of the curriculum: sports fees, lab fees, activities, etc.</p>
<p>For FA families, these things can be a shocker for the family budget, especially if you are balancing the needs of the BS child with those at home. You don't want to send your kid to school unable to take advantage of the offerings of BS, yet if you have kids at home, you don't want them to sacrifice too much for the one who is away.</p>
<p>(Of course our free public school isn't free either.)</p>
<p>We are a day school family, but there are extras that are similar to many of those listed above: Books (600-700 for yr), sporting equipment (tennis racquet, clothing, shoes, fencing mask, weapon, glove, shoes, softball glove, clothing, shoes), field trips, dance admission, admission for evening performances, field trips, lab, art, testing, yearbook, lunch (extra but also required), trips over break or pre season sports trips. The uniforms for games are provided by the school, and for some sports basic equipment (bats, balls), but for most it is up to the student. In fencing, the school had the equipment, but I was concerned about sharing face masks and felt this was not good. It all adds up to $$$.</p>
<p>Linda S, I like you summer job idea; and PhotoOp, you are lucky to have a daughter so considerate of her parents. I am just not sure about toadstool's "zero overhead" idea, both parents and kids must be very strong-minded to make that happen. So, could some of you summrize (could have several versions because it varies from school to school):
1. How much are the mandatory fees in total for your kids' school?
2. What do the mandatory fees cover?
3. What are the activities that the fees don't cover but are actually "semi-mandatory"?
4. What are the discretionary spending you think can be cut (looking back maybe)?</p>
<p>PAC- unfortunately, the ones I know are only for kids on FA. Some of them are quite elaborate, you can also borrow fans, bulletin boards, and other dorm room accessories donated by the kids at the end of the year. I will say that I have had great success with Amazon and Half.com for used books. As long as you have the right ISBN number, you can buy gently used books at a huge discount. For example, I just bought a $180.00 math book (in perfect condition!) for $25 on Amazon.</p>
<p>Pa-C
Even though you choose courses in April once your deposit is in, you really don't get housing or course assignments until very near the start of school. Even when you do get course assignments, many of his books were self published. Meaning, Exeter math professors write their own books and they are only sold in the bookstore. Not expensive at all. The Junior studies class (a beginning English class and general orientation to navigating all that is Exeter) is also self published. So are the Health packets. The Bio book we got used through the bookstore. Latin was self published. The Religion books vary by assigned class section, and you do not get teacher assignments when you get your course schedule. This hold true of any class with multiple sections - i.e. - English 9 (winter term) has at least 5 sections with different teachers. Some read the Odyssey, some read The House on Mango Street - or anything in between those ends of the spectrum. Keep in mind also, if your prep goes out for sports at the V or JV level, or auditions for a play or joins theatre crew, the whole schedule can shift lightning fast.</p>
<p>How competitive is it to make JV hockey? Son is recreational player but would like to try out for JV anyway. I assume if he does not make it he can always play club instead right? Are there any extra costs associated with hockey besides his personal skates, stick, pads, helmet...?</p>
<p>Watertester:
I believe the activities fee covers all the general campus fun things - like on site movies and dances. I think it was around $200 - a total guess though. If they go off campus I think there is a fee for the bus shuttle - not sure. The mall nearby (Newington/Fox Run) is really terrible and he has never gone. He wouldn't have time to go to the large movie complex that is by the mall, either. Sports is such a huge commitment. The other shuttle goes to a grocery store - but we take care of snacks. Again, no time to waste on going to Shaw's.
As for spending money, he has 2 jobs this summer for pay and a couple of deals where he barters helping coaches with younger students in exchange for his lesson fees.
He does attend training camps over the summer for his main sport (hockey) but only does local lessons for his minor ones. At school, team dinners after games and a trip over Christmas were paid for by the parents, which added to the cost to participate in his sport. We did not expect such enormous costs.<br>
One of the reasons we paid for music lesson was this: at Exeter if you take 3 consecutive terms of music lessons it counts for one of your art credits. As he is not an artsy kid, this was a painless way to get rid of a requirement and spread it out over a year's time. This opens up time for an extra class later on. There has been some talk of tweaking this idea of lessons -for -credit (is is not universally popular amongst faculty) so I don't know what the future holds on this front. He still may take music lessons the next 3 years, but will only take the 1/2 lesson option and not during his peak sports time of year.</p>
<p>liddyb4,
Thanks for the explantion. I am new to this whole thing, so let me ask:
1. The $200 activity fee:is it an exeter (and maybe some other schools) thing, or is it universal among schools? I don't think I see it as a standard fee in the three schools S has been admitted to.
2. So any music lesson incurs additional cost? Do they have "standard" music lessons in their curriculum where you can earn art credits?</p>
<p>PA-C
I don't know too much about club sports and if or how they satisfy athletic requirements. My guess is that you still have to do the mandatory athletic credit requirements.
If you contact Mr. Matlack (a biology teacher) he is the head of Club Hockey. A great guy. As for JV, I do not know how the tryouts work or if there are cuts. The JV team this past year was a really mixed group. We had huge seniors for whom hockey was a secondary sport, intermediate beginners who were passionate but still learning skills, and a prep and two lowers who were also double rostered with the Varsity team and never practiced with JV. Coach was Mr. Glennon, also the LAX coach. Terrific guy.
The JV team travels (though a much shorter schedule than Varsity - by many weeks) but Club does not. Something to consider.
The V and JV teams are allowed to keep their equipment in the locker rooms during the season. I don't know whether or not Club Hockey has locker room storage - if he has to keep the bag in his dorm room you might need a fair amount of Febreeze on hand :)</p>
<p>Somewhere else you were talking about singles vs. doubles - my son loves his single. Plus, if there were a hockey bag inhabiting the same room I am not sure how many roommates would be OK with the smell - if he were in a double.</p>
<p>Watertester: I don't remember too much about it - I just remember several pieces of paper well after we had set our loan amount with these various extra mandatory fees - like laundry, yearbook, newspaper, health. Kind of ticked us off. We were still in the OMG fog of the acceptance, and did not pay as much attention to details as we should have. Now that my #2 child is on the way to apply this fall, I know to pay closer attention to hidden costs. For example, Putney (in Vermont) has an all inclusive tuition. No surprises.
Don't know about the universality of activity fees. We did not question it last year being newbies.
Again, Exeter charges $50 per 50 minute music lesson. 30 lessons a year is standard, and if you want it to satisfy the credit requirement that is what you must do. Attendance of performances and/or recitals is also required, and proven with a ticket stub for those attended. All the schools we looked at charged for lessons. As far as I know, the only other school that lets students get arts credit for lessons is Loomis. As I stated, many folks find this loophole in the arts requirement troubling.</p>