<p>I am bumping this for all the perspective parents who will be pouring over FA awards in a few days and wondering whether they can make it work or not. My experience is that yes, I save a lot on Lucky Charms and milk every month, but there are still considerable costs involved that are not a part of the standard tuition and fees.</p>
<p>Neato-nice bump:-).</p>
<p>As we are approaching the beginning of the spring term of our first year at bs, my d has done extremely well. She was made very aware that bs is a privilege and I am sacrificing things at home for her to be away. She is not on full ride so I still have to come up with a sizable amount for tuition (but I feel it is fair) and transportation. I have traveled twice since I dropped her off and she is bright enough to know to stock up when I am there with transportation. After buying stuff for her room, posters and cool green clothes, the first month she has stayed about 50 bucks a month. I allow one dinner in town per month and one cab ride a month to another town to hang out. I decided to not limit her campus card and she has proven that I didnt need to (one month she bought nothing)!</p>
<p>I think it depends on the kid and the parent’s policy. I also send care packages with stuff I knows she likes.</p>
<p>Just a few notes on libby’s posts above about extra fees at Exeter: </p>
<p>FA students get financial aid toward music lessons (they’re not free, but much more affordable). Students who don’t want to pay for lessons can satisfy the music requirement by participating in an ensemble, with no fees attached. School concerts and performances are all free to attend.</p>
<p>As Libby notes, there’s no way to find out what books the kids need until classes start, so buying used on-line is not an option–I wish book lists were posted before break. Used books are available at the bookstore but my kid has never gotten there early enough to snag one (and he goes pretty early). However, we’ve found that the aid for his books has, so far, easily covered it all, for which we’re grateful. </p>
<p>Health fees are mandatory, though considerably less if your health insurance covers a child out of state (worth a call–I didn’t think ours did from reading the policy, but was pleasantly surprised to find I was wrong). </p>
<p>The other fees–yearbook, newspaper, laundry are optional. (Well, laundry, of course, must be done, but there are machines in the dorms for those who don’t want to pay for laundry service). We were surprised by how expensive the yearbook was, and that the fee for it and for the newspaper just showed up on our monthly accounting bill–but it’s possible to cancel them (we canceled the newspaper subscription–figured it would just add to the dorm room clutter). </p>
<p>The biggest unexpected cost for us has been the expense of travel. We knew, of course, that we’d be flying him back and forth–but we didn’t realize that all of his flights would be double the usual fare because school vacations line up with college vacations, and the airlines all hike their prices. This is true no matter how early I book the flights. And because kids have to be back within specific time parameters on the same day, flight choices are limited, which can also make them more expensive. And don’t even get me started on the insanely high price of the Exeter-sponsored shuttle to and from the airport.</p>
<p>A few more thoughts after reading Libby’s earlier posts.</p>
<p>I forgot about the mandatory laundry fee for sheets and towels–particularly annoying when kids end up bringing their own sheets–or are boys who change their sheets maybe once a month…maybe. Hope springs eternal…</p>
<p>Athletic clothing costs have been about the same as at home for us. A few tips for saving money there: we buy athletic clothes on ebay and at stores like TJ Maxx for about half the usual price–Eastbay catalog is another great place for inexpensive sports clothing (if you buy their brand). My kid will wear the same exercise shirt 2 or 3 days in a row no matter what it smells like, so he doesn’t really have more than he’d have at home. (Clearly he was brought up by a slacker mama). </p>
<p>It drives me crazy that the school does not feed kids who come in late from sporting events. This has been a real source of stress for my kid, who doesn’t like spending money unnecessarily OR eating late. And it’s inconsistent–some teams, for example, will buy pizza for the bus on the ride home, and other coaches just let the kids go hungry or eat the sandwiches from lunch that Libby mentioned ( I’m not a big fan of having my kids eat old sandwiches that have been sitting around for hours on a hot bus). </p>
<p>I also forgot about the forms to sign to get out of the yearbook and newspaper.</p>
<p>Art classes do often have fees–no photography for our kid because of the cost–but most fees are about what we’ve paid at home for community art classes, so not really a surprise.</p>
<p>Oh and anyone going to Exeter…if you’re on a budget forgo the Target trip and have your kids wait to buy dorm room stuff when they get there. The students run a store that recycles old stuff–everything from school supplies like rules to desk lamps–at a very low cost. My kid thinks there might have been rugs and furniture and stuff too, at the beginning of the year–he didn’t go until about a month ago when he picked up all sorts of good odds and ends.</p>
<p>Forgot about the calculator too–we bought one for half price on ebay, but it was still about $70.</p>
<p>Those extra fees really add up, in a way we were not prepared for. I recommend that anyone on a very tight budget looking at FA pkgs look carefully at what is included. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for reactiviating this thread. I really wasn’t aware there would be so many expenses. Our son gets $20 a month allowance currently- I can’t imagine him spending $50 a week on snacks!</p>
<p>Wow, I barely have a $50/week discretionary “allowance” for myself, much less the kids! ;-)</p>
<p>I remember being shocked by the amount of money people said kids spent on take-out and snacks too. Since then I’ve learned that:</p>
<p>(1) Boys are ravenously hungry during study hours, despite having eaten 3 square meals at the cafeteria;<br>
(2) The amount of take-out ordered in the evening seems to be specific to certain schools, maybe certain dorms? At Exeter, there’s dorm grill, where a few older students buy and sell slices of pizza to dorm mates in the evening. Still an expense but much less than buying take-out. I have had to keep him stocked with things like granola bars and organic pop tarts (yeah I know that sounds like a contradiction in terms). He’s growing up and not out, so I definitely don’t think he’s oversnacking;
(3) Children who spend their own hard-earned money are much more frugal than children who spend their parents’ money (okay, I knew that one already)–and seem to enjoy themselves all the same. Though with my husband doling out the twenties every time my back is turned, I can’t say we’re strident followers of #3.</p>
<p>I agreed some extra cost to attend boarding school that parent mentioned in this thread beyond FP or tuition beyond FA. But some of the comparison and add-on are not fair to add to the cost.
For example, books, calculator, certain fee also are needed at local public school, not just need by boarding school. If your kids eat snack or take out at night or after school. He/She probably also do the same thing at school. Music private lesson cost at school actually cheaper than local private teacher in my case. I also saved ton of time/money to drive kids around for after school activities. 7 shirts/ 3 pants all year round actually save money compared fancy cloth shopping at outlet regularly.
Travel expenses are the thing you have to consider. 5 round trips are at least, It could be more if you count parent week and performing/sports/activities.
However. I want to bring up my experience. You kids will get influence with his/her peers at school. A lot of family/kids have no budget at all to spend money. Some kids will tell your kids to buy this, buy that for social purpose. You might hear about “rich boy/girl dorm” at college. It is the same at boarding school. If your kids can not know who he/she is. You might want to limit the resource for your kid when she/he is at boarding school. I believed those social cost is beyond our estimation.</p>
<p>If you are borderline to pay FP or tuition beyond FA, I would say/ask “Do your kid understand the family financial situation and if he/she is willing to ride on the same boat for four years ?” </p>
<p>Just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>Agree with the hungry boys situation- mine really eats a fourth meal around 10:00 every night. At Choate they have the student union, and also, outside food trucks who are allowed to come and park outside the boys dorms during study hall break. They do not allow the older students to break up pizzas or fast food orders and resell it. It is astonishing how much boys grow at this age- almost a foot over the course of the four years in the case of some of his friends. On the other hand, as previously mentioned, they don’t seem to care about their clothes, so it all evens out in the end!</p>