We have had at least one in college every yr since 2007. We will continue to have 1 in college every yr (no break in between at all) until whenever this yr’s kindergarten class graduates from college. Some of those yrs we have (had) 2 in at once.
Guess that’s why my posts focus on merit money and keeping college costs low. 
Scholarships offered by the schools themselves are the best way to keep costs down.
Yikes @Mom2aphysicsgeek I thought that our 12 year run was going to be a marathon - nothing like what you are in the middle of!
We are in denial - of course we haven’t quite started yet since our oldest is a HS junior. We have saved since each was born but it doesn’t come close to what they will need - especially when costs are rising and the fact that once #1 enters in fall of 2017 we will basically need to stop saving for the rest and start a “pay as you go” model.
@novicemom23kids High test scores and merit $$ schools go a long way to bringing down costs. People make snide comments about the schools “buying top students.” From our kids’ perspectives it means they have more options and greater opportunities. Our 11th grader is likely for NMF, so that opens a lot of great scholarships.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek --Thanks to reading here at CC we discovered the merit route just in time. - Actually my D discovered Alabama and Auburn auto merit from reading here, and we are headed for Southern tours this month. I am convinced that finances have to be part of the decision. A few months ago I had no idea and we thought the best option for D would have be one of our state flagships (shockingly pricey). She may still go in that direction (U of Pitt or PSU) but we have quickly learned that they are not so generous with in-state merit scholarships and it will be a stretch to afford. She will do much better going OOS. We will continue to search for merit.
One of my kids is currently an RA. She is very involve and had/has a solid GPA, which I am sure helped with her application. She enjoys the job as well as working with the other RA’s and the resident director. It also provides great training and leadership opportunities for the students. Best of all, free room and board ! (currently 13000$)
If a student has an interest, it is worth investigating. No need to “poo poo” the idea.
PS May lead to RD jobs that pay for grad school:)
PSS Nothing in life is guaranteed.
I did not “poo poo” the idea. I pointed out that RA positions should not be counted on to keep costs down.
I have been enlightened by reading posts like these on CC. Until our D started getting accpetances with merit aid, it was very difficult to imagine the relaity of paying for college. Now, I am starting to thing it is crazy to pay full whack when someone is saying “come to our school and don’t spend an extra $80k.” It’s real money. I didn’t imagine she would be offered so much. Hate to say it, but I am pretty sure the money is going to be a major factor in her final decision.
“. I am wondering if any parents can give input on ways you have found to save dollars years 2,3,4.”
This was the original post… As I said, if your student is interested…RA job will save $$$$
It also depends on the school my D was a UGA (RA). Her school did not offer free room or board with the position ( got paid a stipend and lived in a single) but it was still one of the most competitive jobs on campus.
My D was not interested in becoming an RA but starting in sophomore year, my D did get a paid job on campus doing research with a professor. It dovetailed with her area of interest and was a great academic experience as well. It was not a much as an RA would have saved us, but she was able to contribute a bit, pay for her expenses during the school year etc. and maybe most important she learned that every little bit helps. She had other friends who worked in admissions, worked in the library etc. – there are many on campus jobs available to students if they seek them out.
After paying for 70% of DD1’s OOS undergrad architecture degree (scholarships rest) she got a full ride + TA stipend for grad architecture at a highly ranked school we applied last minute. DD2 landed a stack of scholarships at our flagship instate that will only require us to cover half her housing (she got full tuition + left over money to pay for half the housing). She got several full tuition offers from good public OOS’s and some partial scholarships from privates but will end up at our flagship instate most likely.
A welcome outcome by any standards. The future is the problem as DD1 wants to pursue a PhD which may not be fully funded, and DD2 likely to pursue professional school (medical). We’ll see.
really surprised that both my kids refuse to apply for an RA position. I know they were told their inheritance from their grandmother (after she passes) will clear their college debt, but don’t they realized that would be tens of thousands of dollars in their bank accounts that they won’t have because of these decisions of theirs? I take some responsibility cuz they’re my kids, but really?
One of my daughters was all for being an RA when she first went to college, but immediately joined a sorority so that was a deal breaker. I also don’t think she’s very good at enforcing rules with peers. Other kid never had any interest. One of her first year roommates did become an RA and that probably made it even more unlikely that D would even want to be one as she found this girl very bossy and wouldn’t want to be like her!
I think it is almost a calling, like being in ROTC or working in the athletic department -you either want to do it or you don’t.
Yeah, my son would not even consider being an RA, or a summer orientation counselor, etc. He’s not a “people” person. My daughter, OTOH, jumped at these kinds of jobs. Even now, as she is working on her PhD, she wants to spend the summer as a camp counselor and tutor.
Depending on major RA may not be feasible… Try RA’ing as an architecture major 
where you’ll be in studio 20 hours a day… I had a couple engineering major RA’s back then, not sure now.
My D’s roommate who is now an RA is in engineering. Of course the school is 55-60% engineering students, so most of the RAs are engineers.
I know family, father is physician that have 3 kids, 2 oldest are twins, all 3 were inspired to go to medical school. All of them attended UG at local unknown, low ranked college on full tuition Merit awards and they also lived at home, not in dorms. Then they attended at medical school where physician dad was working and the medical school was free for them. The decisions in this family were based on the parents experience paying off their own medical school loans. They simply did not want their kids to have the student loans. All 3 kids could have chosen to attend at Ivy / Elite colleges, they chose the one that was free for them. My own D. applied only to schools that we knew would award her Merit scholarships. We are not anywhere close to being eligible for need based FA. My D. attended at in-state public on full tuition Merit, she also could have chosen to apply to Ivy / Elite after graduating at the top of her private HS class. Her wise decision freed our family resources to pay for her medical school. She graduated last year without student loans, among 16%, who graduate from medical school debt free.
The Merit awards route is the only one that I am familiar with.
just figured out that we are on our first year of 12 straight of college for our 4; goodness, the kids MUST get merit and not worry about elite. there’s really no other way. I will be working hard on prepping kids for GPA & test scores.
I do know that at some point we will inherit a little bit; but that’s just not a fun idea to think about. Do any of you think about inheritance or include that in plans?
i’d like to get a smaller house once the kids are all out; although i’m not sure that would help that much with finances as we’ll own the house by then.
Our kids’ 529s ran out of $ their last semester. Both at private colleges. The older one’s was hit hard by the recession, but he had more merit money. Younger one had less merit money, but her 529 did better.
We did learn something that worked with both kids. When all the acceptances/merit aid packages were in, they went back to the rep at their #1 school and said something like, “You’re my first choice, but XXX is giving me $$$.” Magically they both received $5,000/yr scholarships before decision day from #1. YMMV
All I can say is thank god for Fl Prepaid. We signed up both boys 20 and 17 years ago. Paid them off as soon as possible. FL has relatively low college costs anyway but they will both be able to go without worrying about tuition or fees. I recall back when we started all the “experts” were advising 529’s in the stock market instead of prepaid. I looked at it as diversification. And changes to the plan over the years made it portable out of state and to private schools.