<p>I understand there is a waiver IF my insurance meets Cornell’s criteria, but not very many affordable insurance policies these days cover inpatient and outpatient mental health. And in fact it’s not even legally mandated yet by ObamaCare. What have other parents done?</p>
<p>Our insurance through my company was sufficient for Cornell. We just needed to show proof of insurance every summer.</p>
<p>Our family insurance covers everything, so we didn’t pay for the student coverage. It’s really up to you. Of course, the student health center is out of network for us. We arranged for our son to see a local in-network doctor, but he chose to go to the much more convenient student health center. It’s very reasonably priced, but it could get expensive if they were to order a lot of tests. So far, a few appointments, a strep test and some antibiotics have been pretty reasonable.</p>
<p>What was considered proof? Your insurance card?</p>
<p>Kbtb58 you, or your child, should check about study abroad requirements. They apparently are different for each college or school or maybe program.</p>
<p>My D1 did a semester abroad in Geneva Switzerland. She did not have to have two courses in French before going, even though the predominant language in Genova is French. </p>
<p>My D1 was an ILR major and took part in the ILR Credit Internship Program with the ILO (international Labor Organization), a part of the UN, in Geneva Switzerland. The Cornell students are interns and also take Cornell classes at Cornell via satellite. I believe Cornell undergrad ILR students are the only undergrad interns in this program at the UN during regular, F/S, semesters. All others are grad students from around the world.</p>
<p>^mlbrown: You said you “just looked” to see your child’s schedule. I hope you’re not logging into his Cornell accounts and email! That’s supposed to be a violation of academic integrity. Let your kid handle this stuff.</p>
<p>Wow, seriously? Of course I’m not logging into his email! Worry about your own life, please. I’ll worry about my 16 year old college kid. That was nasty.</p>
<p>If we had been speaking in person, you would know I wasn’t trying to be nasty…just trying to be informative. When you said “just checked”, it made it sound like you checked yourself. That’s all I meant. Just trying to let you know…I apologize. Such are the drawbacks of media. No facial expressions, no eye contact, nothing.</p>
<p>One agreement we have with kids is that we have access to their grades, however that gets done. We kept track of D1’s grades until end of sophomore year. We are doing the same with D2. With new college student, we feel it is better to know sooner rather than later if there is potential problem. Too often we hear parents have no idea their student is doing poorly (or even failing) until they see the grades, by then it is too late. I know there are many parents who believe students should be on their own once they turn 18, but it is a big adjustment for most freshmen, so I would advise parents with new freshmen to stay informed.</p>
<p>All that being said, it’s against university policy for anyone but students to log into email, course registrations, grades, et. I think it’s best for students to tell parents directly about their grades. All the websites use the “academic integrity” warning, so I would think that would be the best way to handle it.</p>
<p>Oldfort, how do you keep track of grades? Frankly, I feel like even waiting until the end of the semester (to find out how they are doing) is too long for a freshman. It is a big adjustment and I would want to know earlier if my S is struggling. I don’t know if my son would tell me. </p>
<p>On a related note, he is a big video game fan. What do gaming kids do? Do kids actually bring TVs and gaming equipment to school? Can that stuff fit in a room? Are there enough electrical outlets?</p>
<p>As for the wisdom of bringing that stuff, that is for another post (unless you have very strong opinions/experiences one way or another).</p>
<p>I was never worried about my son’s grades. He emailed me to let me know what courses he got. He’s had straight A’s (with one A+ and one A-) so far. Waiting for second semester grades to see how the year ends for him. </p>
<p>I was more worried about whether he had done laundry. Actually, I wasn’t until he called to ask for more money in his BRB account. He was down to $6. I went to add cash last month and saw the laundry account untouched for two months. Two months. I had no idea that he had that much underwear with him (yes, he actually did). He was wearing shorts on some pretty cold days to stretch his wardrobe. I mentioned that particular issue to him. A few times. I brought it up again yesterday. He said, yes, I did laundry. Didn’t you check my account? No, I don’t waste my time checking his accounts. I was on there for a reason (he needed the BRB money). </p>
<p>I am, however, very glad to know that he has clean laundry and perhaps my car won’t be filled to the brim with his dirty laundry when I pick him up next week.</p>
<p>My son is a junior at Kansas State. I have a “parent” login there through their portal that allows me visibility to the portions of his account that he “lets” me see. Cornell doesn’t have anything similar? That’s surprising. </p>
<p>Similarly, someone mentioned “laundry” money. This is different from other money? I know about the BRB, but what other kinds of accounts do I need to ensure have funds in them? We’re already a long reach financially due to the poor financial aid; D will be borrowing nearly $80K by the time she’s done due to some investment property that is underwater.</p>
<p>Hi all,
Having recently officially be known as a parent of a “Cornellian”. I come to you with my first Questions?</p>
<p>Does Cornell have a shuttle from Campus to Syracruse during peak times, such as Spring Break, Winter Break et al or are Airline Limos/ Taxis the only other options?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Welcome learninginprog. Your daughter can check out this site:
[Student</a> Agencies, Inc. - Coach USA/Short Line Bus Tickets](<a href=“http://www.studentagencies.com/info.php?page=short_line]Student”>http://www.studentagencies.com/info.php?page=short_line)
They usually do run a shuttle to the Syracuse airport.</p>
<p>To Common 2013: yes, there is a laundry account, it’s on the same webpage as BRB. You just need to log in and pick the laundry account. The laundry is not very expensive. My D spends about $7-8 at a time (for a LOT of laundry 
since she doesn’t do it frequently).</p>
<p>Perfect Oldfort, thats exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the warm welcome. </p>
<p>You’ve been great on these threads!</p>
<p>Saw the list of ATM/banks on campus. None of them are national banks. We use Wells Fargo, which does not have a presence in New York. and BofA is off campus. Need advice on what to do?</p>
<p>Continue to use WF and just use campus ATMs and pay the user fees per withdrawal?
Or open an account at the local campus credit union and figure out how to transfer money from our WF to student’s new bank? Possibly via PayPal?</p>
<p>any advice?</p>
<p>Well, we’ve had an identical dilemma last year - no Chase branch in Ithaca. So we opened a checking account in D’s name at Tompkins branch right on campus, deposited some money there (earmarked as emergency cash). D is using her Chase ATM card to pay most of stuff she buys. I don’t think she uses cash at all. And you can transfer money to Tompkins acct via PayPal free of charge, or so I was told.</p>
<p>We never opened a local acct for our kids (we have a second one at Cornell). After many years of relationship with our bank (private banking), we have a lot of perks, which they wouldn’t have with their local Ithaca acct. Our kid gets reimbursed for ATM charges and other benefits. D2 uses her ATM card (charge card also) for all of her purchases. Like Newstudentmom, D2 doesn’t need much cash. She also works on campus and her pay is direct deposited into her bank acct.</p>