And depending on how you pay, you may need to pay for tuition insurance.
Also keep in mind, the tuition contract that you sign before April 10 is only for 2019-20. You should expect tuition to go up 2-3% each year, but I’ve been told that sometimes it is more, particularly at a school that has been closer to 2% for the previous several years.
if you are in partial FA, do you also get partial FA for extra cost (such as art supply for art class, sports equipment etc.)? thanks!
@wilsonmago it definitely decoying the school but our experience is that you are responsible for the same percentage of the additional costs that you are for tuition. So if you get 50% aid, then you’ll be expected to pay 50 % of those additional items ;sports fees/spring training trips, etc).
Snacks. lots and lots of snacks.
@carpoolingma Yes, tuition insurance was one and other weird fees like technology ( not related to purchasing a laptop or books). I think there was another $500 bucks somewhere for paying over time.
A few more expenses that I just thought of:
AP exams
Spring break trips (sponsored by school)
Dorm feeds (parents splitting costs for weekly late night meal on Sat)
Team sweaters/jackets: some varsity teams buy special apparel for the team - parents expected to pay
SAT/ACT tutor
Private college counselor/essay prep/college app prep
Drivers education course
Note that some schools, like Choate, bake insurance into tuition, so you are paying for it but not as an extra line item.
Also note that a lot of expenses listed in this thread would be incurred at LPS as well as BS (AP exams, snacks, spring break trips, etc.) This thread should focus on expenses that are unique to BS, like travel costs, summer storage, fees above what would be incurred at your local schools, etc.
Choatiemom you did not read the OPs question closely enough: additional costs beyond tuition. Not what was incremental to local public school.
@sgopal2 just curious after reading your post if your school offers a drivers ed course?
Also can someone give us some hints on summer storage savings?
@Golfgr8 it was much cheaper for us to rent a small storage unit for the summer than use the school’s storage option. As a matter of fact, it was cheaper to rent a 5x7 climate controlled unit than it was for 1 box through the school. And we realized we didn’t even need a fraction of that 5x7 unit. It took us about an hour to repackage his totes, he loaded them in the rental car and we drove them over the evening before Prize Day.
Like the laundry plan, we figured out self-service was the best option for us. The day before return day, we will load up the rental car and then I’ll drop it off in his room before I drive to the airport…
And wardrobe basics for people who come from warm climates and will now be living in NE. Doesn’t have to be expensive but you’ll need a basic pair of boots, jacket, hat etc.
You can save money if your kid befriends a day student whose family will allow storage in the garage. This has the added bonus that the kid might get a home cooked meal once in a while and a place to stay on short breaks. Failing that, getting a group together to share storage will at least split the cost.
Thanks for the good tip @buuzn03 ! As always, you’re a good source of knowledge.
And like everything else, storage varies by school. Our school has trailers that students use for summer storage.
I dunno. Seemed pretty clear to me that the OP was asking for costs of attending BS that are specific to BS:
@kjacobo, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think you’re asking for any “gotchas” that you might not know about or haven’t considered that are unique to your child going away to school as opposed to the normal costs s/he would incur by attending a local high school like drivers ed, proms, class rings, standardized test fees/prep, and so forth. You will pay some version of those whether your child stays home or boards as those costs are not unique to boarding school. If you are simply asking what it costs to get a teenager through any high school beyond tuition, then my bad. Carry on.
@golfgr8: My son went to Lawrenceville, and unfortunately they did not offer a drivers’ education course. Since son wanted to drive, he still needed driving lessons, so this was something that I had to pay for on the side.
Sorry we never utilized the summer storage companies, so I can’t really comment on that.
Boys, especially athletes, sometimes find themselves hungry at night. Son usually ate dinner around 5:30, and then again by 9 pm he was hungry again. I went back and reviewed son’s Big Red account. He spent about $100-$150 each term on ordering out. Each Lawrenceville house has a ‘feed’ on the weekends. The housemaster reached out to the parents to ask help in organizing and paying for these feeds. Generally it involves buying enough food for 50 kids for a late night Saturday meal: pizza, wings, BBQ, sandwiches, drinks, dessert, etc. We did 2-3 of these per year, and spent about $100-$150 on each feed. Not every parent volunteered, but we wanted to meet the prefects, students and housemasters and this was a great way to do so.
Varsity sports: parents took turns for food before home and away matches. This was simple food (sandwiches, bottled water, etc). But at least a couple of times per year this might be expected. Would expect this to be no more than $50 per match.
Uber - seniors are allowed to go into Princeton on the weekends. Probably another $100 per term.
Keeping up with the Joneses: there are some incredibly wealthy parents at boarding school. One of my son’s BS friends had his own black Amex card and a Ferrari. So its important to set expectations early. We got him the basics, and if he wanted to buy any designer clothes/shoes/etc, he was expected to use his own savings. So we allocated $0 for this, but some parents go hog-wild.
Storage: I agree with skieurope. Try to hit up a local parent for their basement. Most are more than happy to do so. Each year we volunteered to be a ‘host parent’ for an international student. Basically someone local so that the parents or student could rely on in case of anything. But we had several international students store stuff in our basement over the summer.
@sgopal2 - did the boy have the Ferrari at school? Wow!
As others have posted, there are kids who take Uber on weekends and this depends on the school policy @ going off campus, open weekends, etc. But it adds up$ also take-out food and delivery adds up. Depending on where your BS is located, many students may take off on weekends or on Saturday. This costs$. You may see a line of cars waiting for kids. Sometimes the smaller teams stop for fast food or ice cream on the road, so have some cash ready.
We also saw that many kids share clothes and outerwear. Really appreciate the kindness. Likewise, some kids share shoes and boots. If you are in need of clothes or outerwear, there is a sharing spirit in the dorm.
@Golfgr8 there should be a “pick your roommate by shoe size” option. I grew up with girls all my size and we shared clothings and shoes constantly - it was a shock to go to college with all tinies who wore several sizes smaller than me in everything. I have grown a similarly large kid, shoes 3.5 sizes larger than her friends. ?