<p>Just received the brochure from DartWash offering its laundry/dry cleaning services, and I don't know whether to be appalled or relieved. As the parent of a male child, I realize laundry is going to be last on his priority list. At the same time, I think doing your own laundry is one of those character-building experiences...so I torn.</p>
<p>Do many students use the service? Am I am fool to pay for this or will I be pulling my hair out when S returns with tons of toxic laundry for yours truly to wash?</p>
<p>Advise please!</p>
<p>I would not recommend it. I used DartWash freshman fall, figuring I would be busy meeting friends, joining clubs, and taking new classes. Turns out, not only is it unnecessary money for an easy task, but they do not do their job particularly well. Missing articles, lingering stains... once I received a pair of boys boxers in my bag! (I am a girl). I think laundry washing yourself is character building and quite honestly, an hour every weekend or so does not really cut into your other activities.</p>
<p>The laundry is always in the same building that you sleep in. With Dartwash, you also have to remember to put your clothes out which a bunch of my friends always forgot and you're only allowed one bag. I would suggest you just remember to put money on his dash so he can do his own laundry.</p>
<p>Thank you Raspberry & Konye for your input. It sounds like DartWash has some drawbacks. One question: what is a "dash" ?</p>
<p>"The Dash Discretionary account is your key to on-campus life. Washers and dryers are ready to use with a simple swipe of your Dartmouth Card. Whether you're cheering on the Big Green, signing up for Ballroom Dancing or taking advantage of almost any on-campus service or event, your Dash Discretionary account has you covered. Dash Discretionary funds can even be used to make purchases at any DDS location by notifying the cashier.</p>
<p>Dash Discretionary is intended to be a pre-paid, declining balance account; however, if you spend more money than you have in your account, purchases will be covered by a nominal amount of overdraft protection. There are no fees or interest associated with this overdraft service. Unlike an ATM account, Dash funds are not available for cash withdrawal."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dartmouthcard.com/bbone/dartmouthcard/Access.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.dartmouthcard.com/bbone/dartmouthcard/Access.htm</a></p>
<p>Personally, I think the suggested amount on the budget list on the link is an over exaggeration It took my D 2 years to spend the money I put on freshman year, as she just recently got low on funds (now a rising junior on campus for sophomore summer). Even then, the only reason I added money is because the programming board had a trip to 6 flags and you had to pay the $15 using DASH (even then she felt that $100 would be too much because she was just doing laundry) IF your son ski's add a little more or let him take skiing winter term to fullfill his Phys ed. requirement (I think Cangel can fill you in on the skiing).</p>
<p>Since laundry is the main thing they use DASH for (remember you can use a debit/credit card) start him out with a couple of small and see how he spends. You can always go on line and add money using your credit/ debit card and the funds become immediately available to him.</p>
<p>Up to $200 from their DBA food plan can be spent at topside so there is some overlap. </p>
<p>Raspberry Smoothie (Hi ;) ) is right that there is an over draft of $100. Use these next couple of weeks to teach son how to do laundry at home and get him one of those round pop-up hampers with the straps so he can just take his stuff to the laundry room (it will definitely save you money). He can do laundry on sundays while the dorm is quiet while doing some of his reading for class.</p>
<p>My D actually uses DASH fairly often. Yes, it is for laundry, but I think the main item she uses it for is print cartridges for the inkjet printer at the computer store. The cartridges can add up. I know she also used it for several other larger ($40 range) items. And I'm pretty sure there was something she had to pay for relating to a class on DASH. I also think there are certain items at Topside that cannot be paid for with DDS and you have to use DASH for those items. I foret what they budget for DASH and my recollection is that it is too much, butI wouldn't be surprised if D went through $600 on DASH this year. I would definitely start her out with $200 again this year.</p>
<p>Dartmom,</p>
<p>I guess we are both saying that individual mileage may vary (it took my D 2 years to go through $600). FOr example the printer; I purchased D a printer freshman year only to being it back home, because it was never used because she uses her greenprint account. She does very little work from her room -could be because she lived in EW freshmen year and the treehouses sophmore year- both which are out of the way, so a lot of work she did at the library because it was more centrally located . However, I think the library is a central meeting place for her and her friends as they settle in, go out to eat before or after.</p>
<p>While there are no hard and fast rules, the students usually work out what is best for them. </p>
<p>D just said that she does not purchase anything at topside that can not be purchased using DDS money as most of things that are usually purchased at topside using DASH; Paper plates, cups, shampoo and other sundry items can also be purchased at a much lower cost at CVS and she would only purchase sundry items at topside if she had no other choice, because it is out of the way.</p>
<p>Sybbie, I looked back and found that I initially put $250 on DASH last year. (I put a lot more on BBOne only to find that was a waste and then they reimbursed it anyway.) But I found myself replenishing DASH fairly often. I think my D was lazier and maybe didn't want to walk to CVS if she didn't have to since it's so much farther than Topside. I'm not sure why your D thought Topside was out of the way since it's right above the dining room. My D found it very convenient. But as I said before I think D actually used DASH more for bigger ticket items than paper plates and such. A class she wanted to take that had to be paid for with DASH and the printer cartridges. She always studied in her room and so used the printer a lot.</p>
<p>I agree that it is a personal thing. I think all the spending money is personal, although I believe the students at Dartmouth spend far less than their counterparts at other schools in general. I think starting with $200 on DASH is a reasonable amount. They will go through it, it's just a question of how fast. And you don't lose the money so there's no down side. You just have to have your child check their balances so you know how fast they're going through it and whether it needs to be replenished.</p>
<p>Raspberry, Sybbie & DartMom,</p>
<p>Thanks AGAIN for all the helpful advice. I am wondering how and when we would have been told about DASH by Dartmouth? Will all the information come in the mail or at the Move-in time?</p>
<p>You will get info in the mail around mid August about the Dartmouth card which is the ID/DDS (meal plan) card that also gives you access to the dorms.My recollection is that if you bring certain ID with you, you can pick it up when you go for your DOC trip. They will send you info and give you an opportunity to put an initial amount on. Only the student can check the balance, so every once in a while I email D and ask her to check the balance and let me know what it is.</p>
<p>You can get some info online now at <a href="http://www.dartmouthcard.com/BbOne/DartmouthCard/home.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.dartmouthcard.com/BbOne/DartmouthCard/home.htm</a></p>
<p>DartMom & Sybbie,</p>
<p>Thanks for continuing to assist with my persistant questions. I read all the information of the link provided above and now have 2 more questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The suggested amounts for DASH range between $540-$870 per term...or $1600-$2200 per first year? Is that accurate?</p></li>
<li><p>BbOne? What is this? It appears to be a separate account, but not dining or DASH.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>HELP</p>
<p>runmanstl, my son is an '09. We expect that he will work during summers to save money for books and entertainment, so we did not plan to put much money on his DASH account. Over the course of the year, I would typically put about $20-40 per month on his card, to cover laundry and miscellaneous expenses. I did, however, refuse to pay expenses for overdue videos from the library or wherever he rented them! The estimates above are way over the top, in my opinion. After all, food is covered on the DBA, and there's not a whole lot of other expenses involved in living in Hanover.</p>
<p>He used his Visa account to pay for books and other odds and ends, and paid the bill each month online, out of his checking account. It is a simple process for parents to put money on the DASH account online, so I wouldn't go overboard on this. BbOne was a debit type of account for use in-town, but I think it was eliminated last year. In any case, S had his own Visa to pay for that. For the most part, I would suggest that you set up a checking account and student Visa, so that your son has access to funds when he is at school. Because we have accounts with Bank of America, and there is a branch near the campus, that was our choice for our son. If you decide to put some money on your son's DASH account, you can do it online and charge it to your own credit card, via the link provided by Dartmom above. I think it's best to do this incrementally, as you figure out how much he will need. All of these things get sorted out pretty easily when your son arrives at school, although the banking should probably be set up ahead of time. I hope you enjoy the rest of summer with your son, and that he is ready for a wonderful experience during Orientation!</p>
<p>I definitely think that the the suggested amount listed on Dash was too much. Freshman year, I did put 600 on the account which she just got finished spending about 2 weeks ago. I was in a good mood an threw a $100 the account after talking to her and hearing that she was only going to put $15 to pay for a ticket to go to 6 flags. </p>
<p>We have pretty much the same set up at sjmom- D works over the summer banks what she is suppose to earn from the EFC to carry miscellaneous expenses. I pay the direct cost associated with school (tuition, room & board) and the plane ticket home for breaks. I purchased books first term of freshman year after that it has been on her. In addition she has an on campus job. Freshman year she worked at the medical center. Sophmore year, she worked as a UGA all year and had and had a work study job at the tucker foundation (D decided to go greek and she knew up front that all of her cost associated with her being in a sorority were on her).</p>
<p>She has an account set up at Bank of America and her work study checks are directly deposited in that account. She has a linked account to one of my bank accounts where I can transfer money in the event of an emergency (running low on cash and ordering pizza is not an emergency). If you have a bank of america near your home, you can just set up the account there.</p>
<p>list of banks in hanover</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Efrstyear/students/bank.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.dartmouth.edu/~frstyear/students/bank.html</a></p>
<p>She has her own visa through my credit union which she is totally responsible for paying off (I notice that when she spends her money she carries very little if any debt). She also has a second visa for ememrgency use where the statement gets billed to the house that I pay (again, pizza and a formal dresses are not emergencies).</p>
<p>Start small, see how his spending habits are then adjust according. they tend to work it all out. Word to the wise, listening to the parents of boys you probably are going to have to keep track of his DBA account because the guys tend to eat through the it while the girls tend to have a few bucks left over at the end of each term :)</p>
<p>Thanks sjmom,</p>
<p>I am glad to hear that the DASH figures are inflated. S has a credit card and we have recently opened a BOA checking account with a debit card for him. So, all I need to do is put some $$ in the DASH and have S monitor the balance from time to time. I get it!</p>
<p>Sybbie has a good point about the DBA. All freshman start at the same level, I believe, which was one level below the largest meal plan. I told DS that he should just eat normally, so that we could establish a baseline for the rest of his time at Dartmouth. Fine. So, the first quarter he went over about $200. For Winter quarter, we moved him up to the largest meal plan, which was about $200 more. Yet, he again went over by about $150. Now, he's not particularly athletic, and is around 6' 165 lbs, so not what I'd call a big eater. I do think the food is somewhat expensive, and boys do eat more. For spring, we told him that he was responsible for any overage on the DBA, since eating out should count as entertainment in my book. He came in on target, but I think he was counting on the generosity of others toward the end! So, parents of boys should plan on the biggest meal plan.</p>
<p>I'm not sure that one can make such a blanket statement, sjmom. I often find myself with over $100 left on the smallest (on-campus) meal plan, and I'm about the same size as your son.</p>
<p>I suspect it depends more on what, rather than how much, one eats.</p>