<p>My son is in school now and will turn 18 on 11/29. He has had no problems due to his age. BofA did not require my name on his checking account. We declined the credit card but they did offer and had no problems with his age. I went to college at 17, turned 18 12/7. I do want to just add one note here...I think it is harder for girls than boys. At 17 I was a bit unprepared and naieve about how mean and catty girls could be. I went from a small high school to a larger college and just assumed everyone was as up front as I was. I learned the hard way on that one. I would definitely caution a girl that young to take her time with making friends and to be particularly cautious about being out alone at night, etc...</p>
<p>This is a great topic -- DS1 (now 15 and a junior) will be 17 when he heads off to college also, and he has yet to forgive me because he'll miss voting in 2008 by four days... </p>
<p>We got a debit MC for DS when he was 14 -- he puts some of his allowance on it, and it has saved us hassle with cash/traveler's checks when he has been on school trips, etc. He left it at the MIT bookstore this summer, though... The card was through our insurance co. (who also provides banking services, etc.) and we figured this was a good way to get a feel for finances. He tends not to spend much money anyway -- his biggest splurge is ThinkGeek.</p>
<p>Do kids use checking accounts for anything besides ATM withdrawals any more? Would a savings account suffice if one can do electronic banking and ATM wdrs from it?</p>
<p>One thing with young age that has popped on my horizon is getting a driver's license. He will not be going to college with a car, and driving to his HS is not an option (due to distance and horrendous traffic), but I have realized recently that a) I want US to teach him to drive, not his friends; b) I want him to be an expereinced driver before he heads off to college; and c) while he has expressed no interest AT ALL in learning to drive, I pointed out that it's one of those "life skills" a college student should have. If he finds himself at a party and wants to leave/needs to get someone else home safely, he needs to be able to handle the situation.</p>
<p>Will have to remember to ask about forms for health care services, billing, etc. when the time comes!</p>
<p>Yes it's apparently not uncommon. </p>
<p>DS turned 18 freshman year Halloween. Besides the banking issue, solved by both of us being named on the account (branch in my office complex, and on his campus) I recall a couple things about his being a tad younger....for example he wasn't able to open his own Blockbuster account at the local campus store (probably a good thing). </p>
<p>In addition, he was in an ug/grad joint program, departmental meetings were held in local pub/restaurants and he was, for a while, often the only one who couldn't order a drink. Other than minor stuff along those lines, 17 1/2 is basically as mature (or immature) as 18 1/2.</p>
<p>Actually the most traumatic thing, as I remember, is the younger kids are the last to drive (also probably a good thing!).</p>
<p>As a young college freshman, I've had no serious issues. Make sure your kid has a check book, debit card, or a local bank account, and that's pretty much it. My parents signed a health permission form, which I have had to use. Every once in a while I'll get a "Aw, you're little!" or something from a friend, but for me it's been a non-issue. If your child is not as mature or socially developed as fellow freshman, a gap year would be a good idea. If there is no significant difference, I don't see what the issue would be. If the child is fifteen or more recently sixteen, I'd have more to say, but seventeen isn't a big deal most of the time. In the case of NSM's son, it sounds as if he simply wasn't ready for college. That issue would vary by age, and I think you would find eighteen year olds who aren't ready to handle college life and would benefit from a gap year.</p>
<p>No one will ask. Cohort will assume that she will have the same life experiences as they have except for any different geographic, cultural, and economic circumstances.</p>
<p>Countingdown - there are 2 issues with credit vs debit cards. We have funded cash cards through our insurance company for both kids to use on trips, just as you did.
If your child needs to buy things on the Internet (little shopping on campus, etc), there is more security and routes for restitution with a credit card than with a debit card. I can't tell you exactly what the differences are, but the Clark Howard website does a good job. Secondly, we added our daughter to one of our CCs for emergencies, but she does not build any credit in her own name that way. Before she went to school this year, we got her another credit card purely in her name, and discussed how to use it - buy small things , pay off every month, cancel at graduation, etc., to build credit for her when she needs to rent an apartment.</p>
<p>ebee
BofA offered our S the credit card as well,then sent a letter saying whoops, they made a mistake,student needs to be 18 to have a seperate card in their name only. We want this of course, to teach him the good use of credit and to build it in his own name.
We could have added him to one of our accounts as a second name but its not the same
S didnt skip a grade, we live in NY and our kindergarden cutoff date is Dec 31,S's birthday is Nov 9.So he did all 13 public school years.
He recently had an issue,he flew this past weekend to visit GF in another state.Wanted to buy the ticket himself.Since he has no credit card yet, he used his debit,which gave him no protection.</p>
<p>Thanks for starting this thread. My third child, my D, will also be 17 when she starts college. I had never considered things like Health Center issues as both of her brothers were 18 when they went to college. She already has a checking account, debit card and a cc in her name on my account, so finances aren't an issue. She is also quite familiar and comfortable with traveling alone and negotiating airports, hotels etc. Other than heath services, should I remember to cover anything else before she leaves next fall?</p>
<p>The legal age that counts with kids is 21. My d was 17 when she started at Princeton, and that's been a non event. However, she does rue the fact that she will only be "legal" for a semester of her entire college career.</p>
<p>to the OP ... this is very common ... I'd guess 20% of my kid's friends will be 17 or younger when they head to college ... and I think the advice has been dead on; the typical things will be legal type stuff since your daughter will still be a minor ... medical waivers, traveling, credit cards. rental leases, etc. BTW - way back when when 18 was the drinking age younger kids going to college had bigger social/legal implications ... it seems most of the stuff now is an inconvenience assuming the student is mature enough to head off to college "young".</p>
<p>aparent...my younger D graduates at age 20, so will never be of "legal" age in the sense you mean it, while in college.</p>
<p>The banking/money issue was a bit of a hassle for our daughter, because she had no cold weather clothes, and few shops in town to buy them - she needed to get a few things on the internet in a short time frame.
The upside to all this was that she spent less money, because it was sort of a pain - she would have to go to the local bank and transfer money from her account at home to the college town bank. She's not the most Internet savvy person, so she liked doing this in person.</p>
<p>We sent our son at 16:
1) Off-campus transportation for music and class field trips was an issue.
We were able to sign a form to be on file in the student activities office.
2) We needed to sign off in the health service.
3) We established a checking account in his name with a debit card for emergencies. We had to include our SS numbers. He rarely uses it, but has been able to get cash with the debit card, or cash a check at the student union when necessary.
4) We talked to his RLA and housing director when we moved him in. There were never any issues, but they were aware.
The only people other than housing that knew his age were his advisors, his private teacher and a couple friends. No one else cared.
He's in a five-year double degree program so he'll be 21 when he is auditioning and interviewing for grad schools.</p>
<p>Son was 16 when he started. The ONLY time his age came up was when he wanted to go SCUBA diving. Under FERPA (<a href="http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html</a>)
he was legally able to sign for himself. He didn't get a credit card until this year--age 19--and that was a student one through BofA, where he's had a joint checking acct with me since he was 13.</p>
<p>I was 17 -2/3 at start
D was 17 1/2 at start</p>
<p>No age-related issues for either of us, as far as we know.</p>
<p>I remember in my dorm there was a girl who was 16. She looked very young & out-of-place; I don't think she had much social life first year. But I don't know how she felt about it.</p>
<p>But for both of us, no problems.</p>
<p>YMMV</p>
<p>I think it depends a lot on maturity level. One of my residents ( I was an RA this past year) was a sophomore who did not turn 18 until November. While her age was not much of a problem (her parents had to sign a form with health services, and she had others buy her cigarettes), she definitely had a difficult time finding friends in college as she was fairly immature for her age, and that was compounded with her being younger than anyone. However, I feel that for a more mature person, it wouldn't have been a problem at all.</p>
<p>Freshman son just turned 17 while in college. Has needed signatures after leaving home for club running and the housing contract last spring, but nothing major such as course choices or even applications- that took getting used to. It is amazing how quickly a son who will never call or e-mail will make sure he gets the forms signed when he wants to do something. Has always done well with the older kids and has a 14 yr old HS student in his physics class so he's not even the youngest one in a class. Not a shopper so he hasn't even used his checkbook yet (school ID/cash card worked at the bookstore and all sorts of on campus places)- a parent's name is on the bank forms but not on his checks. It takes getting used to not being able to find things out without his permission even though he's a minor. Also, all mail goes to his school address unless he gives a billing address; as parents we can't make any requests, we can only remind him to send us the bills or change the address. </p>
<p>Eons ago school cutoff dates were later and a lot of kids were still 17 at the beginning of the first semester so it wasn't a big deal. One nice thing is the 21 yr old drinking age - no one else is legal either. I had a good friend in college who was 17 most of the school year, it made no difference since we were not bar hoppers (beer was 18, other 21, then everything 18- the legacy of Vietnam and the draft at 18...).</p>
<p>My impression is that at a college everyone gets treated as an adult, we didn't even tell the housefellow- she probably had birthdays and if she didn't know she did not need to know. Worried a bit but son has always been so independent and handled middle and high school well so there don't seem to be any age problems.</p>
<p>My daughter started her freshman year at age 17. She won't turn 18 until next summer. I don't think age was an issue for her. The medical center sent me a waiver form to fill out since she was underage but that was about it. </p>
<p>She was so ready for college. She had been taking college courses at the local university for the past 2 years. She's in a wonderful dormitory and has a good network of friends. No one looks at her in a strange way because she is only 17.</p>