figuring out financial "fit"

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>With acceptances coming out soon (hopefully!), I was hoping for some input on how to decide whether a school is a financial fit. For my son, FA will be a deciding factor -- no question about it. All schools have figures posted for room and board, tuition and sometimes other fees -- but I am trying to get an idea of other factors that might play into the actual cost of a school. </p>

<p>My thought is that a school where additional expenses add up to quite a bit might put the school out of reach financially, and I want to know that upfront.</p>

<p>Please correct me if I am wrong -- and add to my list:</p>

<p>SCHOOL COSTS (this is what I would calculate for each school in order to compare the actual cost)</p>

<p>Tuition, Room and Board: usually a set figure for boarding students, check to see how much it has increased each year and if FA is adjusted for the increase</p>

<p>Mandatory Fees: these seem to vary widely. Check to see if these also increase each year</p>

<p>Student Account: some schools require that you deposit a certain amount of money in a "student account" so that the student can charge items against it. </p>

<p>Laundry: schools seem to vary widely on services provided and costs</p>

<p>Transportation: costs for student to go to and from school, both at the beginning, end and during breaks. check to see if the school charges for shuttles to the airport. </p>

<p>Parent Weekend(s): cost to visit, including airfare, rental car and hotel if out of town.</p>

<p>Project Weeks/Interim Projects: it seems like many schools have a week or two (or more) where the kids have the opportunity to travel or do something special -- for an additional cost.</p>

<p>Clothing: depending on where you live now and where you are planning on going to school, some additional clothing (beside what would normally be purchased for going back to school) would be needed. </p>

<p>Computer, Printer and Software: some schools provide a computer, others do not -- but it seems to me that a kid will need one to be a successful student.</p>

<p>Athletic Equipment: I am assuming that, depending on the sport, there would be a cost for uniforms and equipment</p>

<p>Special Programs: I know that a few of the schools my son applied to offer special programs at an additional cost (horse program, skiing, etc)</p>

<p>Is there anything I am missing? Any input would be appreciated!</p>

2

<p>Did you include books? I made the mistake of letting my daughter buy all her books at the school bookstore--it was easily over $600. In the future, I am going to request a list of all required books and purchase them online (half.com).</p>

3

<p>I didn't think of books -- so I will add that to the list</p>

<p>Any other expenses I am not thinking of?</p>

4

<p>Money for weekends - movies, malls, ordering pizza, etc
$$ for school snack bar
$$ for visiting BS friends during school breaks and the summer - your child will make friends that live in other states or even other countries and will be invited to visit them</p>

<p>Items for the dorm room - bedding, towels, lamps, rugs, posters, etc.</p>

5

<p>hsmom, there are other costs but I can help clarify some of them at least as it pertains to our experience. First, athletics. If your kid plays a sport for the school, the school probably provides the uniforms and practice outfits and actually launders them for the kids. As far as laundry, it seems like most of the kids at her school prefer to do their own laundry, even if their parents have forked over the money for the service. She is doing her own laundry and it has worked out well. Really all of her friends also do their own. They use their debit card for the washers/dryers in the dorm. Books, yep, they are an expense you need to think of. A year of books and supplies are going to run 500-600 or so or could be more or less depending on the course load and subjects. In the summer there are summer reading books but they are EASILY purchased online used for next to nothing. Remember to pack those summer reading books at the end of the summer...We haven't found the "extras" with food and stuff to be much. The weekends are full of activities on campus, like concerts, dances, sports stuff, and classes on Saturdays so really the extras have been minimal. I'm sure this can vary from student to student. All of their meals are provided seven days a week so it really would be similar to a home environment so if your kid is used to eating three or four or six meals out each week, then probably they are going to be spending money in the snack bar that is extra or ordering food to be delivered to the school.</p>

6

<p>On the travel thing, a lot of the schools with large endowments have set aside grants for many of the trips. Your child will have to apply for funds for those trips abroad, but you will find that many schools will tell you at revisit that if your child wants to be involved in anything that goes on at the school, don't let money stop them. If needed, the money will be there for your child to participate in virtually any activity, and it will be done in such a way that no other students are going to know that the school or an alumni grant or other source of funding has been provided to your child so they can travel to another region of the world. Your child may be invited to visit friends in other areas but a lot of times it actually works out that the friend only lives a state or two away and visiting is not that big of a problem.</p>

7

<p>I give my daughter an allowance of just $20 per week. Her friends allowances range between $20 and $100 per week. The $20 seems to be working out okay for her. It's funny, now that she has her "own" money in a checking account, she thinks twice before she buys something. When it is my money, she "needs" everything! :D</p>

<p>If something comes up where she needs additional cash (ex: money for a class trip), I just deposit the extra money in her checking account.</p>

<p>Plane tickets: I've purchased plane tickets for my daughter to come home at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring Break. I flew out for parents weekend. I drove her to school in September and will drive back to pick her up in May. I'm assuming you'll follow a similar schedule with your son if he ends up going to a school in New England.</p>

8

<p>as an international student i've been given a budget as well. however, i like to shop so we'll see if i can change it LOL</p>

9

<p>-I doubt I'm going to want to travel to classmates houses during vacation. I'll be in town catching up with my current friends and spending as much time with my family as possible</p>

<p>-for milton if you're on scholarship they automatically take off the percentage of your scholarship from trips. If you pay half tuition, you'll pay for half of a trip to france or south africa</p>

<p>-books, if you know someone a grade ahead you can use their old ones. My school also has an online book swapping network. Amazon is really good too</p>

<p>-laundry, I don't know if I'm the only one, but I don't want other people touching my things and the chance of getting a shrunken sweater returned. I will be doing my own laundry for sure</p>

10

<p>We found for our D the allowance ($25 per week) was more likely to last the entire month if we made monthly deposits into her account rather than put the entire sum in at the beginning of the semester.</p>

<p>If I were comparing schools on a spreadsheet, I would include tuition and all other required fees (laundry, books estimate, computer) to arrive at one line item per school, deduct FA grants to arrive at the parent cost, then add the various transportation costs for the student and parents which will of course be dependent on the location.</p>

<p>The rest (allowance, trips, clothes, toiletries) I would consider somewhat discretionary and costs that I would have incurred if my kid were at home. For example, when you go out for lunch or an ice cream, or buy shampoo or food, you are no longer buying for your kiddo. (sniff) </p>

<p>The only big change is that at most (all?) schools, kids are prohibited from working for pay. So the self-earned cash is no longer in the mix and mom and dad are the providers of every penny.</p>

11

<p>thanks for the great info! baseballmom -- comparing all the schools via a spreadsheet is exactly what I plan to do; there is a point where we just can't afford a BS. I don't want to push the envelope paying tution and fees, only to not be able to give him a dime the rest of the year or have to beg someone to watch him over winter break because we can't pay for the plane ticket home.</p>

<p>I think I will lump the costs into three categories: </p>

<p>required (fees the school requires -- which will vary by school)</p>

<p>necessary, but not required -- (things like transportation, books if the school doesn't have a required book fee, interim/project trips, etc)</p>

<p>regular expense -- this would be the money we would spend no matter where he went to school (allowance, clothes)</p>

<p>Then I will do some comparing -- a school with excellent FA and low required and necessary, but not required costs is going to come out on top. It will give us another basis of comparing the "fit" of a school. No matter how well the school "fits" him in other categories, I don't want him attending BS stretched so much financially that he can buy an ice cream or has to borrow items from roommates.</p>

12

<p>You may need a parent loan to balance outflow of cash or to fund some of the expense. We had one with D and it was through Keybank (called an advantage loan or student advantage, I think). It was an unsecured personal loan, but there was only one application the first year (similar to a promissory note). Each year a new funds request is submitted once the school informs you of your FA and you figure out how much you need/want to borrow. It was quite a simple process.</p>

<p>Monthly payments are made by parents to the bank beginning following the first disbursement of cash to the school. Funds are disbursed ONLY to the school.</p>

13

<p>Roses&clover said: -I doubt I'm going to want to travel to classmates houses during vacation. I'll be in town catching up with my current friends and spending as much time with my family as possible</p>

<p>You might be surprised. If you currently go to a public school, your friends at home will have schedules which vary from yours. When you're home, they'll be in school. Also, I have found that many kids start to lose their closeness to their home friends as they have less shared experiences or they find they have matured in different ways. </p>

<p>Some of the fun of going to BS is meeting people from different backgrounds and cultures and it can be quite fun visiting them or having them visit you. :)</p>

14

<p>loan correction--it was called an Achiever Loan. It's nice that I can't remember much TOO about it now! (all paid off!)</p>