What you’ll have to figure out, and it is not clear from the NPC numbers you posted, is whether the $44,400 listed as ‘St Olaf grant’ is all merit, all need based, or a combo. It is probably split. If you get outside scholarships, they can probably stack with merit but would replace the need based aid. Some schools allow outside scholarships to replace some of the family contribution, allow it to be used to purchase a computer (if the scholarship allows that), replace WS (and that’s fine because she could then just get another job). You just have to work it out with the school.
I do think if your daughter starts working on the summer job thing by early March (starts applying, interviewing or advertising babysitting or other services), she’ll be able to make enough over the summer to cover any dorm supplies, books, and starter spending money for the first couple of months of the semester. Definitely have have her save graduation money for those start up costs and she’ll be fine. When we were making college decisions last year, I told my daughter that she needed to try to earn $3000 over the summer. She worked hard as a nanny and a lifeguard manager and saved that amount. Plus graduation money went toward dorm expenses and a needed phone.
I know your D has health insurance, but you mention that her child support ends and that she was going to be paying for her own prescriptions. Is it possible that she is eligible for Medicaid besides her insurance to cover her prescriptions? If not, is there another prescription plan out there? It just doesn’t seem right that she has to pay for her prescriptions.
I pay for her prescriptions now. I don’t know what the deal Is with her NCP and his deductible but I’ve always had to pay for her two prescriptions which run about $200 a month. My state did not expand Medicaid to cover modest incomes. So I wouldn’t qualify on my own, and they definitely don’t qualify because they have health insurance.
I’ve never had any problem with her insurance covering physician visits. Thankfully she’s been healthy, so she really only goes for a med check and yearly wellness exam. I paid for their braces, which I did rather late because I didn’t have the money. Her braces probably won’t come off until this summer. The insurance did cover 50% of it but I still had to pay 50% for each girl.
But because it’s not my policy I can’t really call. So I’m not sure if it’s a deductible issue or if it’s a issue with the actual prescription. But her other prescription is very common and I pay for that as well. I’ve been using good RX if you haven’t heard of it you should look into it, You can download the app. Sometimes it’s just cheaper than insurance.
Her other medication is one we absolutely cannot change it took years to find the right one. It’s just ridiculous expensive. And I’m getting the generic. I’m trying remember maybe that’s what it was, her insurance would only pay for the non-generic and the co-pay on that was even more expensive than me paying out-of-pocket for the generic? It’s been a couple years. But it’s not a prescription that can be done through mail order. Has to be hand carried every month into the pharmacy. No refills. Her position writes 6 months at a time, we hold onto each written script prescription until it’s time to fill. And then she goes back at the six-month mark for a med check. It works and we don’t want to mess with that. We’ve tried to change to something else and it was not successful.
Why would the daughter have to pay for her prescriptions? She will be required to have health insurance…does she not have coverage with an RX plan.
Re: other expenses…like personal things. What does your daughter do now if she wants to go out with friends for pizza or to a movie? Where does the money come from?
Who pays for her personal expenses now? Things like toiletries, clothing, haircuts?
Whatever money is currently being used can continue to be used for personal expenses.
In addition, you will have somewhat reduced costs at your home for things like groceries, and maybe even reduced utilities.
Usually when kids go to college…their parents tighten their spending belts to fee up money for college related expenses.
Another way to save money…when it comes time to get things for college…shop on your linen closet FIRST. Really no need for new towels, blankets, pillows etc. You have these things already, and your daughter can take them with her.
Wow. $200 per month sounds so expensive. That’s unfortunate
@citymama9 But worth it. And very needed. I’m always looking to see if we can find it cheaper and good RX will sometimes have it for a little less than that. One month I was able to get it for $67.85. But that doesn’t happen often.
@thumper1 I pay for her clothes and her medication and personal expenses with the help of a small sum of court ordered support payments. If you look at some of the posts above the insurance doesn’t cover it. I couldn’t remember why exactly but I think it’s because they wanted her to use the name brand versus generic and that was actually more expensive than paying out-of-pocket for the generic. As far as spending money when she wants to go do things with her friends she had saved literally every dime of her birthday money and Christmas money, and a little bit of money she made from work. But she’s very thrifty and she doesn’t go out and do stuff a lot she spends most of her time studying with her IB peers.
And as I’ve stated I get court ordered support payments, not in a big amount, but that ends 7/1. So unless I am able to increase my revenue quite a bit over the next few months then I’m going to not have the money to pay for the things that I pay for now.
I’m not feeling comfortable throwing her to the wolves when she will have just had her 18th birthday and say OK now you have to pay for your prescriptions and all of your toiletries and your cell phone. That’s just seems horrific. It’s kind of late in life for me to make a career change especially after starting a business that I’ve dumped everything I had into.
Without giving you a breakdown of my budget because you don’t really need that, I can tell you that there’s really no other place for me to tighten my belt. I don’t spend much on groceries because I don’t have much to spend on groceries. I personally don’t go out or buy new clothes or go to the salon. There just isn’t the money for that. My mortgage payment is negligible, and my utilities really aren’t that much.
So I’m immediately losing $600 a month that goes directly to her support. It’s not like I use it for myself. There won’t be anymore, it was court ordered and every dime of it was garnished.
We live very modestly. Very very modestly.
I earned more in 2017 then I did in 2016 but it’s definitely still less than $20,000 a year. There’s not a lot of places to tighten the belt. I’m lucky that I own a home. It wasn’t always this difficult for us. Had some extenuating circumstances that changed our financial situation over the past 6 years.
In the very vast majority of cases…insurance wants you to use the generic…not the name brand. I’m guessing your info is not accurate.
But it doesn’t matter.
Her need based aid at college is not going to cover her prescriptions…unless the health insurance provided by the college will have better RX coverage. Have you checked that? Will she be getting her health insurance through her college? Her NCP CAN keep her on the policy…but you may find that it does not cover OOS medical care anyway…and the colleges require proof of instate coverage.
Do check what the college health insurance has to offer. A word of caution, however. The cost of health insurance is NOT included in the cost of attendance at most colleges. It is an additional cost.
@thumper1 - there are definitely insurance companies that have deals with the companies that do the brand name, and the copay can be higher than just buying the generic withoutinsurance. In the news a lot recently. Just one quick google - https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/06/health/prescription-drugs-brand-name-generic.html?_r=0
Some schools, while not including health insurance in COA, do in fact cover the student health insurance for kids on financial aid, my kid’s school does, if they don’t have acceptable insurance of their own. I believe OP confirmed several pages back that kid’s insurance works at college and it will continue. The RX cost is an issue but it sounds to me like OP has explored many options for that and is on top of it.
@Grinnellhopeful are there no jobs in your area she can begin now? Part time? She has a car, right? Often those working during the school year get to stay on for summer with the best shifts or whatever applies to that job. Both my kids worked during the year - not too much but around athletic team schedules and homework - and continued into that summer before college. I think you’d like to not put much pressure on your D but a few hours a week can be really empowering, if she hasn’t worked before.
Most of the time…the copay for brand name is higher than for generic. I wasn’t addressing that. What I was saying is that MOST insurance companies want you to use the generic version…not the brand name.
The OP should look at the school policy…it might cover the RX in a better way than the current policy.
Yes…some schools do add to the cost of attendance for low income students…to cover health insurance…but it’s typically not initially included in the COA.
I edited my post @thumper1 to clarify. As contrary as it sounds, many insurance plans have deals now that make the generic cost MORE. See NYT article.
@thumper1 I’m well aware that absolutely no school is going to cover her personal expenses or medication. She’s my child not theirs. I’m just thinking out loud at times when I post. Anticipating what is coming my way. This is a huge transition for both of us. It’s a huge transition for every child and parent. And I feel certain no matter what your financial situation is, each family has some kind of hurdle to overcome. I’m not going to change her insurance. Then I risk her losing coverage with her physician. They have a wonderful relationship, and she’s been proactive about preparing my D for taking charge of her own healthcare and medication as she turns 18. I’m. To even going to her next visit sometime in February (that was decided this summer) so my D gets a test of managing the scheduling and visit on her own. I love that her physician helps my D holistically not just with medical issues. She’s very fond of my children and vested in their future success. I think my daughter will make the appointment after she knows what school she’s going to and she and her position will look at the policies regarding medication for that school and come up with a plan. That’s the kind of doctor she is
@OHMomof2 is right about the medication I remember at the time thinking how ridiculous it was. She’s been taking the medication for years and we have tried to find a way to reduce the cost, we have tried different medications that were less expensive. We have look at every discount prescription program. It was the pharmacist that turned me onto GoodRx. It takes a little planning because they find the best deal every month and it’s not always at the same pharmacy. But it’s fairly simple to use. It’s saved me hundreds of dollars since I started using it.
To address the working right now situation, she is preparing for her IB testing. It’s very time consuming and stressful. For those of you familiar with IB it’s the culmination of two years of class work. IB tests unlike AP are written and oral, not MC. Today she was supposed to do her IOC which she has been really working hard for, and we had an ice storm this morning. But much like AP she’ll earn college credit at most schools based on her IB scores. She should finish up with testing in April. I cannot begin to express how much this child studies. How hard she works. Being in IB has left her very little time for anything else. But she loves it and I know that IB is part of what makes her an attractive student to many schools.
She did work at the local election office this summer and has opportunities to work during elections. It was a wonderful experience for her.
She’ll find something but it’s not even realistic for her to look until she finishes up with her IB tests.
@thumper1, I think it was discussed earlier in the thread that the NCP is somehow required to keep the kid insured for the foreseeable future, and also that the OP’s coverage has a plan with doctors that extend to other states. So the school plan probably isn’t going to make sense.
OP, I assume you’ve shopped around for the drug. Sometimes places like Walmart or Sams have lower drug costs. Also, insurance companies do periodically change their formulary (what drugs they cover). It can vary from year to year.
Here is the thing about her IB tests. It is her senior year. I do not advocate a “senior slide”, but having a decent job this summer is more important than tippy top scores and grades, honestly. Once you are into college, you can’t tank, but you can slip a little. Unless she were to take a gap year, no one will (honestly) ever care again. It might be looked at if she transferred after frosh year. But generally, a slight dip in grades 2nd semester of senior year is not uncommon or unacceptable. She should put some time into job hunting. She also needs to have her “what pays the most” hat on, not “what is the best experience” hat.
@thumper1 I agree, but she is determined to nail her IB tests which could potentially save money because she earns college credit for them. She won’t need to take a freshman, english, history, or chemistry class. Also, try telling her she shouldn’t focus on maintaining all A’s while doing well on her IB tests. lol
Once she gets through IB testing she’ll have a little more room to work, but IB testing is more of a process than AP testing which usually occurs after the semester (I believe?).
She’s finding her actual course work is easier than anticipated this year, and that’s probably because of the way IB is structured over two years. The concepts have all stared to “click”, at least that’s how she describes it. She will still have to take finals for her IB classes, the IB tests themselves don’t take the place of finals for district purposes.
Again, once IB testing is over, she will have a little bit of extra time, I hope. She’s not the kid that is ever going to think it’s ok to let her grades slide, that just isn’t who she is.
IB test are scaled 1-7, I think AP is 1-5. Most schools will require her to earn at least a 5 to give her credit. Although maybe some allow a 4…
@thumper1 for my daughter’s (and my) ADHD medication, insurance wants us to use the brand name - brand is $10 for us; generic is $50. It’s a pain because most pharmacies stock generic and it’s not always easy to find the brand name medications.
Some of them will get her credit at some LACs – but a 5 gets the same credit as a 7. They also offer higher placement at many colleges. But high placement isn’t always all it is cracked up to be. Sometimes students who take the full sequence at the college have an advantage, depending on how the subject is taught there (IB might not cover some of what is in the intro courses at the college, and the time gap since the IB sequence can result in some of the learning lost). I’d be especially wary of the Chem class.
I think possibly she does not realize how stressful her first semester of college will be if she does not have good earnings this summer. Perfectionism is not helpful all the time.
Regarding insurance - you need to make sure the current plan covers your student in the state they will be attending college. Ours did not, so we needed to make a change
Agreed! Academics was by far the easiest part of my D17s 1st semester away at college. Hopefully the OPs daughter won’t need a lot of money - but having some in the bank that she can use for just in case or I forgot or I’m stressed and could really use some icecream with friends will really go a long way to make the transition easier.
On the issue of working, I would also encourage her to find something part-time now rather than waiting since money is so terribly tight in your family. Both IB and AP exams are in May, and kids doing IB, including diploma candidates, can and do work. My daughter works 9-12 hours a week, with all money saved for college expenses. Her best friend, who’s a diploma candidate and a serious athlete with many demands on her time, still works about eight hours a week. Besides the most obvious financial benefit to your family, your daughter establishing more of a work history in high school could be a plus to her getting good jobs in the future.
(By the way, I just read Walmart is raising its minimum wage to $11 an hour. That’s fairly typical for where we live, but I assume that’s high for Kansas, so that could be a way for your daughter to make decent money part-time.)
And I agree with @intparent on high placement not always being the best idea, depending on the college class.
On somewhat of a tangent, I’ve actually been disappointed at how many colleges treat IB vs. AP. I don’t think there’s any question that IB courses are tougher than AP because of the internal assessments required, and then the extended essay and TOK mandates for diploma candidates. But the course credit policies don’t seem to favor IB–in fact, most of the schools my daughter is looking at don’t give credit for SL courses. Her two toughest courses junior year were the SLs. It seems odd that you can receive credit for a one-year AP course but not for a one-year SL course with additional demands. Anyway, the course credit policies of different colleges vary drastically, so that’s something to look into carefully.