<p>Your first semester, you have to wait until mid-August (which still leaves plenty of time to have books sent to Oberlin before the semester starts). It’s easier for returning students; we register for fall semester in April and spring semester in November, so plenty of time to pick up books.</p>
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<p>You don’t know for sure, but it’s reasonably easy to guess. The course that’s required for your major and only offered every fourth semester? Probably not going to drop it. The really popular course that’s impossible to get into? Probably not going to drop it. The filler course that you picked up because you had a bad registration time and got on the waitlist for a bunch of courses, but needed to fill your schedule with something? Too soon to tell - so wait on buying the books.</p>
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<p>Mostly just by knowing your own study habits. I write all over everything, so I buy all my books. Some people like to make active notes in, say, chem textbooks, so they can follow the problems; some close-read novels, or put grammatical notes in all their foreign language texts. Others read straight through things and absorb them without making a mark. It all depends on the way you personally like to study.</p>
<p>In other words, if you want to be efficient and save money, it’s a good idea to think about which courses you’re likely to keep or drop, and which books you’re likely to *use<a href=“rather%20than%20just%20read”>/i</a>. That’s true whether you buy online, at home, at Mindfair, or at B&N.</p>
<p>Actually–I sent in my registration forms last week, and my top choice for FYSP and the other class appeared in PRESTO with the status “registered”, so I guess it’s up there if you sent your forms in early.</p>
<p>Mine are, too. I faxed my forms in on Wednesday or Thursday, and now I’m registered for my top choice seminar as well as two other courses - the intro bio lecture course and the intro bio lab.</p>
<p>OK - So ObieDollars and/or non-fee debit card make sense. But how do the FLEX Points work? Is there a dollar-to-point equivalent comparison available? How does the 27.5 flex points compare to the 5 meals you give up when selecting the 14-meal plan over the 19-meal plan?</p>
<p>Basically yes, it’s a dollar-to-point equivalent. How one plan compares to another depends on your eating habits. The more flex points you have the more flexibility in choosing where to eat. According to my D, a meal plan “meal” can only be used in one of the cafeterias. Flex points can be used other places on campus. If you prefer most of your meals in one of the dining halls and plan on three squares a day, six days a week, two meals on the Sabbath (or something like that), then the 19 meal plan may work best. If you’re thinking of two meals in a dining hall seven days a week, with greater flexibility (in case you’re not hungry for a third meal every day, or just want to grab some overpriced foodstuffs from somewhere else on campus, go with the 14 meal plan. Think about what you plan to do. Maybe your class schedule combined with a sport, club, or part-time campus job, makes a third meal difficult or impossible. Then why fork out for the 19 meal plan? What are your eating habits now, and how do you think you would prefer to eat once on campus? I know it’s hard to be sure of that now, but you have to think about it and make your choice. But you can also use Obie Dollars to buy food.</p>
<p>In regards to meals, the amount of flex points you get with the 14 meal plan does not make up for the 5 meals you lose compared to the 19 meal plan. The 14 meal/wk plan does not offer enough flex points for you to cover 5 extra meals a week for a whole month (flex points are distributed on a monthly basis and roll over from month to month but not from school year to school year). Basically, if you are planning on eating breakfast most of the time, go with the 19. You can always use meals at 4th meal too (served from 10-11:30 PM Sunday - Thursday). And a good amount of dining places allow you to use meals (Dascomb, Stevie, Lord-Saunders, Science Center Cart).</p>
<p>Having reviewed this thread and the FAQ for Obie dollars, I’m thinking that a bank account with a debit card option would give my D more spending flexibility and as much convenience as an Obie Dollars card. But, quick question before I start calling all the banks listed on the new students webpage: Does anyone know if any of these banks have any age restrictions for opening accounts and/or issuing debit cards for students who are not yet 18? Will I have to open a joint account in both D and my name?</p>
<p>FWIW, my daughter had a debit card for her account with our local Minnesota bank (USBank) and found a cash machine in town that did not charge for cash withdrawals (machine at Lorain National Bank). She used Obie dollars as well for the most part and never bothered to open a bank account in Oberlin.</p>
<p>Most new freshmen who plan to open a local account seem to pile into First Merit Bank during orientation week. It seems to be the most popular local bank and is nearest the campus. It’s kiddie corner from Tappan Square. During my D’s frosh orientation the place was mobbed the first day with students, including a zillion (or so it seemed) from China and Japan (they all came at once). It was almost take a number. We put our name down and left for leisurely lunch. When we came back, they hadn’t called my D’s name yet. LOL. That’s how crowded it got. Maybe you want to pick a different day to open an account than the first (week) day of orientation. </p>
<p>One reason my D opened an account was to have a local place to automatically deposit checks from a campus part-time job that she hoped to get. If there were ever any issues she could walk right over to the First Merit office. She had cable TV in her dorm room (don’t ask) as a frosh, so the local bank checks came in handy. </p>
<p>Basically, she kept two accounts. One at the bank in our state and one at First Merit.</p>
<p>In response to Ms. Ladybug, a friend of mine was only 17 when she started at Oberlin, and she was able to open a local bank account at First Merit with no parent present, although I believe she ran into a few difficulties while doing so. It’s a fairly common situation, and there are four different banks in town, so if she runs into difficulties at one bank, I’m sure she will be able to succeed at another.</p>