@jpc763 No, but 7.5% is happening. I didn’t see what they said for future years. Be aware it may continue to go up unless you can get a big MAC tuition waiver! I honestly haven’t kept close tabs since threat of the tuition increase. But the app was free and easy, so we did it. Very good college of Bio Sciences. It will be interesting to see where the final number comes in!
@Fishnlines29 We have a CIGNA OAP, which is a high-deductible plan with an HSA. I am liking the HSA since we notice last night we over-funded it by accident, so we have $3K ready in case someone needs medical attention 
@hadmeathello - What is the big MAC tuition waiver?
@hadmeathello And your current coverage is through a private employer? You can cover your D17 until age 26 if you want to (by law)! Cigna has an excellent national network which will have providers wherever your daughter goes to college (unless she goes somewhere in a very remote area).
Of course, you should consider the college health plan that is often included in tuition. Compare benefits and price between what you would be charged to keep her on your “work” plan versus the school plan. Really you can wait until she decides where to go and then compare… you can always pm me when the time comes.
HSA’s are great, not sure what you mean you “over funded by accident” haha but triple tax savings for sure and you can let the account grow into retirement. Unfortunately we might need it as the average out of pocket health care spend for a HEALTHY couple ready to retire next year is over 250K (that’s crazy to me)!! I can’t imagine what it will look like when we all get there X_X
@Fishnlines29 By ‘overfunded’ I just mean that we intended to just cover our annual costs with the HSA. Didn’t really know the right way to use it at the time, but have read about the triple tax savings since. So, instead of backing off contributions for next year, we’re gonna put our foot down and plow some more in there…depending on whether we need the money for college or not 
@jpc763 When I started on CC UMinn was one of the schools I followed closely. They had a scholarship (Gold National or something?) that gave OOS kids in-state tuition. So, if OOS tuition rose, you were still tied to in-state tuition which would hopefully not rise as much. I’m not sure if they still have this, or have opted for a flat dollar amount that doesn’t track to tuition increases. Sorry, I can research more later…this is just what I recall…and that it was no longer going to be a tuition waiver, but rather a dollar amount. They may have backed off this change as well?
It’s like my 529 all over again! Hope they give the BIG MAC at certain hospitals! =)) :))
Hi everyone,
Another lurker coming out of the woodwork. I’ve really appreciated all the sharing and great advice in this group. My DS17 is an only, so empty nester is coming rapidly! I thought I would be ok with it, but am starting to have my doubts. I sure like having this kid around! He’s submitted 5 apps and 4 more to go. Having a tough time deciding between his top two which to send ED (nov 15 deadline). He’s off to PA this week for a final visit and then he’ll pull the trigger this weekend. I have a question…in portals, do colleges usually show each LOR individually? He has one teacher who used Naviance and I can see those letters on his portals. He has one teacher who is old school and had him give stamped envelopes for the teacher to send in the letters. I can’t tell if those have been received. Will schools that require two LORs show two when they’ve arrived, or if the LOR requirement has a green check mark next to it, does that mean they are both in? Thanks!!
@snoozn DH is like yours! He wants DS go to our local U and live at home. DH too is having a hard time letting go. Many of neighbors’ adult kids live close by, and one neighbor watches 3 grand kids under 2 on various week days. 
Another neighbor has a son who went to local U, lives with parents and teaches at local HS.
I am not going to let that happen, but DH is actually quite envious of them.
We live thousands of miles from his home/mom and I visit his mom more often than he does. I don’t get it.
Me neither! [-(
Ooooh, sorry about that @snoozn and @payn4ward! That would be a tough one. My kids need(ed) to get away, if only to get to appreciate how they were raised. And S17 needs that dose of “adulting” to help him mature. He is doing so much better this year than last in terns of maturity, but being responsible for daily everything (except cooking - just getting to meals on time) will be soooo good for him. Who decided that 18 is a reasonable age to be an adult??? :-?
As for the empty nest… My H doesn’t care. Neither of us really want our kids to stay home for college. (My H went to college less than a mile from home, where his mom worked and lived on campus the whole time.) And honestly I was more than fine with this with my older daughter. Excited about every milestone. And so I was surprised by my reaction to S17. I really do think it’s because he’s a different kid and I expect a different road traveled by him.
Holy cow y’all have been super chatty!
I had to fly first class to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday with two hours notice to bring a set of car keys to my husband.
I am not kidding.
One minute I was working in the yard, two hours later (including a one hour hair on fire drive to the airport), I was sitting on the plane enjoying a rum and coke. I got off the plane (50k frequent flyer miles gone) and H had found his keys. 11 hour drive back, 2 hours of sleep, and off to school I went yesterday.
Never a dull moment in our house…
@payn4ward you can put the unused days on your kid’s ticket towards an adult ticket-Disney tickets never expire!
We are massive, massive Disney fans. The girls have been going since they were fetuses. I mod on a Disney website. For a while we owned a Disney Vacation Club property (sold it last year because we started going less often and I didn’t like how the maintenance fees kept going up). EPCOT is my happy place. My dog is named after the mascot :).
I am so loving all the avatars! :x And all the new peeps!
@pittsburghscribe I am such a nerd that I know what a hairy marmot sounds like because I watch WAY too many nature shows.
I admit to using “AF” in the naughty way. I blame the movie Dave and Mike Need Wedding Dates. “We are going to look respectable AF!” (except I say “ay eff”, the actress uses the words, lol).
Voting-I used to drag the girls with me to the voting booth, they’re both looking forward to voting when they’re old enough. D17 misses the cutoff to be 18 very narrowly this election. I early voted last week, I hate crowds.
I took wood shop 2x rather than take it once and metal shop once when I was in junior high. I still like wood more than metal as an artistic medium-it’s less scary. I could have taken auto shop, but it conflicted with my art classes. No limitations based on gender where I was.
@snoozn we have a HSA and I LOVE it. Unlike the flexible spending account, you don’t have to prove that you’re really spending the money on health stuff at, say, the dentist. With the flexible spending account, it was like I was a criminal having to constantly fax or take pictures of receipts, and they would freeze my account all the time-I never used it for non-accepted stuff, and I was always treated like a criminal. The HSA is much better-I don’t have to prove every penny.
Finally finished working on the yard today-30 bags of mulch, 20 bags of topsoil, 7 bushes, 18 hours, wicked sore hands, completely trashed manicure. I had started it on Sunday and all the tools were still littered around the front yard like a cyclone had come through. My neighbor across the street was like “I was wondering where you went!”
I probably won’t touch the yard again for another 6 months, but it looks awesome now!
@mtrosemom your new avatar is hysterical! I am not looking forward to an empty nest. I love the hustle around the house and friends coming over and just being a part of her daily life. My D16 is a freshman and we talk every day but boy do I miss her presence. Thanksgiving can’t come soon enough.
Hugs @snoozn
@MotherOfDragons WHAT??? That’s insane and you are an amazing woman!
@nadotenmom welcome! We don’t have naviance so I can’t answer how that works, but if you are applying on the CA, you are able to look at the school you applied to and see if the teacher submitted the LOR. Also, I would think that on the school portal if there is a check then you can (hopefully) assume you’re all set
QOTD
We are still a few years away from the empty nest due to S19.
No way no how do I want any of our kids living with us during college. Yes I will miss them. Yes they will have transitional post college support till they get a job if need be but commuting from our house? Nope. Don’t see it happening. You never know I suppose, but I believe they are well prepared to be on their own, the olders did just fine and it’s a natural progression…at least in our mind. I’m just not threatened by it. I left for 10 years and now live 10 minutes from my folks and 2 sisters. They all left too. We just don’t have to be in the same house to keep that closeness or to want to go back. If by some odd turn of events one needs to commute from our house of course it would be an option but I think everyone would rather chew nails. It’s just not what they’ve grown up wanting or us supporting. Not in a “we can’t wait until you are gone way” but in a “go find your own path without us breathing down your neck way”. LOL!
Coming from a blended family, it’s been really hard on my H to have “his” kids gone and mine still here. Not that they aren’t his too, as they definitely are but it makes him miss the olders that much more and realize just how much their mom cut him out of the college process which makes him all kinds of cranky. Mostly at her of course but I’m the one who is here! He is definitely looking forward to couple time. I however am entirely unsure what the couple will be able to afford to do! We do a fair amount of dates and date trips right now but it is going to be odd when it is just the 2 of us.
@snoozn gah, I am sorry. I can see where the S18 factor possibly being overseas would throw the house into a tailspin!
@MotherOfDragons yikes. That’s a lot of miles for car keys! Faster than overnighting them I guess. I hear you on the DVC dues but so far, it still pencils out quite well for us.
Poor H, he had quite the weekend while i was off running Disney. S11 was in town for the weekend for a work gig. Planned to drive his mom’s old car back as the one he has is a gas guzzler and he is driving all over creation. He was hit while heading back to his mom’s. He’s ok but the car is totalled and the driver was without a license and insurance. And then someone canvassing our neighborhood for the election on Saturday drove into my beautiful golden elm that I just paid a small fortune to have trimmed last week. To H’s credit, he didn’t tell me any of this until he picked me up from the airport last night and he had put some kind of tree “bandage” on the wounds and has her info but in reality it will be some time until we know if it survives.
@nadotenmom welcome!
Are you asking about in the common app or in the individual school portals? The CA shows which LOR’s are uploaded, by LOR writer for us under each school. Only one green check though but then it lists each recommender and shows the date each LOR was downloaded by the school. However, in the portals for the schools themselves, it’s a bit of a mix. Currently we have 3 active portals that should have everything in.
Common App Schools.
One school lists the following as in: Essay, High School Transcript (Official), School Report, ACT Score Report
The other shows the following: Application Fee/Waiver, High School Transcript, Major, SAT/ACT Scores
Neither mention the actual application or LOR’s, or FAFSA but both files show as complete.
The non common app school on the other hand lists a LOR received in advance of the application which is really odd as we cancelled the LOR request after our school saying that this school didn’t want them (even if their own material shows it as optional). So who knows what they have or if that is the counselor report or if it is one or two LOR’s.
Long story short, when in doubt I would call the school as it can vary tremendously.
Health insurance-Most schools seem to have a list of questions about your policy that all have to be answered yes to avoid purchasing their insurance. Like routine and emergency care available in that area, all the basic coverages in the ACA, mental health coverage, prescription coverage available in area. There was an extra set of questions if you were doing study abroad. If you have a national brand company with a national list of providers you shouldn’t have an issue waiving the school policy. From the 2016 group the people who seemed to have the most issues were military families. People who had only a local or regional policy seemed to be prepared to have to buy the school policy. At UChicago they still have a health fee everyone pays for access to the student health center. I’m fine with that because they don’t charge us a co-pay when the student uses it even when they bill insurance. My son had a Dr appt for a sinus infection the first week of school and no charge for copay or from the pharmacy for a generic antibiotic. They have lots of freebies (well…included with all the costs we pay) like flu shots, birth control, and some OTC stuff like cough syrup, ibuprofen, etc.
Thanks @MotherOfDragons.
@eandesmom Yes, I’m talking about the actual college portals. They show Teacher Recommendation with a green check mark. But it’s not plural, so I’m wondering if there will be another Teacher Rec line when the next one comes in. I guess I’ll give them a call. Hate to bother them, but if they’re still waiting on the 2nd LOR, DS will need to nudge his teacher again.
D17 now wants to add a school to the list: McGill. She wants to go to Canada.
What a night. Sheesh!
@hadmeathello She’ll need pants there. 
We are in for a Brexit ride. And there go the 529s.