QOTD - not yet until all decisions are out. Still waiting on first choice and couple of OOS schools!
@thshadow Weâve had the grandparents 529 cut a check in our sonâs name. Iâm not sure if itâs been put in our account before we pay the school or his account. I think ours. As long as you have all the documentation to prove expenses. Be aware that you probably want to limit the amount used from the grandparentâs 529 the first couple of years in school. There is an untaxed income exclusion for the student (I think $6500), so keep their earnings plus the amount from the grandparents 529 under that amount and the student wonât incur any taxes. The usual recommendation is to use the grandparents for the last couple of years because at that point it wonât be seen by FAFSA. I could be wrong on a couple of the details here, but at least use them as points to check into. We also found out that because of an educational credit when filing income taxes, if you use your own 529 to pay all remaining expenses, you may get taxed on a portion that the educational credit covers. The education credit would go against a few thousand of expenses (maybe $4000?) and something like $1500 is taken straight off your taxes. Again, I may be slightly off on the details, but some things to seek out when looking for info on the internet. Personally, I found it way too complicated for a college-educated person - it should be so much easier.
I think one mistake I made above was thinking the untaxed income exclusion had to do with taxes. As another member here pointed out, I think it is a FAFSA issue, not an income tax one. A lot of âI thinksâ, so take my comments more as something to look into and not absolute fact.
More info here in the section âBeware Grandparent-Owned 529 Plansâ:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/troyonink/2014/02/14/how-assets-hurt-college-aid-eligibility-on-fafsa-and-css-profile/#7af6d2fc53bb
QOTD: DD joined the GroupMe for WashU ED students a few days after acceptance. I noticed that group formed here on CC and then abandoned any discussion here. There is also a FB and instagram page; she follows on Instagram but has never had a FB account. I donât think she expects to find friends or roommates that way but enjoys following along.
Congrats on all of the acceptances and hugs on deferrals. Iâve been trying to keep up amidst the personal and professional holiday rush.
I didnât mean to leave anyone out @HappyGoLucky2017, but STEM has been on the fence. Non-mahds, come to the dark sideâŠ
Oh, well @HappyGoLucky2017 has a dark side. You may not have thought so, lol. Maybe some other time. ;))
@Dolemite As the younguns would say, burn! :))
Roasted @MACncheez! Deeelish!
Parents 2016 is still 95 pages ahead. FB isnât helping!
So I decided to take advantage of the lovely break and take a nice nap, as my username shows I like to do. Like all good CC addicts, I promptly tried to catch up on this thread after waking up. In my hazy state, I was really confused trying to figure out which college had a facebook page devoted to laughing at boba tea drinkers and watching wipeout videos and how I could get my D to apply there.
Maybe Iâll just go back to sleepâŠ
@MotherOfDragons I will bake the cookies! I have a hankeringâŠ
Ok, in addition to not knowing what groupme is, this is the first Iâm hearing of slack
D is in UMICH!!!
@Fishnlines29 No need to know what groupme, slack, etc is.
I cannot keep up with them either.
Area scout parents are heavily in Tech field. The scouts are using Trello to manage website development. 
It takes me several swipes to find an app on my phone. Then I see a notification to check, and then I forget why I picked up my phone. Just like I open the fridge and forget what I needed to get. I want to go back to the simpler life where the phone was just for looking up contacts and call. Itâs not gonna happen, I guess. 
Congratulations @chillkitty. I didnât think anybody could like both ND and UofM!?
@payn4ward Iâm having a hard time with your new avatar. I can still identify your posts from this though:
@MACncheez, I know, right? She also got into McGill yesterday, so I guess the pattern is big schools in snowy places far from CT.
@chillkitty Congrats!!!
Well, if she goes to UofM, tell her to ask to live in South Quad, room 8612. Itâs a dudeâs room, but they may make an exception. Our hibachi grill may still be clamped to the window sill. And, our 85lb speakers may still be on the ledge, ready to pump out âFireâ by THE Ohio Players during the almost-nightly fire drills.
FYI, a random self-centered comment to no one in particular: my username is actually âthshadowâ, not âtheshadowâ. The reason has something to do with the fact that âthshadowâ has exactly 8 charactersâŠ
I wonder who âtheshadowâ is - theyâre definitely getting a lot of @'s⊠
I havenât posted yet because I didnât want to jinx anything but D got into several EA schools with Big MAC and honors colleges but she just got into U Mich Engineering, one of her top dream schools! I am so thrilled for her!