@RightCoaster May be urban myth, but I have heard of kids getting more financial aid over the summer as FA offices figure out their balances and discover a little extra.
I would NOT count on it, though.
@youcee They have those pods that fit on top of carsā¦
@eandesmom right now my husband is FREAKING out about the crime rate in that neighborhood. Any thoughts?
@Fishnlines29 and @RightCoaster ā my older D has used amazon in europe, but not the US version. She set up a separate account for her countryās version, and it has worked just fine for the limited things she has ordered. She noticed that shipping costs and product availability were vastly different between the european and US sites.
Congrats!!! @STEM2017
@STEM2017 Good point, I forgot about the crying part for the younger one. The older one we now just say see you later (or maybe itās the other way around). When our first one started college, he was unusually distant on dropoff day. I think it was that he needed to show he could be independent. We were a little taken aback TBH. Ever since then itās been more normal and heās not afraid to be seen with mom and dad at school. Looks like the younger oneās school moves in over 4 days, so maybe there wonāt be overlap, athough that probably means there is a 90-100% chance there is. We may be doing lots of back and forth through LA traffic for a few days. Ugh
@Ynotgo Theoretically we should be able to do it since weāve packed a weeks worth of camping gear in the car, but somehow I remember it being kind of full for kid #1. But shorts and t-shirts donāt take up much space so maybe weāll be OK. Older one will need apartment stuff this year, so even though itās furnished Iām sure there will be more stuff needed. Weāll just have it shipped to your house ahead of time for storage. 
Congrats @stem2017! Was that something he applied for?
On the subject of dorm mountain - DH and I are watching a move-in day video from the most-likely school. Absolute CHAOS, but the kids look pretty happy.
Move-in day advice I think I read here: Talk beforehand about where and how you will say your goodbyes. Do you want to hug out at the car, in the room, etc. It can ease the awkwardness.
@jmek15 I think they give a lot of Discovery Fellow awards out to OOS kids. The app was embarrassingly simple. He just wrote a 140 character Tweet about what he would do with the $5,000. I guess they liked it.
Amazon in Europe: I have separate Amazon accounts for Amazon.comĀ (US) and Amazon.deĀ (Germany); I use the latter very occasionally for German-language stuff you canāt normally get over here. Interesting thing Iāve found: You canāt use Amazon.com gift cards on Amazon.de (and I understand itās the same the other way around), and a credit on the one canāt be used on the other, and I canāt see what Iāve ordered on one when I log into the other, but I use the same email address to log into both accounts, and when I recently changed my password on Amazon.com it also changed my password on Amazon.de to the same thingāso they are linked somehow.
Not sure itās terribly helpful information, but it is weird, so thereās that.
DH and I didnāt think we should spend the money to both drop off in Scotland, but we both want to go. So Iām buying us both tickets. Sigh. After this year, sheāll fly alone, so it is a one time cost.
@dfbdfb the Amazon info is helpful. I need to figure out some sort of cash management for my son for his few months over there. Iām hoping to learn some tips from other NU In parents that have done this. My son has a passport and will be 18 when he heads over. I have to figure out banking or wiring him some money. I need to get him a credit card in the next few months. I was just going to send him over and tell him to order stuff he might need from Amazon, but I hadnāt thought about it in detail.
@RightCoaster do you have a card with no forex fees? Can you trust him to use a second card on your account responsibly?
Well, it is in a very urban area. And depending on which way you walk or where youāre living that crime rate will likely very quite a bit. That said itās also an extremely busy popular area full of hip restaurants and clubs and fun little boutiques in a couple of really nice hotels.
My SS11 lived in 2 different apartments over there while attending Seattle Pacific University. He did move after a year. While he didnāt have any issues at the apartment or while out and about he did have a car break in.
Bear in mind this kid has his car broken into everywhere so he must do stupid things, I think itās happened 4-5 times!
He wasnāt right next to campus either. I have a close friend whose S is a freshman there now (and they live in bill gates neighborhood so really could be picky but arenāt that way at all). Iāll likely see her Monday and ask about the dorms but she hasnāt said a word about that aspect. Her S has a car there, lives in the dorms, works in the city and then near his folks on the weekends. Heās hoping to transfer but itās completely die to his wanting the big D1 school experience, not anything against Seattle U. She doubts that will pan out, they arenāt a fan of going full pay anywhere and are happy with things as they are.
I also have a close friend who is there all the time for law school alumni stuff, heās super involved, and I can get his take. Same thing with 2 different neighbors whose kids went there/recent grads. I donāt think H as a night school MBA student would have the best insight.
Personally Iād have zero issues sending S17 there (too close to home), heās got street smarts in spades. Iām considering it as an option for S19, who has zero street smarts but is unlikely to leave his room or the library lol.
Itās funny as locally the reputation is better than the stats might indicate.
Have you visited?
@eandesmom we have not visited. A friend went with her son last summer and loved it. For whatever reason my H started looking at crime statistics near the school and now heās freaking out, saying weāre not visiting and D17 is not going there. 8-| Iām not sure what to think. Some of the news stories heās sent me are alarming. At any rate, Iām about to put he and D17 in a room together to duke it out, they both deserve it.
I take all that crime data with a grain of salt. A few years ago the FBI data showed UCLA was the most dangerous campus in America. Iām not too worried about sending our kid there. Does anyone really think itās in a worse area than USC? (Which Iād also be ok sending him to)
@RightCoaster I reccomend Charles Schwab debit account- no fees, no minimum, can use any atm - fees reimbursed, no international transaction fees. Eldest got on when she went abroad and DS just got one since his school is in the middle of nowhere. He doesnāt want to open a local bank account and we can fund his account here locally.
All three of our kids have a credit card (our account) in their name in case of emergencies. We allow school expenses, ie books, medical expenses and things that have been pre approved by Mom and Dad. Overall, we havenāt had any problems, but I watch what is billed on that card like a hawk.
@youcee I brought up USC, my husbandās argument is that USC is like a walled fortress while Seattle U is open. We visited Fordham and I didnāt find the Bronx particularly safe, again his argument is that itās a closed campus, not just open to the surrounding area.