With the amount of health fee they are charging, you would think the student health clinic would be free at most colleges.
I haven’t received a bill from my D’s school for two visits plus strep test.
At my S’s school they charge $10 for visit and $5 per test.
His flu shot was free and TB test was free last year, I think they charged him for the TB test this year for some reason but the charges are reasonable and are billed to the student account.
@milgymfam Boooo! And to make it even more confusing, each of the providers at the health center take different insurances? Ugh! I’m glad you’ve figured out where your D can go to be in network.
@mommdc I am assuming that they don’t charge kids on the school’s health insurance anything extra, but I’m not 100% on that since she doesn’t have it.
I thought that if your insurance isn’t sufficient for a meets full need college (not adequate coverage, out of state etc), then the university provided insurance policy is covered as part of financial aid?
If she is picking up her meds at a pharmacy, maybe she can get her flu shot there next year and insurance will cover it?
Our insurance covered my flu, shingles, Tdap shot at Riteaid.
My kids’ schools also offer free flu shot clinics in the fall.
@milgymfam healing thoughts to your daughter. The coach should have known better, especially given that he’s club-affiliated!
My D20 too has decided that, because she won’t swim for the next day or say and that she turned 18 a couple of weeks ago, today is the best day to get her first tattoo. Of all things, she hates spiders (Richmond was off the list for that reason and well, the pool is yucky) and is getting one on the back of her neck.
S19 has class until 6:15 tonight and this will be his first time home since late-August and he’s just up the road an hour in Boston.
@mommdc yes, if your insurance is deemed insufficient then you have to have the school insurance, but ours is more than sufficient- it works everywhere in the world and has no out of pocket costs. Unfortunately she didn’t know the campus flu shot wasn’t free until she got it. Our insurance would have covered it at a pharmacy. It’s all a a learning experience!
@milgymfam I hope your DD recovers quickly.
Everyone who have their kids home, enjoy your time!
My D19 isn’t coming back for Thanksgiving (time/$$) but waffled on what she was going to do. She had a couple of offers to go with friends to their homes & it looked like she was going to accompany a suitemate to a relative’s house, but ended up deciding to stay on campus & work on her projects, papers, and presentations that are due Monday/Tuesday of next week. She’s my procrastinator, but likely would still have gotten everything done if she’d gone. She works well under pressure but will probably catch up on sleep & binge watch some movies. Finals start next Thursday & she heads back here the week after that.
Her last final is on that Tuesday but wants to stick around a couple extra days. Anyone else have a kid who loves college so much that they don’t want to come home?
@Reebtoor I think that’s great that your D is loving school. I’ll dare to say that S is as well. It’s optional for him to go back for track practice on 1/6 instead of going back on 1/17 for winter break. He’s all over going back early. I’d like him to stay here but he’ll be bored and I’m thrilled that he’s happy to go back.
@milgymfam, sorry to hear about that injury. Best wishes for speedy healing.
D19 arrived last night in Boston by bus from New York, along with three friends. Two are staying through the weekend and one, her roommate, just came along for the ride and is heading back down today to see her family in New Jersey. The bus was an hour and 15 minutes late – a lot of traffic getting out of New York.
It was nice meeting the two friends we hadn’t yet. The four of them are planning to get an off-campus apartment together next school year, and they all seem to have an easy and happy rapport. D19 doesn’t tend to gather a huge group of friends, but she always manages to find her people, and it looks like she’s done it again.
My mother arrives tonight, also by bus from New York. Hopefully soon she’ll be visiting us from Florida. She’s in the process of trying to sell her New York apartment, but she has already rented a place in South Beach in a surfeit of optimism, and we’re now helping her pay her rent there and her maintenance in New York. Definitely part of that squeezed middle you’ve heard about, as we also pay full freight at Parsons (minus D19’s generous merit award).
Anyway! A very happy Thanksgiving to all of you and yours.
Sorry about the injury @milgymfam. I know dealing with medical costs can be stressful. I can’t afford the school’s insurance for my D17 so I have her on another plan (with a higher deductible), but fortunately she can go to the student health clinic for free and a number of things aren’t charged. We did have to pay a little for a flu shot and for medications she’s received but the visits are free thankfully.
I’ll be missing D17 for Thanksgiving but she’s safely at a friend’s house in PA. I’ve really been enjoying having S19 home this week and we’ve done a number of fun things. He said that the night before he left to come home for the break he was sitting around with some friends in his dorm and they were all talking about how lucky they were to be at their college. I knew he would do well and be happy wherever he went, but it’s nice to hear that he is very happy and thinks he made the best decision (better than he thought). I think he agonized a little in the spring maybe thinking he should have chosen Brown or possibly Colgate, but he now feels sure he is in the best place for him. It’s great to hear that and to see that he’s working hard but also having a lot of fun.
Oh and @InfiniteWaves - loved your story about your son and his room! Hilarious!
I just couldn’t risk it and had to do the deep clean and purge of my son’s room while my he was away. Given the state my house has been in since February (with our big kitchen remodel), for my own mental health I needed one room to be perfect. 
Barring any flight delays D19 should be landing at 6 PM. We’ve been hit with a big storm in Nor Cal which is great because of course we need the rain and snow, but a bummer for travel. We’re heading to the grandparents house in the Sierras tomorrow morning early and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll have break in the snow. Beyond that night in the mountains we need to be back home on Friday evening so D19 is super excited to sleep in her own bed for a couple of nights. I’ll have to give my Mom Cave up during that time. She cleaned and purged all the random stuff in her room before heading to school and her super tidy, tranquil room has become my favorite place to hang out 
Almost two feet of snow fell on us yesterday. I’m glad S19 didn’t come home for Thanksgiving. It would have been a shock to him, coming from LA! Of course, he’s still coming for the winter break in two and a half weeks, we’ll see if he wants to step outside
@milgymfam yes, it is. And much better to pay for a flu shot than if she got the flu!!
Hopefully her burn will heal quickly!
@yucca10, I hear you! It’s gone down to normal temperatures here (highs in the upper teens to twenties), and we got a solid amount of snow last weekend with more to come (and it won’t melt off til April or late March if we’re lucky)—so when D19 comes home from Mississippi in three weeks, well…
Both boys S17 and S19 are home. 
S17 has been commuting from home this year and he had classes on Monday and Tuesday, so his break started today.
I had bought tickets for S19 flying in on Sunday and leaving Friday expecting him to have homework and projects due Monday after listening to friends with kids at his school. Apparently he has nothing due till the Friday after break. He could return to school on Sunday, but now it is too expensive to change his flight, so he is returning Friday, oh well. I was able to change his Sunday flight to Saturday’s (and it was cheaper than the original, so he has Southwest Air credit) and he came home one day sooner. 
Both boys are doing great at school.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
@milgymfam Sorry to hear about what happened. Hope D recovers quickly!
Reading some threads back, I realized I have not planned any Christmas presents. 
We will be traveling during the winter break to my mother in law’s. Between planning travel for everyone and her birthday party for 50 people, I guess I forgot about presents! I am already quite stressed about this.
I had purchased all tickets in advance to leave town on December 21st, but many circumstances changed. I had to change DH’s flights to suit his new work schedule.
S19 was supposed to fly directly from his school on December 22nd but apparently his final ends on 13th (!) so he will fly home first but will return directly to his school on January 5th.
After all the rescheduling and the change fees, everyone will be on different flights (three of us will leave home and land about the same time using three different airlines, ha!)
I am hoping for no more changes!
@payn4ward, you buy Xmas presents before Thanksgiving?!? I can’t even begin to imagine planning that far ahead!?
Christmas is usually done for us around Halloween, but it’s really small, so really easy.