@sushiritto I think our kiddos are waiting for similar schools! UCs and SLO! All seem like such reaches this year, in addition to OOS reaches.
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I would have loved D to apply to OOS schools, but she wasnāt interested. CA or bust!
@srwcmw @tristatecoog Thanks! This is helpful. I started a list for S21 for dorm. I figured it would be good for him to figure out roommate situation and they can talk to see what they can share like small fridge, etc.
I think all but one of his applied to schools (and pretty sure he wonāt get into JHU) are near friends and close coworkers so I could have things delivered to them and then drive and pick up once we fly in. If he gets into one of the UCs, no brainer for us since all is within driving distance. We have an EV so in my non pandemic world and if S21 and his friends get into the same areas, Iād just be the bus driver to take them home over break since I have an EV and I like driving.
For 529, do you pay and then submit the receipt to 529 to reimburse? I hadnāt even thought about that. I have the Costco Visa so I think we only get 1% cashback and 1pt on my chase sapphire reserve. What card do you have that gives 2.5%. That would be amazing.
Iām thinking to re-open the Southwest card and the SW biz card because then it would allow me to earn companion pass starting 2022 thru 2023.
For our 529, we pay (by electronic check) and get reimbursed by the 529. But, I think different plans have different options for whether to have the 529 pay directly or not.
The college does not take credit card payments for the tuition bill.
Alliant Credit Union VISA. They used to not charge an annual fee but now they charge $99 but itās still worth it and I charge everything even my income taxes because that too the IRS charges less than 2.5%. I also donāt have to wait a year like Costco Citicard to get the cash. You can take it monthly!
One of mine the room had a kitchen the other the school rented micro fridges so we split that with the roommate.
For our 529 when I redeem money thereās a drop down and I have the option of sending to the school directly, a check to me as owner, to my various kids as beneficiaries, and I can pick send checks to each of us or go right into our bank accounts. We live in Illinois. I also keep track of the qualified expenses for reimbursement from the 529 since not all of it can be used.
@srparent15 Super helpful! I have Alliant but I never signed up for a credit card but now Iāll have to look into this! I love the rates we get in savings account with Alliant. It makes reg bank CDs look like a joke.
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I know, right? Itās a great card. The one other new bad thing you can only charge for the bonus 10k a month. No I donāt regularly charge 10k but when youāre charging tuition and taxes etc sometimes I have to space it out so that doesnāt bite me as Iām all about the cash. I also charge stuff like my electric bills and anything else that has less than 2.5% fee.
I ended up adding my college kids on my credit card account so they get a card copy. It helps them build credit and make larger (preapproved by me) purchases like books. The debit card that they used initially has a daily limit that sometimes didnāt cover everything they needed to pay for in one day.
As others have said, some opt to have the 529 pay the school directly, but that can get stressful with timing. If you have the money, itās easier to pay first and have the 529 reimburse you (then you can add in other covered expenses and get the distribution in one lump sum). In spring you need to pay the bill and get the reimbursement in the same calendar year, so wait until after Jan 1 to pay the spring tuition bill if doing it out of pocket.
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@MommaLue ā our 529 lets us choose whether to disburse 529 funds to us or to the college. Iāve chosen the latter b/c itās cleaner for tax purposes ā that money never hits our account. If Iām remembering correctly, if it does hit your account thereās extra forms/steps come tax time? I forget exactly, so you might look into that.
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Same. We pay the college directly from 529. Bowdoin does not allow payments by credit card anyway. Sad for our Southwest CC but oh well.
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All this talk about credit card reminds me: D18 is a 2nd semester junior and other than her first semester freshman year, has not spent any money on books. Is that your studentsā experience too? I remember spending hundreds of dollars on textbooks every semester when I was in college a million years ago. Sheās a bio major on premed track btw.
I think S19 spent maybe $200 on books total for freshman year. Heās in charge of that and pays for them so he does everything he can to not spend his money! I donāt remember all of the details. I know some of his math textbooks were digital and some older kids already had them so shared the link with him. Some he realized he only needed to read portions of so he just got them from the library. The only books I know he bought were novels he had to read cover to cover and those were inexpensive on Amazon.
His roommate, on the other hand, never looked around and just bought the easiest (and the most expensive) options for each book!
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D18 also has not spent more than around $200 on books. I always take this calculation out of offers because it is often very inflated. For some I see it would be necessary to keep it in but we do not in our family.
Also we take out the other expenses category. Students will have this no matter which college they go to. It should not be part of everyoneās calculation, but should be a lifestyle discussion with your child.
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If one is calculating true costs, it is also a good idea to try to find out how much kids spend on āotherā things. At some schools, kids eat off campus a lot (maybe for social reasons or because the food on campus isnāt great) or they spend money off campus in other ways for ubers or movies/concerts or shopping.
S19 spent almost zero in these types of expenses. Maybe $100 last year. The food at Bowdoin is delicious and plentiful. Heās plenty busy on campus. Even kids who do the outing trips, which are popular, pay a very small stipend for most trips as the club is supported by the college.
Compare that to his high school friend at BC who eats out a LOT and his female friends at other schools who spend a lot of money on shopping at the malls near campus.
I will have to remind D21 that daily Starbucks will add up and coffee with some ice and almond milk from the cafeteria can be just as good most days!
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Starbucks, DD gift cards were a big request for holidays/birthdays from D18. Unfortunately, because of that, she doesnāt see it as an expense!
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CS talk bring back memories, I studied C++ and Java. I think you should think of where you want to live and what types of companies you want to work for and look if they recruit at that college.
I knew I dināt want to work for a company where there was no work life balance, so I did a lot of research (including talking to other women and URM in the industry). Some of these tech companies have a toxic work culture and no amount of pay was going to make working there worth it.
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Funny story about D19 who was taking AP Computer Science senior year. She was struggling with understanding JAVA and spending way too much time on that class. At Thanksgiving we had guests (remember that?) and one is a friend who is probably the most brilliant person I know and a tech entrepreneur. Anywhoo, the meal talk turned to this CS class, where brilliant tech entrepreneur commented āthereās just no point in learning JAVA anymoreā, so of course D19 latched on to that comment, and dropped the class the following Monday. Sheās still scared of CS now and wonāt take any college CS classes.
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Yes, I think the most my D has spent is about $200. She rents, buys used, and in a lot of cases faculty donāt use textbooks. I think that semester she spent less than $50.
Since S21 is engineering I expect there will be more actual textbooks and perhaps even software to pay for? Maybe the colleges have licenses for software? Hereās hoping at least.
We already noticed one of his accepted schools put in the cost of a laptop in ābooks / supplies.ā Iām guessing his current laptop is not up to snuff for college.
Same here! S19 HATED AP Comp Sci. Took it sophomore year and begged to drop it multiple times. He also had heard he will never need to know JAVA. Stuck it out but it soured him on comp sci.
Now, though, heās realizing he should probably take a class or two but heās not pumped about it.
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@GetCollege19 Yep I took FORTRAN too. I still have nightmares about the sub-basement of the Tech building at Northwestern where the giant computers printed out those green and white sheets. Mine always had a bunch of red checks down the left where all of my mistakes were. Lol. Funny now but not so much then. It was awful.
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