<p>Are the estimates of $800 for textbooks and $1630 for personal expenses that FinAid gives out reasonable estimates of what a student attempting to be fairly frugal might spend in his freshman year? It kind of looks like Cornell charges extra for a lot of things (many PE classes, use of the climbing wall, use of the bowling alley, membership in the fitness center, use of extra bandwidth, etc...) so I'm wondering if $1630 is really enough. We are trying to figure out the money and what we parents are paying for and what we are expecting S to pay for.</p>
<p>800 for textbooks? last year the cost-of-attendance for textbooks was 360/semester which is NOT enough. i spent about 600 on textbooks + supplies per semester for last year.</p>
<p>Then you are spending too much. Try amazon or something like that.</p>
<p>they put in 800 for the year not per semester, for books and supplies</p>
<p>Also, try Chegg on the internet—they rent textbooks, which seems like an idea long overdue. There might be some your son would want to keep, but he could probably rent most of them. (It’s been recommended to me, but I have no experience with this site, so would be interested if anyone has tried it.)
I’m insisting my son pay for any bandwidth overages. The allowance is generous, and I think he can eschew that extra Youtube video if it comes to that.
The big expense we didn’t expect with the first son is that Cornell require you to buy their health insurance unless you can prove that your own meets some very stringent requirements. Maybe that’s included in FA.
Besides that, DS1 spent much less than we had anticipated. Maybe a dinner at a restaurant every few weeks, hockey tickets, and that was about it. He took advantage of many free things on campus and really enjoyed them. My friends with kids at Columbia and Georgetown are always moaning about how much their kids spend. Sometimes it’s good to be in Ithaca.</p>
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<p>It’s not included, but a student can request extra loans to cover it if they need to. I’ve been assuming our insurance would be suitable. It’s a BCBS plan with nationwide coverage. But sounds like Cornell makes it a pain to use outside insurance (they won’t bill them for you, for example). And the doctors in the health center are probably “out of network” – guess I should figure this out…</p>
<p>I think there was a checklist of requirements when the insurance info came, which we then compared with our policy (also BCBS, but perhaps different from yours). I think we were able to check every box but one, which is why we had to spring for the Cornell plan.</p>
<p>S was able to use our insurance with no problem.</p>
<p>He went to college with $1600 from his summer earnings that he would use for books (rented 1st semester/borrowed & online 2nd semester), and any other expenses. He is down to his last $40. I am hoping this will motivate him to work more this summer so he isn’t down to his last dollar by finals. </p>
<p>He paid for his gym membership, but we gave him hockey season tickets as a Christmas gift. I also send an extra $20 in a card for any holiday (easter/st. patricks day/etc). We pay for all food (including frequent runs to Wegmans/Tops and additional BBR if needed) and tuition/dorm fees (including the extra gym class fee). He pays for everything else.</p>
<p>Bottom line is I think the $800 plus $1600 is plenty.</p>
<p>Thanks kttmom. Which meal plan does he have, and do you know how much more you’ve paid for food throughout the year (approximately)? Thanks!</p>
<p>He has ‘Bear Traditional’ - $2,655 per semester
Up to 14 meals per week during designated service periods in the ten All You Care to Eat dining rooms (additional charges will apply for Shabbat, holiday, and special meals in 104West!)
$400 in Big Red Bucks (BRBs) per semester
4 bonus meals (to be used for guests) per semester </p>
<p>He probably used an extra $100 in BRB each semester and spends another $40 at Wegmans/Tops per month. But he is a big kid, works out alot, and ate us out of house and home when he lived here. So all this seemed ‘normal’ to me. YMMV</p>
<p>That seems reasonable, kttmom 
The Bear Traditional is the one we are thinking about for our S as well, assuming that he can get to one of the “All you care to eat” dining halls for lunch – he’s a cereal and milk guy for breakfast. If not we’d probably have him drop down to 7 or 10 swipes and add more BRBs but he’s a big eater too, so I’d like him to have the unlimited lunches (and dinners).</p>
<p>S had more trouble with getting back to North campus for lunch 1st semester because of his schedule (only certain days) - and used slightly more BRBs. 2nd semester has been much better - he only asked for more BRBs this week.</p>