<p>Just a few weeks away from the group’s 1st launch date. It will be a busy, exciting and emotional month for all. It does seem surreal, doesn’t it? The summer is going by so quickly.</p>
<p>I chose the interest free monthly payment plan (annual COA spread over 10 months) so I have more than 7 checks left to write. I think I’ll wait awhile before I begin the countdown (that is very appealing though). </p>
<p>We have not gotten a bill for anything - yet.</p>
<p>I figure that it will come once my son goes to orientation and registers for classes. His outside scholarship money is split between semesters, so his student loan will be much lower than expected, and that’s good news for him. We will pick up the cost of his meal plan each semester, fees, books and spending money – still need to arrive at a figure for that. My husband keeps thinking, “How much can the kid eat?” Well, he went through two boxes of cereal in two days. All that running makes him hungry!</p>
<p>@monreads my D’s school e-mailed the bill to her student account. Because we had already set up parent access to financial information, they also e-mailed a copy to me. They clearly stated: this is the bill, we don’t mail it, if you haven’t set up parent access, only your student gets the e-mail. Alrighty then! I can see why they do it that way for independent adult students, and it is quite the lesson for the younger ones. Actually D has been good about forwarding me anything that looks remotely financial. She knows who is ultimately going to write the check. ;-)</p>
<p>I know many of you started dorm room shopping immediately and are now on to the next thing, but my S wasn’t ready to think about it until now. To my surprise he’s getting into the idea of decor and learning new things (“What’s a duvet, Mom?”). We didn’t think he’d be bringing a huge amount of stuff but the little things are already starting to stack up. He also said he really should figure out how to eat a balanced diet!</p>
<p>Our semester bill is due the first week of September so we’ll pay it then. We opted out of the monthly payment option since the first payment would have been due in June, with a payment every month until September. Seemed to make more sense to just pay it all at once in September and let that money work for us until then.</p>
<p>Most of our college shopping left are small things, like school supplies, non-perishable food items (cereal, granola bars, etc.). Seems like I bought more clothes than anything else for DS – winter coat, blue blazer, dressy khaki pants, 3 pairs of shoes, base layers for winter, a couple of dress shirts, and other things. Still need to get him boots and I need him to try those on since comfort will be important with all the walking college kids do. Other things I can buy for him later and just send to his dorm room. Yay for Amazon Prime!</p>
<p>Normally I loathe the appearance of winter clothing in stores in the middle of summer, but it can’t get here fast enough this year. I’m envious of those of you who are almost finished with your shopping! </p>
<p>@2014novamom - I would’ve chosen as you if the last installment was due the same time as full payment. What is the point of a monthly payment plan if one is simply pre-paying the tuition a few months early? I can’t imagine anyone using that option in such circumstances. In our case, full payment for 1st semester is due at the same time as the first installment. So I can keep my money for a longer time via the payment plan. </p>
<p>We’re using my other sons 529 for his last two years. Now I just have to figure out if it makes a difference if we have the bank send it directly to the school, or send it to us and we do it. Anyone know if it matters?</p>
<p>@Overtheedge - how wonderful your D’s school offers a 10-month plan to pay COA interest-free! It’d be great if all schools could offer that!</p>
<p>My d’s school allows to put the tuition on a credit card with no extra fees. My son’s school does not. </p>
<p>@eyemamom
I just withdraw some money from our. 529 for Ds tuition this semester. I opted for a direct deposit to my checking and I will pay it the bill to the college. I feel that i have more control that way given that a scholarship check that we sent to Cornell more than a month ago is not deposited yet to Ds account. The transfer was quick. It only took 2 days after i requested. </p>
<p>I have the 529 money sent directly to the school itself. Much easier trail for tax purposes and no question that the funds went for qualified expenses.</p>
<p>I was also happy to see we could put the tuition payments on our American Express. We pay it every month anyway, but that means we get points to use for free hotel rooms for move-in day and parents weekend and such :)</p>
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<p>We were also offered the 10 month payment plan with no interest. It started in July so it is no different than D’s HS tuition last year except the monthly payment is about 50% more. Her school only takes credit cards for summer school and even then they charge a convenience fee. DD and AvonMom have started the list and the dorm and wardrobe shopping. D wore uniforms to HS so she is enjoying the wardrobe shopping. My credit card is not!</p>
<p>Just paid fall bursar bills for both boys. Neither school allows us to pay by credit card without an extra fee, so no bonus points for us. Not too bad, since S1 is off-campus and we pay his rent and food separately, and they increased his grant aid since we have 2 in college. S2 has a tuition scholarship, so all we had to pay for him was room and board (and we’ll pay for his textbooks as he purchases those). S3’s private middle school gave us some grant aid for this year as well (we’ve been full pay for many years and many children up until now). Next year S1 will have graduated, S3 will be in public HS, and we’ll only be paying for S2, and finally be able to breathe a bit!</p>
<p>@eyemamom, you can do it either way, but if you have it sent to you, the IRS often makes you prove that the money was used for eligible educational expenses. This happened with our older son. They sent a letter challenging the withdrawal and saying we owe taxes on the withdrawal unless we can prove it was spent for educational purposes. We sent in a letter with receipts/invoices and they accepted it without a problem. But it was a bit of a hassle.</p>
<p>Because of our experience with S1, I just this week applied to have a check sent directly to the school. Now I’m nervous because it seems out of my control, but I think it will be fine.</p>
<p>@eyemamom and @staceyneil - I am so jealous! I really wanted the cash back on my credit card, but the fees were excessive. :(</p>
<p>Hey guys…I’m always on my cell phone when looking at CC and can’t copy and paste. would someone mind adding my D’s move in date? Quinnipiac honors August 20. Thank you!!!</p>
<p>We have victory! Got my older son to convince his younger brother that he needed to go through his closet and select clothing that he planned to take to college. Then, he even taught his younger brother who to fold a dress shirt properly so it does not wrinkle too much in the suitcase (older son works part-time in retail). The whole ordeal only took about an hour. I did pack everything in the suitcase that will go into storage near the school.</p>
<p>Even got my son to go through all his shoes, select what he planned to bring to college, decide what to keep home and toss the old running shoes. He planned to see his high school coach today and see if he wanted some of his old spikes. Some kids, he said, may not be able to afford shoes, and his were in good shape from his early years in high school.</p>
<p>Went online last night and saw that my son got two of his three roommates assigned. We immediately did a little research. Both young men are local products who were excellent high school runners. One plans to major in engineering, so he and my son can chat math. I instructed my son to e-mail them, because they may be around when we go to orientation later this week. </p>
<p>2014novamom: Don’t think my son’s figured out that Amazon Prime often includes the shipping of snack foods and cereal! When he does, he probably will ask me to send along his faves … and right to his dorm, too.</p>
<p>Adding for @Cakeisgreat</p>
<p>MOVE-IN DATES</p>
<p>8/01 Calla1’s S – UCSB
8/08 Beadymom’s S — UAlabama (early move-in Honors program)
8/08 Maryjay60’s S — UAlabama (early move-in Honors program)
8/09 Eyemamom’s D — Auburn
8/13 Classof2015’s S — College of Charleston
8/12 2014 Novamom’s S – Case Western (early move in for varsity sport)
8/13 Momreads’s S – U. of Alabama in Huntsville (early move in for varsity sport)
8/15 Gertrude McFuzz’s D — Temple
8/15 Onlyonemom’s S — UVM - Honors college (Trek program - actually move in August 22)
8/16 lab317’s D – Willamette University (early move-in outdoor program- actual 8/21)
8/16 4beardolls’s S – Vanderbilt
8/16 jrmama496’s S — Vanderbilt
8/16 yellowgranite56’s D — Vanderbilt
8/17 austinareadad’s S – Rice
8/17 Ordinarylives’s D – Simpson College
8/18 Dave_N’s S – University of Pittsburgh
8/19 1dilecon’s D — Pepperdine University
8/19 12dandelion’s D – Rochester Institute of Technology
8/19 AvonHSDad’s D - Villanova
8/20 Cakeisgreat’s D – Quinnipiac honors
8/20 Momfromme’s S - Columbia (before outdoor trip)
8/21 Ovrseasmom’s S – University of Pennsylvania
8/21 Vandyeyes – Tulane
8/21 RenaissanceMom’s S – Tufts (public service pre-orientation program; orientation begins on 8/27)
8/22 2018dad’s D — Cornell
8/22 CT1417’s S – Cornell
8/22 mdcmom’s D – Cornell
8/22 mathmomvt’s S – UVM - Honors college
8/22 tperry1982 D – Yale
8/23 Overtheedge’s D — Sewanee
8/23 AsleepattheWheel’s S – Emory (outdoor trip for three days starting 8/19 – then we move him in)
8/25 My2sonsfromca’s S — Emerson
8/27 staceyneil’s D — Mount Holyoke
8/28 BarnardMom’s S — UMichigan
8/29 Bisouu’s D — Drew University
8/29 smakl70’s S - Rose-Hulman Institute of Tech.
8/30 akmom124’s D — Brown </p>
<p>August 13: our son’s drop off
I have begun having these really weird anxiety dreams – Last night, I dream I had to go back to college and repeat it – weird. Am I the only one?</p>