<p>@calla1 - glad to hear that move-in went well for you and your S! And that you didn’t have to climb 7 flights of stairs with all of his belongings!! </p>
<p>@cakeisgreat - I do hope your D gets to feeling better soon! Glad she is not an early launcher so she’ll have time to recover before heading to school.</p>
<p>We leave Thursday to take DS to school. He moves in Friday at 9am. Two of his roommates also arrive Friday - I think at 10am and 11am. So we’ll have a little bit of time in the suite before anyone else arrives. The fourth roommate arrives the following Friday. The three roomies are doing a week long honors community service project. There will be 40 in their group and quite a few are in the same dorm building so they will have instant friends!! Forecast for Friday move-in is 50% chance of rain and 93 degrees. YUCK!! Everything is being packed in plastic totes. We’re planning to move him in, make last minute shopping, then go to dinner with the roomies and parents. We’ll spend the night then head out the next morning - maybe take him to breakfast before we head out.</p>
<p>Beady Mom: Have a blast with move-in! That honors community service project is awesome. My son rebuilt a middle school library, and he found some irony in that since I am a school librarian. Today, he is still good friends with some of the people he met through the program. Be glad you are doing the move in at 9 a.m. You will beat a lot of the heat. Make sure you try to keep a list of things you got and need at the store for that last-minute trip, or your son can get things at Target Nite. And remind him to go to that – my son and his roommates got all kinds of goodies that they could use.</p>
<p>D is supposed to get dorm and roommate assignment today. It’s a bit like acceptance day. She keeps hitting the refresh button on her status page to see if it’s been posted. We have less than 3 weeks until move-in and it’s making us both anxious that we can’t finish dorm shopping. I’d be a wreck if I had to do any major shopping “on location” right before the start of school! </p>
<p>I’m sure that there’s already been a discussion here on this, but help me as I start to panic with all of these details.</p>
<p>I told my wife last night that I was going to start the groundwork on setting up a local (i.e., at school) checking account for my son, when she turned to me and asked, “What would he need a check for? What is there that he’d have to pay, for which he couldn’t use a credit card or cash?” I couldn’t answer that – ?maybe a doctor’s appointment,</p>
<p>How are you all handling this piece? Thanks!!</p>
<p>It’s still considered a “checking” account even if they only have a debit VISA to use to pay for it. Barnardgirl doesn’t have checks with her “checking” account (it’s called check free checking… how weird is that?). PNC’s virtual wallet calls it a Spend account rather than a checking account. They gave my son a starter pack of checks, but I doubt he’ll use any of them. </p>
<p>They cannot just use their savings- they need a way to pay with a credit/debit card or get cash. Savings accounts only allow 6 withdrawals before there are fees. I believe that’s a government regulated thing. In my experience, these kids rarely rarely use cash. My daughter has used her debit card for a bottle of pop (soda elsewhere) and a pack of gum. I’m always a little incredulous at that. </p>
<p>In my experience, DS’11 did use some of his checks (and uses more now that he’s in an apartment for rent, utilities, etc.). He used checks to pay for club sport fees and to purchase uniforms from people who were ordering for the team as a whole. Could have used cash but the check was a better paper trail and didn’t require getting exact amounts of cash if it wasn’t an even number required. And opening a checking account with a debit card at a local bank saves on bank fess for using out of network ATMs for withdrawals.</p>
<p>We ordered D checks with her account and it turns out she’ll need to use it to pay for the speeding ticket she just got. I don’t necessarily think you need checks on a regular basis, but when you need it, it’s nice to have.</p>
<p>My son lives and dies by his debit card. It is attached to his account at a local credit union that has no reciprocal agreements with any financial institution near his university. I considered having him open another account there, solely to be able to deposit any checks he might receive (gifts from grandparents, perhaps a job or the sale of a used textbook?). However, now his credit union has added check deposit by phone to their app! The inconvenience is that the check must be kept for a few months, but he won’t have to mail checks anywhere, nor does he have to even make a trip to the bank. If he needs cash, he can make a purchase at the grocery and get some cash back.
Oh, and editing to say all bills - even to private individuals - can be paid for free right from his online access. The bank will send a paper check to a landlord, or such. In our area, he found out, tickets need to be paid with a Cashier’s Check, so he didn’t even use the few checks he has for that!</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses so far. Very helpful. My son currently has a checking account out here in California (he’s headed to Atlanta). He’s never used the checks, but they do exist. Obviously he can use his B or A debit card (and their ATM’s) out there, but ?maybe he can also use an out-of-state check for stuff for which he needs a paper trail.</p>
<p>On another matter, since posting my first note I checked with our homeowners’ policy carrier regarding dorm coverage. We’re covered, but with our $2,500 deductible it’s essentially the same as no coverage. As I’m most worried about his laptop disappearing I asked them about dorm coverage. They said that they don’t do dorm policies, but they do have ‘computer policies’ which would cover his laptop even at college. Believe it or not it cost only an additional $3 to add that coverage to the homeowners, and there’s NO deductible on the computer (theft or breakage). We’re with Ameriprise Insurance (through Costco) – don’t know if other carriers do this, but I thought that I’d mention it.</p>
<p>My reasons for opening a checking account for D:</p>
<ol>
<li> Teach the kid to use/write a check, check register, balancing, etc.</li>
<li> Some school fees can’t be paid by credit cards. Some school does not accept credit cards at all for school fees.</li>
<li> If the kid decides to work while in school, some companies require direct deposit to a checking account only.</li>
</ol>
<p>I know I have more reasons but I can’t remember them now.</p>
<p>As far as dorm insurance goes, I think I will just go ahead and buy a separate policy. If something were to happen, wouldn’t placing a claim on the homeowner’s insurance raise the rates quite a bit? Maybe a stand alone policy would be better.</p>
<p>I’m sending my D to school with just a few checks, just in case. I’m also sending her with a cheat sheet on how to fill out a check. One of my friends told me her S had to google “How to write a check” because she was unavailable to help him, and of course the check was due within the hour. Kids!</p>
<p>I also have to find her social security card for when she gets a job. If I can’t find it I’ll have to order a new one. So much to think about!</p>
<p>DS has had a “checking” account since he was 13 but I don’t think he’s every written a check. As others have mentioned, his debit card is attached to it and that is how he does every day transactions. He only keeps a nominal amount in checking and then transfers from savings when he needs to. We opened an account with PNC because that is the bank that has on-campus ATMs and has a relationship with Case Western (and there are no Wells Fargos in Cleveland) and it will be the same deal – checking with a debit card attached, and a savings account from which he can transfer money. He can link his Case card to his checking account because it’s PNC and then only carry one card around for transactions at the book store, nearby off-campus dining, etc.</p>
<p>I assume he will have to write checks to cover things like pledge fees, should he decide to join a fraternity. I don’t think there will be many circumstances that will require a check but it doesn’t hurt to have them on hand just in case. </p>
<p>I just got my son checks for his checking account. For my older S, checks have been useful for (slow) transfer of money between a home and school-location account, or for paying a friend back for something, buying a club t-shirt (if he doesn’t have cash handy), or now, paying rent. He pays almost everything by credit card, and then pays that off using the bank’s online bill payment, so he doesn’t need checks often, but it is useful to have them on occasion.</p>
<p>@LibbyT
A passport is sufficient for employment purposes, but my D in addition to her driver’s license is also taking her SS card, passport and birth certificate. </p>
<p>My DS will be taking his passport to school but not his SS card (which I may or may not be able to locate). Since he’s not a driver, I’m thinking of encouraging him to get a non-driver ID (same as a driver’s license, but without actual driving privileges) so that he’ll have a government-issued photo ID for his wallet (although he can probably get away with just his student ID).</p>
<p>He actually was not able to get his student ID card during orientation because he didn’t have a government-issued ID with him.</p>
<p>Make sure that your students can secure SS and birth certificates in a locked safe. Too many chances for identity theft. May I suggest that you keep these documents at home and send photo copies. If needed for employment, you can always overnight them. Most places will accept student ID and/or tuition bill and drivers license.</p>
<p>Just finished ordering textbooks for DS – combination of rentals/purchases from Amazon and purchases from on campus bookstore for certain items available only through that store. </p>
<p>DS today received an email from his physics professor with the syllabus, etc. and I am happy to see that he was reading it over carefully and seemed excited about classes starting.</p>
<p>@2014novamom A lot of fraternities and sororities now use Omega Financial or BillingHighway to send bills to members and have them pay their bills online using either account/routing number or… credit card! These companies will also handle collections for them. It makes it much easier for them to accept payments and accounts receivables have gone way down for chapters using these services. </p>