Out of curiosity, is anyone going to try and find a Dr where your child is going to school or are you going to rely on health services at the school?
@carolinamom2boys good question! I actually had this discussion with our pediatrician, since DD doesnāt have any chronic conditions she recommended student health for any sudden illness and that she would be happy to see her for regular well checks until she graduates college. This was such a relief to us as she is such a great doctor and dd really likes her.
I was concerned that she wouldnāt see her past 18 or high school graduation since sheās a pediatrician.
@3scoutsmom I am very lucky that my son is looking schools within an hrs drive except one so he could continue to see his regular doctor. We go to a really great practice where all of the Drs are dual certified in internal medicine and pediatrics . My sonās Dr is amazing and an Eagle Scout. He always spends a good amount of time with him and makes him feel like all of his concerns(as well as mine) are valid .
I think weāll rely on the clinic at school for minor illnesses and keep check ups at home until he wants to find his own doctor.
My pediatrician will see us through through Thanksgiving freshman year but when itās time for a physical, we have to move on. Iāll keep seeing my specialists because Iām only going to be 45 minutes away and those appointments are usually only every 6 months or a year. My pediatric gastroenterologist I can see until Iām 25 since Iām an established patient which makes me happy because sheās really good and my other specialists see adults too.
Applications ended up costing us nearly $700 for 9 schools. That included the ACT report fees from CB - and for the 3 schools that superscore, it was $24 for 2 score reports instead of $12.
App fees themselves ranged from $40 to $75, except for one that was $0. We didnāt encounter any $90. That would have pissed me off. I grumbled about the $75.
@carolinamom2boys DD will be at a school about a 6 hour drive so urgent care at home isnāt an option. Student health is our best bet for that but sheāll stick with her regular doctor for well care.
Our bigger concern is banking! DD really likes the ability of in person banking, she has her primary checking and savings at Wells Fargo but much to our surprise, they donāt have a regular branch in Norman,OK! She has a very small saving account that we started for her in a credit union when she was a baby in MA. We are suggesting that she close that account and use those funds to start and new account at the OU credit union and keep her Wells Fargo accounts.
Weād also like her to get a credit card in her own name to start establishing a credit history are comparing student cards from Wells Fargo and USAA. Some people say the Capitol One Cards are good student cards but Iām not really interested in the incentive points and that seems to be the big thing with Capitol One.
@3scoutsmom my dadās grumbling about our bank not having a branch in my sisterās college town. Because how else will she get a checking account. Does anyone know if you add your kids to your credit card account do they build credit or no? My parents donāt know the answer
We are the odd ones out on cc, dd only applied to one school, a supper safety, she used free SAT score choice but had to pay a $40 app fee. Just found out that DS18ās first choice school waives app fee for NMSF which made this penny pincher very happy:-) Now just have to figure out how he can make NMSF with all the crazy changes with the College Board!
I think if you deposit $X amount they will give you a checking account. And then is you go below a certain balance they will charge you monthly fee.
As far as Iām aware having a someone else listed as an authorized user on a credit card does not help their credit but if they apply for a credit card and have some one co sign for them, I think that helps.
I could be wrong but that is how I understand it.
We didnāt pay any app fees - one was free before a certain date and the other was waived after a school visit. We sent scores using the 4 free ones with registration, but jumped the gun and added a few more schools that he did not end up applying toā¦we might have lost $30 or so there.
I know Chase offers a special account for college students with no fees. I would think other banks offer something similar.
@readingclaygirl Iāve wondered the same thing re: building credit as a student. According to this article, you can build credit as an authorized user on your parentās account. I will get my son a card on my account until he is able to apply for one on his own.
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/help/10-ways-students-get-good-credit-6000.php
*We were lucky in that only 2 of the apps were even $50. Most were in the $25-30 range, and we had one waiver. Still, with 10 apps, that added up. We only sent one test score out that wasnāt needed, though.
*D has a pediatrician thatās seen her since she was about 18 months old, and he does see young adults-I think my older D was still seeing him until at least 21. Her dad now keeps her on his insurance, so different provider. But D will be across the US so weāll need to see what the best option is-most of Dās colleges will allow you to opt out of the health plan if your personal insurance is approved. Sheās pretty healthy but does have asthma, so it is going to have to figure in our decision. Sheās down to about 2-3 mild attacks a year, but still.
*She also uses a local credit union, and I know that it has reciprocal privileges at many credit unions around the US. Weāll need to look at options for banking too.
@LKnomad, l found out that the best thing about that $90 app fee is it is easily converted to a $90 rejection letter.
All the others are $65-$75.
@Mysonsdad LOL! I supposed we could invest it in something with a 5% return, rather than a probable 95% loss.
@3scoutsmom our credit union has āshared branchingā which means you can do basic transactions at participating āotherā credit unions across the country. Many different credit unions participate in this program. D14 attends college in New York (2500 miles away) but is able to do banking through a local credit union there with her existing credit union account she has had for many years.
Initially we thought āin personā banking in New York would not be necessary, but D14 has a job on campus and they do NOT do electronic deposit for paychecks, so it is necessary that she go to the local credit union to deposit her paychecks.
I never buy lottery tickets. Why am I paying for lottery school applications?
In DDās list, one school is free and another school is free if a student ask financial aid. Other than the two schools, we are not qualified for free app.
@NYDad513 My son received free applications from the school, not because of financial reasons, but he also wasnāt applying for any selective schools. Although , he has repeatedly received emails with application fee waivers from many private OOS schools.