@payn4ward …we withdrew a bit from Ds Coverdell for her summer language program. I just logged onto her account and requested the amount. We were told to keep our receipts so we could prove it was used for educational purposes. The check arrived within the week.
@stlarenas We are not factoring in a car to college selection. But we do ask about the availability of parking and parking pass costs at each school. D will take a bike to get around locally and will only take her car if getting to the nearest big city/concert venue is not easy. For example, she would definitely take her car to Ole Miss, but wouldn’t to UMD or Ohio State.
@stlarenas No car for freshman year.
Older D12 (just graduated) went to school in a urban setting and didn’t have a car the whole time. Her school had zero parking permits for students except for students with disabilities related to mobility.
S17 Wants the opposite of urban. He is looking at public schools in more out of the way locations. We might revisit the car issue if he moves off campus after freshman year. But would only do that if it a) kept the cost of housing down because he could live farther away b) help in his transportation to & from school for breaks. I’m planning that S17 can get around with his bike at most of the campus’s we are looking at.
@stlarenas for D14’s first year we didn’t let her take the car. We hoped it would encourage her to do more on campus (and waste less money). It was mostly successful, but she is only 2 hours away and knew other people with cars so its not like she was stranded. For S it will depend on lots of factors but I’d prefer he also doesn’t have one the first year (for same reasons).
@itsgettingreal17 I almost didn’t bother sharing the information that I learned because I knew someone who have the response that you did. I then decided to post it because anyone that is interested in it could read it and if it helped someone avoid the phone calls to the schools that the admissions officers said they receive from full pay parents, then it is worth the post. There is a difference between want and need and while a full pay family may not need a loan, I am sure there are some that are going to want a loan. They may want to take the loan for timing purposes on when they think would be a better time to liquidate investments. Whatever the case may be.
@payn4ward Thanks for sharing. It was helpful for sure. My post was in response to the school’s rationale not to you sharing the schools’ position.
@stlarenas We did allow D14 to take a car to college right away, and will probably do the same for S17. D14 is attending a school 5 hours from home and public transportation isn’t really an option between Iowa and Kansas. ;)) Beginning second semester freshman year, she also got jobs off campus, and that would have been difficult without a car. Keep in mind, though, that she had to park far enough from her dorm that almost never used it first semester (so that she had to jump the battery to come home for Thanksgiving), and she did have 3 parking tickets the first year, so that added to the overall cost of keeping a car on campus.
Re: Car. Not factored in to the search process. We will look at that during selection process. I assume it won’t be necessary even at the most remote college.
Re: ZeeMee. D17 has put together an initial cut (she would rather do this than her CA essay). I think it’s pretty cool, but a little ‘picture’ heavy right now. It shows her hammering nails and laying vinyl tile on her mission trips, playing her instrument in band, and hanging out with friends (lots of diversity 
). Plus, there are short descriptions just about her, and who she is outside of school. I don’t have any idea how admissions will think of it, but they’re asking for a reason.
Beach school. I second CofC. Also, not a LAC and a bit bigger, but have heard some good things about UNC - Wilmington (‘near’ a beach?).
@2muchquan That sounds very cool!
@Dolemite, one in my wheelhouse:
First, here is the “official” recommendation from BU: https://www.bu.edu/eeef/RestaurantGuide.pdf
We did this visit day with BU in the morning and Northeastern in the afternoon.
Personally, we ate Cornwalls: http://www.cornwalls.com/
Food was good and has a good beer list, if inclined. The only downside was that the keg of Fuller’s London Pride, one of my favorites, was a bit old. It wasn’t bad enough that I sent it back, but it was noticeable…
The restaurant is on the very eastern edge of campus for BU. It’s near the Kenmore Green T stop.
OK, quit with the derision of our public transit system, and tell us about NU and UChicago already.
Re car at campus. I’m amending my post. If S17 ends up attending one of his safety’s. It’s really really remote & its the least expensive school on the list. Might consider a car for him even as a freshman if that’s where he ends up. Otherwise he can walk/bike or take a bus.
@MotherOfDragons Richmond is not an easy walk to town from campus. That was one of the drawbacks for my D. The campus is beautiful, but too small for us.
Question for parents of past APHUGgers (or anyone in the know)
The GC told us the only possible soc studies class for S to take spring semester was APHUG, so thats what we went with. S informs me today that its a 2-semester class and he’s going to have no clue whats going on, having missed the first semester. Now I’m super confused since I wouldn’t THINK a GC would plop a kid into a class in progress if it wasn’t ok? Is this a linear class that he’s going to be lost in? Or do kids take it for individual semesters?
I never imagined we’d have such an awful time trying to meet simple graduation requirements. Now I know (too late) why so many of the other kids are taking HS summer school classes every year.
Dang, URichmond is barely hanging on for us. You’re not painting a pretty picture. =P~ (<- Not sure what that is supposed to indicate, but it looked interesting)
But seriously, the whole Richmond Scholars thing has to be pretty insanely competitive.
@dolemite If you can just grab some sandwiches in between visits I’d suggest a dinner at Elephant Walk. It’s a pretty cool place and the food is very good, if you like that type of cuisine. Would be a good end to the day, but it’s not cheap like a burger/sandwich place. I haven’t been there in a while, but I don’t remember it being way overpriced. Just normal city expensive 
You could also go over to Fenway after your visits if there is a game going on and visit some street vendors and get the experience.
There are a lot of places to eat, I’m sure you’ll find something you like.
car Son17 does not have a car. We have 2 cars, and my wife barely uses hers. So he just grabs a car when he needs it, which is not often. Thought about buying a 3rd car, but don’t see a need for it right now. If he goes to school in Boston, definitely no car. Burbs of Boston, maybe, but probably not 1st year. If he goes to UVM in Burlington VT, probably not 1st year, you can walk/bike to everything except the ski resorts.
Car- it is up for debate right now. I think D17 will need one being 15 hours away. She will fly home for all breaks and leave her car at the airport or on campus for the winter break. I found it really hard not having a car at school back in the day:)
Good news of the day. I got an e-mail from our GC saying that they sent out D’s transcript to Alabama and will do her other 2 schools next week! Being from one of those areas where it takes forever to get these and with us starting school after labor day, we are thrilled!
Hoping not to have to fill out the FAFSA, but will if we have to for scholarships. We are full pay and don’t plan on taking out any loans unless something unforeseen happens. Even if the unthinkable happens, I think we will tap into some other accounts before we take out loans.
@2muchquan If UR didn’t require those subject tests for homeschoolers, it would be one of dd’s top choices. It is a gorgeous campus. The area it is in is suburban. Downtown Richmond’s Carytown is about the only area downtown I can imagine having appeal, and it is just OK. Where we live now is light yr beyond what Carytown is attempting to achieve, so anyone who has what we have now (and I would Chicago does) is going to think Carytown is pretty pathetic.
The Short Pump area is huge and growing and very nice. To get there you need a car. The area close to UR is nice, just not what I picture college students wanting off campus.
@2muchquan and @Mom2aphysicsgeek this is exactly how we felt.
This was on the ‘maybe’ list. May have to do a little more research. I know they’ve made changes like increasing tuition. Haven’t looked at it recently for merit.
But, pants-wearing would be necessary, unless you can use the gopher-tunnels all the time.