@LMHS73 the health insurance issue can really vary depending on the school that your child goes to…and a big factor can be how far they are from home and what type of insurance you have. I would not just go by what Standord says unless your child is going to Stanford. My S18 goes to college out of state (UVA). During his second year we had a BCBS HMO and everything would have been out of network except for emergencies. When I dug deeper…I realized that he would only be covered for emergencies. An example would be that he hurts his ankle and goes to the ED. That visit is covered…but then the ED discharges him and recommend follow up with Orthopedics. Any follow up to the ED visit wouldn’t be covered. We live 1000 miles away so he needs to be able to be seen locally at school when/if necessary…and the Student Health doesn’t always cut it. That year we purchased the University insurance. When he came to his 3rd year UVA actually implemented a “hard waiver” program. So we actually have to opt out of the insurance (which costs about $2400) and prove that he is adequately covered locally and that the coverage is equal or exceeds the University offered plan and that there isn’t a distance issue. By then I had switched to a BCBS PPO which doesn’t have regional limitations and now I don’t need to purchase the university plan…but we still have to opt out each year. In my experience schools widely vary as to whether you can just choose their insurance, say you have insurance, or have to provide proof of coverage in order to not have to purchase their insurance.
@MAsecondtimer; well, so much for my nice & easy plan - yikes! I guess the takeaway is to just be as knowledgeable as you can be on the subject & then adjust accordingly to the situation that presents itself at college X. Great input - Thanks!
@LMHS73 If it hasn’t been already noted, you also have to opt out of the Stanford ins,(Cardinal Ins), it’s over 5k a year. You must opt out each year.
Thanks @cardinal2020mom - funny you mentioned that because it’s the Cardinal insurance plan I stumbled upon a week or so ago. I saw the $5K figure and thought “Oh no, another thing I didn’t think of!”
I wanted to make one other mention on Alabama. There is a southern charm culture. For my son that is not an issue. But there was one girl at the camp that was from Ohio that found the southern charm offensive - particularly the use of ma’am and sir. The was a foreign concept to my son who was raised that every adult is addressed as ma’am or sir. He even uses ma’am when he texts me! Our dog isn’t even immune to being told “no ma’am!” 
This wasn’t something that was on our radar but depending on where you are coming from it might be an issue. Just wanted to include that for anyone that might find it applicable.
I was on a college visit when I encountered a women carrying three chairs. I offered to help, as we were going to the same place. She declined my offer. When we got to the door, I opened the door and held it open for her. She told me she didn’t need me to hold the door open for her and gave me “a look.” I blame it on my mom, as that was how she raised me. This was decidedly NOT a southern school, by the way.
@glido My husband and son have encountered similar circumstances. One time a lady gave my husband a similar look and told him it wasn’t necessary. He told her politely that his momma would beat him if she heard he didn’t. :))
@texasmom18 I’m from Ohio and most people I know from here aren’t like the girl you encountered. Offended by the use of sir or ma’am … really? Sheesh!
Having grown up in Pennsylvania, moving to the south after college (first Louisiana, then Texas) was definitely quite the culture shock. I worked in the male-dominated oil industry, so at work it was common for me to be the only woman in a group or meeting. It freaked me out the first couple of times I waited with a group of men for an elevator, to have them all refuse to get on the elevator until I’d gotten on…even if I was way in the back of the group. I had grown up thinking it was polite for people to hold doors open for each other but I got some strange looks if I opened doors for men in Louisiana!
Ha! This is not about your mom, how you were raised, or the distinctions between Northern and Southern social norms.
This is just common sense, and common courtesy. I would hate to live in a world where I question the motives of someone opening a door for me when my hands are full of chairs.
I don’t mind doors held open for me, etc.
Just don’t ma’am me if you can help it (although I won’t get mad). It makes me feel old. :))
U of A Birmingham is a tempting option because of the neuroscience offerings and scholarships, but whenever it has come up in conversations, I get strange reactions that have surprised me. I actually have spent little time in the south, but it’s hard to imagine the south being that different.
Meanwhile, there is a public college near NY that was on my radar but I worried about D being overwhelmed by the intensity of the North Jersey crowd. H is an immigrant and he feels the same after once having a job where he dealt with a lot of people from the NY area.
It’s just funny that I’m not worried about southern culture shock but worried about culture shock in my own state.
I use ma’am and sir no matter the persons’ age. Heck, I’ve called kids behind the counter ma’am and sir. No age discrimination here. 
Well, ma’am is way better than “girlie” or “sweetheart.” I try to take it in stride, but I’m still adjusting to this Oklahoma culture! 3:-O
Ha ha, @ShrimpBurrito, when I lived in Newfoundland people casually called each other “my dear”, “my love”, “my treasure” or even “my trout” (yep, that was polite). I guess it’s been so long now (six years in Louisiana and almost ten total years in Texas) that I don’t really even pay attention to the “sweetie” or “honey” anymore, and just say thanks when strangers tell my atheist self to “have a blessed day”. But it was all something to get used to at first, and worth noting for students thinking of going to college in a different part of the country than where they were raised.
I’m going to call someone “my trout” just to see how it goes over. 
If the person is a Newfoundlander they’ll probably get a good laugh out of it!
S is completing his Apply Texas application and we have a question that I posted in another Forum with no response…so I am hoping some of my Class of 2018 friends will help out. When listing extracurricular activities and checking off the years you participated and hours/week/year, is it okay to check “senior” year if you will be continuing those activities even though the hours haven’t happened yet? Haven’t started Common App yet, but I am assuming they ask similar question.
@S18D20mom, my S did include planned senior ECs and his GC advises including them as long as they are solidly planned. For leadership positions, include anything the student has already been elected or appointed to, even if the activity hasn’t started for the year (e.g. President of a club where elections were held at the end of junior year).
ETA: if your student is hoping for an award or leadership position or internship but won’t find out until the fall, it would probably be better to wait on the college application if the new addition could make a difference for admissions.
We only checked / included things up through junior year. It’s not that we considered including senior year and discarded the idea, or that we think there’s any sort of problem with it - it just never occurred to us (probably because S was auto-admit and we knew it wouldn’t matter).
Is there an admissions rep you could ask? We had lots of follow up from Texas Tech, so if we’d thought about it, we’d have been comfortable asking our rep what they’d prefer to see.
ETA: We did include one elected position that’s mostly senior year, but for that one he’d already been elected, investiture was in the last month of school, and because of activities and planning meetings over the summer, he’d already begun to serve.