Spending money per semester?

NJSue
Sun, 28 Apr 2013 13:04:38 +0000

This is a hard question to answer because it depends on the kind of activities your D will get involved in, and how much she’ll want to go in to Boston. My D joined a club sport, and had to buy her own equipment and pitch in for travel to weekend tournaments, etc. The club sport is her greatest single expense. Laundry, I believe, is 1.75 per load (either wash or dry), but I think this is going up. Bus tokens to Boston on the weekends are $3 apiece (one way). Sometimes there is an admission fee to parties on campus that are sponsored by clubs or societies (i.e. $7 admission at the door). But many, many activities are free as well. The activities sponsored by SBOG (Schneider Board of Governors, the student activities association) are free. These include things like the Macklemore concert on Marathon Monday. Many of the dorms also sponsor their own events (like an Oscar night TV party) that are free for residents. Many classes take field trips to NYC for museums, concerts etc. and these are all free.

The town of Wellesley does not have many “college-budget” establishments, unfortunately. Ordering delivery from Lemon Thai Restaurant seems to be as popular as ordering pizza was in my day. There is a shuttle bus to Shoppers World/movie theater/Natick Mall on Saturdays, so students have a chance to go shopping at big box stores, where things like printer paper and shampoo are way cheaper than they are in the CVS in Wellesley.