<p>Hi Tamara6: Glad to hear all went well.</p>
<p>Clarimom: I tried the website and it didn’t work, I called them directly and booked the reservation, and requested for the discount, they wouldn’t give it to me. I think sharing a cab with friends is a better deal, but have to make sure flights are on-time for all involved.</p>
<p>Hello! Prospective Yale parent here. 
The celebration is barely over, and I’m already looking ahead for ways of paying the bills. Since we are not getting any grant money from the university, I’m considering taking out a loan of a reasonable amount. I could use the wisdom of some of you who have gone through this. Is the unsubsidised stafford loan a good deal? Aside from home equity, what do you think is a better or an additional source of loans? Would private education loans a viable option? Which ones are the best out there? </p>
<p>DC volunteered to take a loan himself. While I don’t intend to burden him with heavy debt, I’ve heard it’s not necessarily a bad idea as it might help the kid be more resposible about his school work. What’s your take on this? What do you think would be a reasonable amount of loan/debt under the child’s name (with or without co-sign)?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your input.</p>
<p>Congrats on your son’s admittance. Our son graduated last year and, while he did receive some FinAid, we also had need to take out private loans. Talk with Yale FinAid. They were extremely helpful!</p>
<p>I would check the interest rates and see what is best…private usually isn’t for the student.
My daughter took some unsubsidized loans and she qualified for some subsidized also.
I actually had her take one out that I paid on during the year because the rates were better than parent loans at the time. </p>
<p>The financial aid office is usually very helpful and I found emailing during busy times better than the phone.</p>
<p>Easter Dinner
We are driving up tomorrow to deliver Easter baskets to DS2 and his suite mates…any suggestion on places for dinner (Sunday) evening? DH is determined to do yard work all day (he’s Jewish) so hope to be there about 7PM…love that we can get to him in 2 hours…have dinner and drive back home.</p>
<p>Zinc and Heirloom are both convenient to the campus.</p>
<p>Thanks College4her and Debruns. I will get in touch with the financial aid office soon. Speaking of finaid, I was expecting “a little something”, at least more than just the offer of $5500 unsubsidized stafford loan from Yale since Yale is supposed to be the most generous out there. That said, none of the 10 colleges DS got admitted offered any significant (if any at all) amount of grant money, with some offering a little work study and others not even that. You may ask why I applied for FA in the first place. Well, his prep school offered us significant FA for all four years. While admittedly our income and assets have increased over the years, I wasn’t prepared for “nothing at all” from college. My question to you is that in my situation, do you think there may be a case if I appeal? I would like to PM you for more details if you let me. Thanks.</p>
<p>^ I took a half dozen friends of DD to Zinc and it was “awkwardly” expensive for them. I thought it would be nice to take them somewhere they would not have gone on their own but they didn’t want to order more than one course when they saw the menus. Next time I’ll treat at a more modest place.</p>
<p>Quite a few restaurants in New Haven are closed on Sunday. For example Zinc is closed on Sundays. Basta (next to Claire’s) is open on Sundays. I think Thali Too is also open.</p>
<p>Sarafina, So nice that you were able to go see Son and bring Easter Baskets for the suitemates. D called us Easter morning and she was feeling “blue” saying she wished she had planned something for Easter. I had sent a box with some Easter stuff but she had not gotten it by Friday. She said she was coming home next year.</p>
<p>As for internships, D is frustrated trying to find something she is interested in. She seems to think she “needs” to do something. I think coming home and making some money would be fine and it seems from this thread quite a few kids will be doing the same. According to her “everyone” is doing internships and working at a restaurant would be bad for her resume. Personally think it would be great to have her home!</p>
<p>EAO1227 My son will be starting at Yale in the Fall but we have an older son who is graduating from USC this Spring. For him, internships were a direct stepping stone to a full-time dream job which he will start this summer (at a very nice salary I might add). He essentially had a year’s worth of real experience in his field. His internships were both paid - $5,000 last summer, paid as a “fellowship” so no taxes.</p>
<p>He’s not coming home to our basement - <em>whew</em>.</p>
<p>Thanks for the dinner suggestions…quick dinner at Prime…Lamb burger … made me feel Easter-ish. Hard to believe the first year is almost over!</p>
<p>keesh, curious how one “avoids taxes”; didn’t he get a 1099-Misc? I ask because my daughter did summer research at Yale and got a stipend and we’ve found that the kiddie tax is not a friend to her.</p>
<p>EAO…</p>
<p>Our k1 tried to get an internship in the field of study/field of work and it didn’t come through. The academic dean/advisor said that it was tougher for the soph to get the slots, as most go to jrs in this particular field…in hopes to funnel the kids into jobs after sr year.
Thats what we are praying for…!!
K1 worked a bit last summer (not in the major/field) and so we have been a bit worried/frustrated as well.</p>
<p>As for housing for next year–K1 and some friends tried to get a loft/apartment that went to some other kids (teammates of a different team–handed “down”), and a second rental/house didn’t work. I think they are all staying on campus this coming year. K1 and the friends all wanted singles in a large-ish rental. oh well…</p>
<p>We’ll cut back meal plan as K1 indicated not eating about 1/3 of the meals in the fall, and eating only about 1/3 of the meals in the spring!!! Wish we had known that before paying the bill last summer for the 2012-13 year.</p>
<p>K1 has an on-campus job as part of work-study. so we are just venturing into that for taxes. Advice?</p>
<p>
We had the same experience. My son had a research position last summer where he earned $2K and not only did he have to pay federal tax but also self-employment tax. :o</p>
<p>I would also like to know how you can do it tax free. The only way I can see that is if that was the only income earned for the year as the do get a federal deduction of close to $6K ($5950) if dependent students. My son also worked a term job and earned over $4K during the school year.</p>
<p>^kdog and donnal., I had the same reaction to keesh’s post. Our son too got a fellowship last year and recieved a 1099 in January. Uncle Sam doesn’t let things fall through the cracks…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There really are no good options offered to a kid who skips 1/3 of the meals. They know that many kids do this and if they offered a 14 meal/week plan it would just siphon money away from their budget, When I last checked, you paid the same amount for many fewer meals a week coupled with a $150/semester flexible credit vs. a full 21 meal plan.</p>
<p>Re taxes, it seems you can either pay self-employment taxes or the kiddie tax for “unearned income”, which hits hard if parents are well-off. No free ride either way.</p>
<p>donnaleighg - My son actually did not receive anything including a 1099 misc. Acccording to out tax person this is allowed for certain work including “fellowships”. As long as the money is used for tuition there are no taxes due. Normally we pay his tuition but for the Fall semester last year our son paid $5k out of his account and we gifted him $5K so no taxes due on his fellowship earnings.</p>
<p>Here is the IRS language:</p>
<p>Scholarships. Do not use Form 1099-MISC to report
scholarship or fellowship grants. Scholarship or fellowship
grants that are taxable to the recipient because they are
paid for teaching, research, or other services as a
condition for receiving the grant are considered wages
and must be reported on Form W-2. Other taxable
scholarship or fellowship payments (to a degree or
nondegree candidate) do not have to be reported by you
to the IRS on any form. See section 117(b)-(d) and
Regulations section 1.6041-3(n) for more information</p>
<p>And:</p>
<p>(a) General rule
Gross income does not include any amount received as a qualified scholarship by an individual who is a candidate for a degree at an educational organization described in section 170 (b)(1)(A)(ii).
(b) Qualified scholarship
For purposes of this section—
(1) In general
The term “qualified scholarship” means any amount received by an individual as a scholarship or fellowship grant to the extent the individual establishes that, in accordance with the conditions of the grant, such amount was used for qualified tuition and related expenses.</p>
<p>Ah, if it is for tuition, then you’re right, no taxes. Nice that they worked it out that way!</p>