our daughter did FOOT; we arrived before her at Timothy Dwight and there was no issue at all giving us the key so we could move her stuff in. Well actually the upperclass-people moved her stuff in!
Just wanted to say many thanks again to all the great parents (and students) here on the Yale site. As some of you know, my son decided to go to Stanford, but it was a very hard decision—we all loved Yale. Good luck to everyone!
@Planner, thank you. Your son’s decision was one I was hoping would go the other way, but I have no doubt that he will be happy at Stanford.
@Suemomsie, we live close to Yale, so we brought up most of DS’s things on move-in day (and the unloading of the cars is an experience not to be missed). My recollection is that FOOT stored a duffel bag for him, but if you were thinking of storing lamps, clothes, sports equipment, etc., you should have her ask, as suggested above, on the FB page.
I will have her ask on the fb page. Thank you, everyone.
Thanks, @IxnayBob—I was hoping that too, despite Stanford’s location being a lot more convenient for us. Yale had a spirit and warmth to it that none of the other schools my son applied to seemed to share, at least to the same degree. But I tend to be ruled by the heart, and, like most computer science students, he’s much more governed by the head. He is keeping all his Yale gear, though….
@Planner, he should keep the gear. My son wears Columbia sweatpants at Yale because they’re comfortable. And, should your son transfer to Yale someday, he’ll be well equipped 
@IxnayBob My thought exactly! Or maybe he’ll end up there for a while on some kind of program.
As of tonight, we are the proud parents of an incoming Yale freshman! Harvard was his early action choice but his overnight visit at Yale won him over. The students were so warm and welcoming. He also preferred the residential college system at Yale. I am so excited for him.
Welcome @ shoremom22! I am a mother of a freshman as well, though my D will be in the class of 2020. I smile to myself when I am reading about your son feeling warm and welcomed at Yale I hope I am not stepping on anyone’s toes as I say that my D so disliked her visit to H (the only thing she liked there was the freshman dining hall) that she immediately announced she is not going to apply there…I think it was the tour guide that tanked that college in her eyes…but I know that there are families here with kids at both schools, so I guess the fit part is really not over exaggerated.
So, my child has committed. Between now and Aug, any important deadlines that we need to be aware of?
– Housing assignment request form - done
– The Health Information forms are due July 3
– Any other forms?
– Pre-orientation program? Any one has tried Culture Connections Camp before?
– Send in AP scores?
– Take any placement tests? or these will be done when they are physically on campus in Aug?
Thanks!!
The placement tests are given on campus, but it’s not a bad idea to know in advance when they are going to be. It’s also worthwhile thinking about what organizations a student might want to join that has auditions, and look on the website of the particular group to see what is required.
For example: http://bands.yalecollege.yale.edu/yale-bands/join-bands
I vaguely recall my daughter (graduating physics major) taking a math placement test online at home.
If your student has health insurance, make sure they opt-out of the optional Yale Health policy. If not, you will be billed around $1,250/semester. This needs to be done at the beginning of every school year around the time that tuition is due. They send a reminder email to the student only. (Yes, we got burned because my son neglected to forward me the email one year…he has no clue how our health insurance works!)
My son participated in the Cultural Connections program and he really enjoyed it.
I’m a little confused about the health insurance. My son has health insurance as most if not all would have at home. If we opt out, does he still have access to the student health services? I wouldn’t want to have to find an in - network dr and all near campus. What about emergency rooms if they need it? Where do they normally go? I’d love to save a little if he doesn’t need the yale insurance. Thanks!
@Musicmom2015, my understanding is that he can use Yale Health generalists, but he can’t use a specialist. If he gets a prescription, it’s tempting to fill it there but you will get billed at retail ($$$$), so tell him to take it to an outside pharmacy (my son complains that the Walgreens pharmacists were fired by the DMV for bad attitudes ). I believe ERs, when used for legitimate emergencies, are covered by any insurance.
We waived the Yale plan and it hasn’t been a problem for us, but everyone’s situation is different so I’m reluctant to make a recommendation.
Basic health services–the equivalent of the office visit at home–are covered for all students. We waived the health plan, and my son was sick off and on this year, and went to the Yale clinic at no cost to our insurance. He got cough medicine once from the nurse practitioner, and we didn’t get billed for that either–I have no idea how that worked–maybe she gave him some samples or something. You son just needs to be instructed that if he needs something like an x-ray (hospital vs. clinic care) that he needs to got to a hospital that accepts your health plan.
The Yale Health service will do routine things; my daughter got stitches and vaccinations there, and has seen them for some anxiety type issues, all covered even though we waived. She fills her Rxs at a local drugstore (Riteaid?) Fortunately she’s not needed anything more major. We are relatively local (metro NY), and Blue Cross, so there are local doctors within blocks (I checked) if she had needed them. But she didn’t, and is now graduating, so we saved lots of $$$$. It all depends on your policy. I’d look into doctors and how many there are in downtown NH.
We waived coverage and my son could not find a dermatologist in New Haven accepting new patients (even though our insurance company had a 2 page list of dermatologists in New Haven that accept our insurance). It ended up being very time-consuming trying to find options and he ended up with a two month gap in the prescription he was taking. He had to take public transportation to another town and walk a significant distance to see one doctor and he had to wait until my husband was visiting with a rental car to take him a long distance to another doctor. Once you waive coverage, you cannot elect it until the next semester so he was stuck. However, that issue which involves a specialist, was his only problem this year in waiving coverage.