Hello parents! So happy to join Yale family. DD is accepted SCEA to Yale. Now we are think about opening a bank account for her. I am wondering which bank is more convenient around the campus? Thank you!
There is a Bank of America ATM near the Bass Library and at least one other place on campus (my information is from 2013 when DD graduated). Since BofA has branches nationwide, it is easy to open an account in your hometown for your daughter with the parents as co-owners or having some other access with an ATM card of their own. Then you can deposit money in the hometown and she will have it quickly or can go to the ATM to get cash. There may be other banks besides BofA in New Haven that have a branch in your hometown but that depends on your hometown.
@lrcc55, I also recommend BoA, but I’m not sure that it matters. I think DS has been to an ATM twice in his 1.5 years at Yale. Kids seem to use Venmo to exchange cash amongst themselves and some merchants, with credit cards and/or debit cards for most other things.
ETA: congratulations to your daughter (and you)!
Chase has a branch near TD. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: don’t bust yourself trying to set up an account in a bank that has a branch in NH if it’s not otherwise convenient. My daughter used a debit card for pretty much everything, and you can get cash back that way too. In my experience kids don’t “need” a bank the way us older folks used to need one. So if she already has a linked account to yours in some other bank, just leave it that way.
Thank you all for your advice!
I concur with @donnaleighg. My D continues to use her debit card from our hometown credit union. She gets cash back sometimes, but rarely needs cash. She deposits checks with her phone. One time she needed cash she did pay the extra fee to use the ATM on campus, but that was one time in 3 years.
I third BofA. My son started with a debit card linked to our home account but the fees associated with ATM withdrawals were high ( he does use the ATM for pocket money). Also we found that when he was getting ready to study overseas, wire transfers were much easier through BofA than our local bank. And no option to deposit checks with the phone. So it probably depends on the options and fees associated with using your home bank.
Anyway, he set up his own (free) BofA account with some work study checks and uses it for spending money, and still has his account at home in case we need to deposit funds for larger stuff, along with access to our amazon prime account and a credit card for emergencies. They don’t need a lot of money, but the local access to a “real” bank can be helpful at times, and I think it’s been good for him to go in and handle things like wire transfer glitches for himself.
I know that this issue has been addressed elsewhere but Id like to know what, if anything, of your collective wisdom has to say regarding the Greek system at Yale. My son has elected to pledge a fraternity. I dont want to overthink this (too late probably for that) but I have a lot of friends who went to Yale and none, that I know of, pledged. The residential college system seemed to fill that role for them. Of course the drinking age was 18 and the RCs hosted parties. The reason I am curious is that the reasons for joining a fraternity or sorority seem compelling to freshmen but less so as they advance in age. To me at least. I dont mean to beat a dead horse but Im just really curious as to how the Greek system is viewed by the majority of students who dont participate in it.
My son thought about it briefly last year, mostly because so many of his friends were pledging. The costs were enough to be a stopper for him (not something we were interested in subsidizing, and he didn’t want to blow all of his work money on fraternity dues), though the time commitment was another issue. I think he likes fraternity parties and most of the guys in the fraternities (they seem to be a diverse crew for the most part), but ultimately frats are just one of many options for entertainment. The remaining issue seems to be that junior year, most of his suite is moving off campus to live in fraternities or other houses. All in all, though, I agree with you that frats probably have less significance as time goes on.
There are other social groups that seem to do well, a cappella, theater, and dozens of other groups like St.AnthonyHall which is a three-year ‘semi-secret’ society.
My son is a sophomore. We were totally surprised when he pledged a fraternity last year as it came out of left field and a frat was not something I ever contemplated my kids being interested in (which may reflect my own bias!) . The last I heard, at least one of his roommates was considering pledging this year as a sophomore, so I guess it’s something that at least sophomores are still interested in. Although he seems to very much enjoy it, the frat does not seem to dominate his life. Two of his friends are coming home with him for spring break–one is in the frat, one is not. I do think that the off-campus living opportunity it provides for juniors and seniors was one of the points of interest, which is somewhat ironic since the factor he focused on in ultimately selecting Yale was the residential college system.
My Daughter started the rush process but didn’t really like the way it was making her worry about being judged for things beyond her control. She also had so many other things going on that she felt it would add to the stress of trying to be two places at once. I encouraged her to stick with what she had going on and she did. To each their own. I was in a sorority when I was in college and loved it but my daughter was getting the same experience in the A Capella system so it wasn’t worth the cost or stress. I think if you have no other outlet of friends then it may be a great way to make some solid connections. If you are already surrounded by a great social network then its a waste of money, time and a whole lot more drinking in most cases.
My son and 1 or 2 others in his suite are pledging. He already had circles of good friends from other groups/clubs he’s involved in but he did enjoy socializing at the frat parties as well. I think he looks at joining a frat as another opportunity to build friendships which hopefully will be long lasting. He has no intention of narrowing his social circle to just his fraternity. He’s a friendly guy who enjoys getting to meet people so it didn’t surprise me he chose to pledge. The members seem fairly diverse which he appreciates. There are critics of Greek life who make generalizations that imho just isn’t fair.
One thing I was a bit surprised about is that at least some of the Yale sororities have rules about what guys the members can and can’t go out with . . . maybe that’s typical for sororities though? I heard that a few weeks ago and it was also mentioned in a recent Yale Daily News column.
http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2016/02/19/kidney-a-harmful-rush-process/
@Momwith2boys Thank you, your experience sounds very similar to mine and you are a year farther in the process, all good to know and the possibility of limiting social interaction to a narrow group was really what caused my anxiety. Canoe2015, after reading your post, I became alarmed and read the article. The guys the rushees, according to the author, can’t go out with are ones the older sisters have chosen for themselves. There are many aspects to that assertion that trouble me, I assume that fraternities have been doing it since there have been fraternities, but it’s much different than if the reasons had to do with who was socially “acceptable”. Anyway, I love my son, he’s responsible, he’s smart for an 18 year old-which is not raising the bar too high- so I trust him but I’m still not so sure about this.
Some of the fraternities have worse reputations than others. My kids (neither of whom was interested in joining a fraternity or sorority) have friends who are involved and who like the organizations. But they both had negative things to say about some of the chapters. That’s something that can change from year to year (although for some chapters, it hasn’t), so if it matters to you, you need to find out what’s happening there now.
@lrcc55 - don’t know if anyone has answered you or not since I have not read all the posts. But we bank with Wells Fargo so I am able to just move money back and forth between my account and my D’s. She of course has her own account that she deposits money in but it is linked to mine, it is great to move money to her - unlike the dark ages when I had to wait for my mom to send cash. There is a branch about 2 blocks from Old Campus. I think she went there once and she is a sophomore.
Another question for parents here - have any of you dealt with allergy shots? My D is at YDS and waived specialty coverage. She is getting allergy shots at student health since I thought it would be processed by our insurance. Turns out I messed up and must have seen Yale Hospitals (in network) as the same as Yale Health, which it is not. Yale Health doesn’t take outside insurance so we are paying out of network fee.
H wants to find another place for her to get shots. There is allergist nearby in network but I’m not sure he would want to take on patient just for shots.
The part that has me a bit steamed is that D has just gotten her first bill this week. She has gotten shots since September. If we had been billed at that point we would have realized our mistake much sooner. Thankfully she is on maintenance doses and only goes once a month.
Any suggestions?
@scmom12, i would go to the in-network allergist. They won’t care, I think, that it’s just for shots.
ETA: I’m a Yale fanboy, but 3 things are substandard there: post office, cafeteria food since the cost-reductions began, and Yale Health.
I’d have to agree that health insurance choices at Yale are not great . . . you can either get the Yale insurance, which is only good at the one Yale Health location on campus and thus doesn’t cover the student while on break or otherwise not on campus, or stick with your own insurance, which isn’t accepted at Yale Health (and thus requires finding off campus health care for anything beyond basic care). The strange single-location design of the Yale insurance means there’s not really a good choice available.
It has been a while since I was a student, but I believe the student insurance I had worked anywhere, not just at campus health.
So I agree IxnayBob - fanstastic institution and I feel very fortunate that my daughter is there. But health insurance is not a strong point for Yale.