I know the LaQuinta is not the best choice, but we stay there when we drive up with our German Shepard since they are a pet friendly hotel with no size limitation. When I am dogless, I stay at the New Haven Hotel. Closer walk to campus.
I just found out that one of the scouts in my son’s troop was accepted! I hope he says 'Yes!"
(Great kid, great student)
Does anyone have a kid with asthma? If do, is it something that can be handled my student health? I suspect my kiddo is experiencing sports induced asthma (he’s an athlete), but he’s a long way from home and I’m not sure how to go about getting a diagnosis at Yale. This would be a first time diagnosis for him.
sorry to hear that @classicalmama
Hope he gets the care he needs
@classicalmama , a student health center ought to be able to handle an asthma diagnosis. If they have any concerns, they’ll send a student for additional tests/specialists. My younger son has asthma (I don’t have a child at Yale yet, older one will be a graduate student in the Fall); we’ve been dealing with asthma since he was 2. If he’s actually struggling to breathe, that’s worthy of an ER trip. He should not put off dealing with this. If it is asthma, he’ll need to carry his inhaler at all times. I still carry one for my son, even though he’s in college. I’m always afraid that he’ll forget to have one on hand. I keep one in his room, one in my purse, one in his backpack… And he almost never needs them. Still, being able to breathe is sort of a big deal.
@classicalmama , does he have insurance other than Yale Health? If so, since this would give him/you more flexibility, I personally would have him see a specialist through Yale-New Haven Hospital system first if possible. We went this route with my son who was having breathing issues (not asthma, though) related to his allergies. Especially for an athlete without a previous diagnosis, I would want a specialist first and then he can follow up/medicate via Yale Health. Not at all meaning to knock the doctors at YH (many/most are associated with YNHH), but I have to believe that the level of testing and investigation that my son underwent via the specialist was above and beyond what he would have gotten at the campus health center. They spent a lot of time with him with very good results and a strong long-term plan for the management of his issues. Anyway, good luck to him and to you. Practically and emotionally, it is hard to deal with this stuff from afar, I know.
@classicalmama you have both the health center as well as the hospital there- I am not a fan of the health center really. They tried telling my daughter that there was nothing wrong with her when she couldn’t hear out of her right ear even after she told them that she had a cleft. They told her to take mucinex and sent her home. Luckily she is close enough that I brought her to our regular doctor. She was not only incredibly congested but the mucinex was the opposite of what she needed. Has he ever had asthma before? I would just send him to the ER the next time.
Thanks all for your replies. Sounds like it couldn’t hurt to start with student health, but we will pursue some other options as well and not assume that their opinion is definitvie. He is covered on our health insurance, so we do have some options other than Yale Health. If anyone has a doctor or clinic in the New Haven area they’d recommend and could PM me, that would be very helpful to get us started.
He has never been fully tested for and diagnosed with asthma, though he did have an albuterol inhaler for a while in high school. This kind of asthma can mask pretty well in athletes because they are in such good shape–and so far no incidents have been serious enough to warrant a trip to the ER. There have been symptoms/incidents for a few years, but never anything definitive or that couldn’t be attributed to something else (a cold, spring fever, etc.). And I tend to be one of those “Oh, you’re fine honey, just drink some tea” kind of parent…my poor kids. Anyway, good to know we have some options!
Follow up about doctors closely. I made the mistake of thinking Yale Health and Yale medical were related. They’re not. My D is graduate student so that may make a difference but I don’t think so. Yale Health works like a HMO as far as I could tell.
On another Yale thread someone mentioned that their student was referred to specialist down the hall (not covered by student plan) from yale health (covered) and he didn’t realize it. May not matter depending on your insurance, but check closely. Found out only recently that Ds allergy shots not covered by our insurance since Yale Health out of network (something with insurance fouled up and we didn’t get charges for September until last week.) She will be going to an allergist in town next year since he is on our plan.
@classicalmama I am not sure what part of the country you are from but allergies have been bad here lately between the melting snow and mold and the new leaves that are trying to pop. Maybe if he tried some over the counter allergy meds it will clear up. I rarely have issues with my asthma but have had a rough few weeks myself and I am from here.
Yale Cost breakdown question…
My apologies if it’s already been answered here.
Yale budgets for cost of books/travel expenses but if a grandparent wants to fund your kiddos travel expenses for the school year what happens to the funds budgeted by Yale? Do they revert back to a general expense fund for the student? Or are those funds forfeited?
@tonymom I am not sure. What I would suggest however is to have them either put it aside in an account to be used on expenses whether or not it ends up being used for travel. There were several expenses we were not banking on along the way. Books were more expensive than we anticipated because they were 2015 copies or written by the Professor and so used was not an option. Certain clubs and activities also required funding. Another thing we noticed were the friends of my daughter’s that had funds to fly in and fly back at the end of the semester but not for breaks or holidays. It may be that the budgeted amount is only for travel there and back. You might want to look into that.
The pdf linked below will be or was probably sent to you @tonymom. Travel is part of indirect costs that you can spend as you need/want. We get financial aid, but not enough to cover even the direct costs. The indirect costs typically are funded by the student work contribution. Note the last line - use extra money for pizza. So it is fine for the grands to fund travel to free up money for some fun. Also, your student may want to travel home more frequently than is funded.
http://admissions.yale.edu/financial-aid-prospective-students#aidpackage
http://finaid.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/EA_FYYE_Class2020.pdf
What do Indirect Costs cover?
The simple answer is: whatever you want them
to cover. A student will spend money as needed to
pay for books and class materials, laundry in the
residential colleges, toiletries, clothes, optional
trips off campus with the residential colleges, and
occasional off-campus meals. Also, estimated travel
expenses are calculated based on a student’s home
address.
How are Indirect Costs included in my
Financial Aid Award?
Yale’s need-based financial aid award is based on the
total Estimated Cost of Attendance, which includes
both Direct Costs and Indirect Costs. All students
on financial aid are given the opportunity to
meet a portion of their total costs through
term-time employment. In fact, every Expected
Family Contribution includes an expected student
contribution called Student Employment. Students
usually opt to use their earnings to cover books
and personal expenses rather than Direct Costs.
Students may also meet their Student Employment
expectation with outside scholarship money, using
any funds left over after billed expenses are paid
to cover miscellaneous expenses charged to their
student accounts. (Students may also request a
direct refund.) See Student Employment and Outside
Aid for more information.
What if I spend less than the amounts listed
in my Financial Aid Award?
The money is yours to keep. We highly recommend
New Haven pizza.
The FA form is confusing the first time you look at it.
What I do to wrap my head around it is subtract the grant from the tuition, room and board (i.e. your direct costs). Assuming there’s still a balance to pay, that, along with books and living expenses, is what your family has to budget for in any way you see fit–you don’t have to do it the way that Yale suggests (X from your student’s savings, Y from his summer work, Z from his work study, P from parent contribution)
So, for example, in the past, my son’s FA grant covered his tuition. We payed for his room and board, and he covered books, supplies, spending money. I think Yale suggested he pay a few hundred toward direct expenses, but it was just easier for us to tell him he was responsible for all of his indirect costs. (We do pay for his travel home: he’s such a tightwad, I don’t think he’d come home if we didn’t 
)
Now, if your financial aid grant covers more than your direct costs, or if your son has outside scholarships, I’d default to @Memmsmom 's advice. If I’m remembering correctly from earlier in the thread, her talented child had extra scholarships that helped cover indirect costs. Things get more complicated in that scenario. For example, I don’t actually think they can spend scholarship money on pizza, though they can certainly spend their summer and work study earnings on it!
Thanks! @Memmsmom @musicmerit
@classicalmama
I think I’ve got a hold of it now! I know Yale makes every effort to make it straight forward but it somehow ends up being more confusing…
Printed out the link @musicmerit you provided as I’m old school and need trusty highlighter and pen to make sense to this old brain.
I think having grands fund travel expenses will work fine here and we, dutiful parents, will absorb work study for the first year. Worried varsity sport, 3k miles from home and new experience will be enough on the plate.
Thank you to all here who have been so helpful in managing this whole process with invaluable info.
Mom of a graduate who had a generous FA package popping in to mention that Yale will also provide an International Summer Award (ISA) proportional to your student’s school-year grant. ISAs can be used for both Yale and non-Yale summer programs. My son took a Yale summer class in Italian and spent 6 weeks with a family in Tuscany - priceless!
http://www.yale.edu/yalecollege/international/funding/isa/index.html
Yes, my daughter went to Costa Rica and it was wonderful. The only thing was back then her “scholarship” was put on a 1099 misc which caused quite a few phone calls and questions from the IRS. (the office didn’t change it)
Looking for advice/experiences from Yale parents about the realistic chances for incoming freshmen for leadership opportunities, funded summer opportunities and programs like Directed Studies and the Light Scholarship throughout their years at Yale. I’m assuming these kids are all “superstars” from their respective high schools, and have always been highly competitive for enrichment opportunities. My student, an early admit, has been planning on attending Yale since December, but was recently awarded one of the top leadership scholarships at Duke. We are coming to Bulldog Days and Yale stood out as a great fit when we did college tours. Initially Duke was not a top choice, but the Finalist Weekend was great. The financial differences are easy to quantify. We have a financial aid package from Yale that makes it a viable option, but of course, it isn’t a full-ride, plus additional grants would be needed for summer opportunities. What is unknown is the non-quantifiable differences. I keep thinking of The Incredibles phrase “If everyone is special, then no one is” and wonder how that impacts incoming freshmen as they find their place at Yale.
Wow, @NCmom14, that is going to be a tough choice! I don’t know about most of what you asked about. My D did get leadership roles in music groups in her second year. She was a superstar in a small public HS that has never sent anyone to Yale, as far as we know.
It would be helpful if you could tell us what areas your student is interested in. Hopefully others can comment on DS and Light, and summers.
Thanks @musicmerit. It is proving to be a really tough decision. I’d love to be a bit knowledgable on the pros and cons, but I have no Ivy experience, nor do my friends. If I has to sum him up I’d say he is an intellectual thinker, musician, active in student gov’t, activist, personable and a natural leader. He is currently interested in global affairs, economics, asian studies, politics, applied math and statistics. He does research and loves it. He is not interested in sports or greek life. He knows lots of kids at Duke but would show up to Yale just knowing just a handful. Although he grew up in a rural area, he has attended an urban competitive high school for the last two years.