High School Class of 2015

[sk!mom]

I have a room & board question about sophomore year for you all.

At DS's school they start signing leases for off campus housing for next year now. Most sophomores live off campus because there is very little on campus housing for upper classmen and what is available is not as convenient or walkable as the off campus options. Housing in his college town is VERY expensive! He just signed a lease for a two bedroom apartment in a nice, safe complex just outside campus. He will be living there with 3 other boys. The total rent per month is way higher than our monthly mortgage! If he wants to bring his car, it will cost and extra $1000 for parking at the complex and campus parking permit (he will have to pay this on his own).

So I am working on the budget for next year and am trying to figure out what meal plan he'll need. He is super skinny, and I know he won't feed himself properly on his own. Since he'll have a kitchen, I'm thinking he will eat breakfast at the apartment. I can get a plan that has:

-2 meals a day Monday - Friday, with $300 flex dollars for weekend meals ($2055 a semester)

-100 meal plan with $400 flex dollars (approx 1 meal a day) ($1325 a semester)

-I can also add extra blocks of 25 meals for $275.

So the big question is...how many meals will he need. How many meals do your non cooking kids eat in the dining halls each week?

DD is Class of 2014 so she moved to an off campus apartment this year. She is barely off campus- just across the street- and closer to most classes than her dorm was.

To answer your question, we did not do a meal plan at all. For her, the dining hall food was one of the big dorm negatives. She is a non cook so I did worry about what she would live on and how she would stay healthy. We gave her a food budget but told her that she could charge all the fresh fruit and vegetables she wanted to us (she has a cc that we pay for approved purchases.) She averages about $50 per week for groceries but I've visited her about once a month and take her grocery shopping for a stock up trip every time. I also bring her favorite HEB products, when I visit, since there is no HEB in her college town. Honestly, by second semester freshman year, she was living on canned soup and easy mac. With only a dorm fridge she couldn't keep much yogurt or fresh produce. She doesn't shop often so the full size fridge and freezer allows her to stock up and eat better.

Her staples are cold cereal, yogurt, bagged salad, and peanut butter. She has a panini maker that she uses for grilled cheese, turkey sandwiches, and bean and cheese quesadillas. She buys the fresh pasta and sauce some. She gets cooked chicken breast strips and adds them to the pasta.

Overall she does OK and never eats on campus other than the Union and just pays cash when that happens.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

DS got home on Thursday. He did really well first semester. He wants to get into UVA's undergrad business school (McIntire School of Commerce) at the end of sophomore year. It is ranked #2 in the country for undergrad business programs and is super hard to get into. Out of every 10 freshman who want to get in, only 2 are taken. Some self eliminate due to low grades or change majors. He knows he needs at least a 3.7 every semester and campus leadership positions to even apply. He got a 3.82 (2 As, 3 A-s). He is very happy!

Rush starts in January. He's a little stressed about it. We'll have to see what happens.

 

[NAB]

We made it though the first semester. Were waiting on marks that came two days ago and he passed everything and moving so that is good.

Thought when he started he would have problems getting himself up etc , turns out I didn't have to worry at all. Only problem we seem to have is his budgeting the money we give him for the month. Always wanting us to give him more....sorry bud you have to learn your a poor student and don't live at home anymore. He missing going to the show with his dad all the time or out to eat with the family. He tries to go out and is finding out how expense that is. instead two or three times at the show he can only go out once a month etc.

He is home for the holidays, loving it. Doesn't have to go back until Jan 11.

 

[jt'smom]

Hi everyone, just checking in to see how all our kids survived the first semester. Because of some crazy life transitions with helping out my inlaws, my son didn't come home home for Thanksgiving, so when he rolled in on Dec. 22nd, it was the first time we had seen him in 4 long months! After I hugged him for a solid 10 minutes, I realized that the kid we dropped off, came back a man! He had a wonderful first semester with only a few hiccups, and ended up with a solid B+ average, which we were thrilled with. We learned that he needs to adjust his meal plan for spring because he has a couple of night classes and needs more flex bucks. He had lots of great stories, the best of which involved him going to the bathroom in his underwear and coming back to his room, and finding his roommate had locked him out by mistake, 30 minutes before his final exam. Thank goodness for RA's!

The best thing I discovered was the "find my iphone" app. I was able to track him as he drove 900 miles over 2 days to get to my inlaw's house. At one point, I realized that he had missed an exit onto a major highway and he ended up one state over, lol. He ended up taking a scenic route through the Great Smoky Mountains. Thank goodness the East Coast is having unusually warm weather and no snow!

 

[KiminChicago]

Grades just came out today and we're happy. They are A's and B's and since most of them were honors sections they are good enough to keep him in the Honors program and keep his scholarships so it's all good. He received 14 semester hours of credit for AP classes and 17 semester hours for the Fall semester, so he's almost a sophomore now. Which is a good thing since he's now talking about doing a fifth year and getting his Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering. I just worry that he'll be too expensive for anyone to hire right out of college if he already has a master's, does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[NHdisneylover]

He had lots of great stories, the best of which involved him going to the bathroom in his underwear and coming back to his room, and finding his roommate had locked him out by mistake, 30 minutes before his final exam. Thank goodness for RA's!

That IS a great story!