High School class of 2011

[cruisnfamily]

Anybody's kids buy their books yet?

DD's booklist became available at the bookstore monday so we just went on and ordered them online for store pickup when she arrives on campus in a month.

Through a mixture of textbook rental, used and new total cost was $350 for 6 books. I checked half.com, amazon, and abebooks and they were actually all cheaper at the bookstore except one which was only available new at the campus bookstore.

 

[golfgal]

Anybody's kids buy their books yet?

DD's booklist became available at the bookstore monday so we just went on and ordered them online for store pickup when she arrives on campus in a month.

Through a mixture of textbook rental, used and new total cost was $350 for 6 books. I checked half.com, amazon, and abebooks and they were actually all cheaper at the bookstore except one which was only available new at the campus bookstore.

We bought books early when DS19 went to school last year. He found that about half of the "required" books he never used or used only once or twice. Second semester he waited until classes started to see which books he really needed. Between not buying books he didn't really need and kids on his floor lending each other books, he spent $99 second semester on books. I would suggest waiting. We also discovered a book store right off campus and most of the books we bought he could have gotten there for half of what we spent--and that was doing what you did-searching all the various sites for the least expensive options.

 

[maddiel]

Anybody's kids buy their books yet?

My daughter doesn't have her textbook list yet, but when we get it I think we'll try to see if anything is available as an ebook for her kobo.

Is anyone else thinking of getting ebooks as an alternative? Do any of your kids schools encourage that?

M.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

No book lists yet but DS did get his roommate letter. This is odd, when we looked at the housing I thought all the rooms were suites with 2 boys on both sides. His letter gives him 2 roommates. So will he be in a room with 3 - 6 total in the suite? Or is it possible the suite will only have 3 - meaning one of the boys requested a single? We are not sure what to think. 6 boys and 1 bath room is a little scary!

 

[agnes!]

Her hot pot is basically a small electric pot, like a coffee pot. You put in 4-6oz cold water, flip the switch, it comes to a boil and shuts itself off automatically. Then she can make her hot tea or cocoa!

Great news today! DD18 was awarded the $500 scholarship from her HS music and theater dept. Yay! Lord knows, she worked her little butt off for them. She deserves every penny of it.

And we heard on Friday that she has officially been awarded work-study. Double yay! There are very few work-study slots available, so she is just thrilled to get one. With her Pell Grant, SEOG, her Stafford loan and her little scholarship, she only needs to come up with about $1000 to pay off her bill. But once he work study kicks in she'll get about $1750/semester so it all evens out.

Congratulations on all your good news. No Federal work-study for us. It would be nice, I'm almost breaking out in hives at the payment we're going to have to make within the next few weeks.

No book lists yet but DS did get his roommate letter. This is odd, when we looked at the housing I thought all the rooms were suites with 2 boys on both sides. His letter gives him 2 roommates. So will he be in a room with 3 - 6 total in the suite? Or is it possible the suite will only have 3 - meaning one of the boys requested a single? We are not sure what to think. 6 boys and 1 bath room is a little scary!

Heh, DD is tripling up in a double and the other bedroom also has a triple...6 girls in space meant for 4. Naw, I don't think the other bedroom in your DS' suite would only have a single...no way, no how. Your DS will either have a total of 5 or a total of 6 in that suite. And they'll live...there are probably group bathrooms in the dorm or elsewhere on campus right? Maybe he could call up Campus Housing and ask?

Oh, and we wimped out and ordered all DD's books through the bookstore. They'll pull used ones if they have them plus they will be delivered directly to her room. Might be more expensive but I don't care, less stress!

agnes!

 

[cruisnfamily]

Oh, and we wimped out and ordered all DD's books through the bookstore. They'll pull used ones if they have them plus they will be delivered directly to her room. Might be more expensive but I don't care, less stress!

agnes!

We did it that way too. And it really wasn't more money except for 1 book. Ours is a mixture of used, new and rental. AND another benefit, if they drop a class, the bookstore will take the books back for exactly what you paid. Just much more convenient all the way around.

I'm actually glad we ordered when we did as 2 books are backordered and they fill orders in the order in which they get them so hopefully DD is at the front of that line. The ones that are backordered are books we're Renting so thus, cheaper than we could get them elsewhere.

 

[ctinct]

Okay, computer geeks and those of you whose kids are computer geeks-I need help. We are shopping for a laptop and I haven't got a clue as to what I need. Her college does not have a b uying plan or give any recommendations.
DD researched and said she would need 6gb RAM, but two guys at Best Buy and one at Office Max said she would really only need 4gb. I like that a lot better because they are quite a bit cheaper. I found one reccommended in Money magazine that seems reasonable. It is an HP Pavilion with a 2.13 GHz Intel processor, , 4GB RAM, 15.6 inch screen (this is the size screen that dd wants), and a 320GB hard drive for $417. Does this seem reasonable? I don't know anywhere I can see it in real life, and I'm kind of scared of ordering one sight unseen. Butr, daughter seems to think we need to act quickly as lots of people will be shopping as the time gets nearer for school.

On another note, I bought all my daughter's books through Amazon. They weren't too bad---I saved about $50 over buying them used at the bookstore, and we got a mix of new and used. A couple of the new ones were as cheap as the used ones in the bookstore. These weren't the textbooks per se, but rather regular books one might read for pleasure or info. I did buy one textbook new, because I wanted to be sure it had the CD with it for a language class. I am hoping her bio book and Spanish book will be good for both semesters, as they were the most expensive and she has to take a full year in both subjects.

I could have saved a lot more money by buying the international edition of her bio book, but I was just too chicken. All the descriptions said it contained the same content but just had a different cover. I was worried about it being paginated differently, making it more difficult for my daughter to find assignments, etc. Maybe a silly fear that cost me about $75. Does anyone have any experience with buying international editions of a textbook?

 

[bethbuchall]

I could have saved a lot more money by buying the international edition of her bio book, but I was just too chicken. All the descriptions said it contained the same content but just had a different cover. I was worried about it being paginated differently, making it more difficult for my daughter to find assignments, etc. Maybe a silly fear that cost me about $75. Does anyone have any experience with buying international editions of a textbook?

I know that my son has purchased international editions before, but I don't know much about them. He has done it more than once, so I guess he didn't run into any problems with the first one.

We won't know what books my daughter needs until about 4 days before classes start. They have stripped everything from her schedule that she has AP credits for, and they won't rework the schedule until the day after she moves in. I am hoping that she can use several of her brother's books, since they are only two years apart and are at the same school.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Okay, computer geeks and those of you whose kids are computer geeks-I need help. We are shopping for a laptop and I haven't got a clue as to what I need. Her college does not have a b uying plan or give any recommendations.
DD researched and said she would need 6gb RAM, but two guys at Best Buy and one at Office Max said she would really only need 4gb. I like that a lot better because they are quite a bit cheaper. I found one reccommended in Money magazine that seems reasonable. It is an HP Pavilion with a 2.13 GHz Intel processor, , 4GB RAM, 15.6 inch screen (this is the size screen that dd wants), and a 320GB hard drive for $417. Does this seem reasonable? I don't know anywhere I can see it in real life, and I'm kind of scared of ordering one sight unseen. Butr, daughter seems to think we need to act quickly as lots of people will be shopping as the time gets nearer for school.

On another note, I bought all my daughter's books through Amazon. They weren't too bad---I saved about $50 over buying them used at the bookstore, and we got a mix of new and used. A couple of the new ones were as cheap as the used ones in the bookstore. These weren't the textbooks per se, but rather regular books one might read for pleasure or info. I did buy one textbook new, because I wanted to be sure it had the CD with it for a language class. I am hoping her bio book and Spanish book will be good for both semesters, as they were the most expensive and she has to take a full year in both subjects.

I could have saved a lot more money by buying the international edition of her bio book, but I was just too chicken. All the descriptions said it contained the same content but just had a different cover. I was worried about it being paginated differently, making it more difficult for my daughter to find assignments, etc. Maybe a silly fear that cost me about $75. Does anyone have any experience with buying international editions of a textbook?

We did a lot of research and determined DD needed the following:
i5 processor or better
6 GB Memory
500 GB harddrive or bigger
2nd generation intel chip
15.6" screen(also my dd's preference)


We bought this dell

 

[linnylu]

DS just found out that his roommate will be bringing a microwave. Any ideas of what to send with him that he can make in the microwave? There isn't a store nearby, so we'll have to shop ahead. Also, what kind of dishes should I send with him that are micro safe?

 

[geffric]

I got DS a new laptop it is an HP with i5 processor, 500 gig hdd, 6 gig memory, 15.6 screen and DVD drive...

i have an computer that is several years old... it has 15.6 screen too, with 320 gig hdd, 4 gb memory, DVD drive 3 USB ports.. i love it and it has been fine for me..

 

[golfgal]

DS just found out that his roommate will be bringing a microwave. Any ideas of what to send with him that he can make in the microwave? There isn't a store nearby, so we'll have to shop ahead. Also, what kind of dishes should I send with him that are micro safe?

I just found some at Target--I think they were Marie Callendar maybe?? They were "add water and nuke" type tv dinners. DS19 said they weren't too bad considering. They don't need to be refrigerated or anything so they would be great snacks for a dorm room. They had 5 or 6 different varieties.

 

[geffric]

DS just found out that his roommate will be bringing a microwave. Any ideas of what to send with him that he can make in the microwave? There isn't a store nearby, so we'll have to shop ahead. Also, what kind of dishes should I send with him that are micro safe?

ramon noodles, canned pasta, soup, ..mac and cheese..things like that..

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Ok guys - I need you to help me! I have had the most vivid dreams (nightmares?) the last 3 nights. In all of them DS is going far away to some unknown land (country) where they don't speak English. I never see him again. And he sends me messages that the people around him don't make any sense! It is just awful. Am I alone here or are any of you going through this too?

I wake up and think what am I doing? Sending my child out of a perfectly nice home where he has his own room and bath to live with 4 or 6 (we don't know) complete strangers. And paying a lot of money to get to do it! Really if you think about it we are all crazy!

At this point I think I am actually losing it! Please tell me I am still somewhat "normal"!

 

[ctinct]

GRRRR!!! I have a feeling I'm going to be on the phone with dd's school for a long time Monday afternoon when I get home from work.

Daughter JUST was notified she won another $1000 scholarship last week. The check was made out to the college; we sent it right off to them. I understood that at some point scholarships might erode her financial aid from the college, but this last $1000 seems to have hurt us big time. We got the revised aid pkg. on Saturday. I sent them an extra $1000 scholarship, and as a result she lost $1250 in federal work study along with a $750 Perkins loan. I could understand if we lost a total of a thousand in loans/work study, and that would be fine---it would be money we would not have to pay back (the loan) or come up with out of pocket (the ws). But it seems by having a scholarship for $1000, we have actually LOST $1000 in aid. Her prior revised financial aid pkg., after we claimed the first set of scholarships, was for $47100. Now, with the last $1000 scholarship listed, our total aid pkg. is down to $46100. This includes all outside scholarships. Makes no sense to me.

In addition, I requested the additional $2000 in unsubsidized loans for daughter. According to her original paperwork, I was led to believe everyone is entitled to this loan if they wish, even though it was not part of her original aid pkg. My thinking was that this loan is a lower interest rate than the PLUS loan I am taking, so I would replace $2000 of my PLUS loan with the unsubsidized Stafford, and pay it off for her before she even graduates and any interest can accrue. Instead, what the college did was REDUCE her SUBSIDIZED $3500 loan by $338 and give her ONLY $338 in an unsubsidized loan, which also makes no sense to me. If for some reason she cannot take the $2000, why wouldn't they just tell us so, as it is cheaper in the long run to keep her original subsidized loan rather than reduce her subsidized loan and replace part of it with an unsubsidized loan.

Gosh. I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, but this part of the whole college experience is very confusing to me.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Ok guys - I need you to help me! I have had the most vivid dreams (nightmares?) the last 3 nights. In all of them DS is going far away to some unknown land (country) where they don't speak English. I never see him again. And he sends me messages that the people around him don't make any sense! It is just awful. Am I alone here or are any of you going through this too?

I wake up and think what am I doing? Sending my child out of a perfectly nice home where he has his own room and bath to live with 4 or 6 (we don't know) complete strangers. And paying a lot of money to get to do it! Really if you think about it we are all crazy!

At this point I think I am actually losing it! Please tell me I am still somewhat "normal"!

Well I haven't been having any weird dreams. I am actually ready for DD to go. It hasn't been the mostly pleasant and cheerful summer. I am excited for her and will get teary and will miss her terribly but she's ready, I'm ready, DH and DS are ready....bring it on!

GRRRR!!! I have a feeling I'm going to be on the phone with dd's school for a long time Monday afternoon when I get home from work.

Wow! What a mess! It sounds like something put you over some threshhold and changed your numbers. It was probably all done according to some kind of formula. I'm sure when you call and talk to actual people they will sort it out. At least I hope so!

 

[Disneycrazymom]

ctinct that is confusing and frustrating! Hopefully a call on Monday will help you get it straightened out.

Just to add to the confusion I thought the unsubsidized loans started to accrue interest as soon as school starts (even though you don't have to pay it back until after graduation).

Cruisnfamily I am sorry it has been a difficult summer.

I think there are several reasons I am having trouble. We are still dealing with major house damage from the tornado, and my niece is getting married and moving out of state. The tornado really reminded us how life can change in a minute (literally) and thought of what could have happened bothers me still. Too much change all at once and it is hard to see them leave home! They both must be feeling it too as they have been with the family every night for the last week. I am happy and proud of both of them!

 

[agnes!]

DD doesn't seem to want to buy much but...

We did get a folding desk hutch & a cool pop-up hamper from The Container Store, a new TV from Costco plus 2 sheet sets & a mattress pad from Bed Bath & Beyond. I figured she would need a long dress at some point of her college career so we hit a consignment shop and got some beautiful designer-dresses for only about $50 apiece. We do need to take them to a dressmaker/tailor for some minor alterations before school starts.

No nightmares here but I do have a bad case of insomnia.
agnes!

 

[geffric]

Ok guys - I need you to help me! I have had the most vivid dreams (nightmares?) the last 3 nights. In all of them DS is going far away to some unknown land (country) where they don't speak English. I never see him again. And he sends me messages that the people around him don't make any sense! It is just awful. Am I alone here or are any of you going through this too?

I wake up and think what am I doing? Sending my child out of a perfectly nice home where he has his own room and bath to live with 4 or 6 (we don't know) complete strangers. And paying a lot of money to get to do it! Really if you think about it we are all crazy!

At this point I think I am actually losing it! Please tell me I am still somewhat "normal"!

you're not losing it.. it is "normal" . the thought of letting him go is scary.... knowing it will never be the same again. He comes home for weeks at a time but his "life" is at the other place..
.. one thinks in terms of their child ( remember that little kid that wanted your help or to just be with you) while the child thinks he is all grown up and ready to go on to "life-the adventure"..


when DS#1 left for college the res life director said that the hardest part was going from your own room, to sharing one that is 1/2 the size..

 

[taekwondo mom]

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