Comments on: College Freshman Checklist

By: james

james — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:46:02 +0000

I highly recommend http://www.helpineedbooks.com for cheap textbooks. If you have to buy them which I dont like doing this is the best place to get them

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:57:16 +0000

My out of state credit union worked great all through college - even for direct deposit for student jobs, travel study across the country and my backpacking trip through Europe. The only problem was getting cash at ATMs ($1.50 fee, I don’t think so!), and I quickly learned to just get cash at the grocery store.
My hubby’s cu didn’t work well and he did have to switch to a big bank (the cu kept turning off his debit card fearing fraud).

If you do switch banks I’d recommend choosing one that has a free ATM on campus, especially if you’re carless.

By: Sam (Azuaron)

Sam (Azuaron) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 20:40:49 +0000

Ah, fork stealing… I remember when Murph stole most the forks from the dining hall and they started posting guards to stem the flow off lost silverware….

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 23:05:50 +0000

The Travelin’ Man,
Excellent point about Facebook - it’s become a necessary part of university living these days, but you have to be responsible with it. My rule of thumb for Facebook is not to post anything I wouldn’t want my mother to see (although my mother is pretty lenient, so I even stretch a bit farther than that).

In addition to Bank of America, HSBC is often know at the “College Bank” because they seem to have an ATM on or near every campus in the US. I know this is true of my school and several others I’ve been to.

Anitra,
I certainly didn’t mean to knock credit unions, and people don’t always have to swtich. It can become an issue, though, especially if you get a job at school. Also, there’s no need to cancel an old account unless you’re sure that you won’t be using it anymore!

By: Anitra

Anitra — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:23:21 +0000

The bank account advice is on the money. Don’t sell your hometown credit union or internet banking short, though. If you’re carless like I was in college, they can be just as convenient, with ATM fee rebates and/or prepaid envelopes for mail-in deposits.

Be smart and realistic about your food/ meal plan. At my school, everyone would start inviting their off-campus friends to come eat in the dining hall and use up their meals at the end of the semester to “get their money’s worth”. Unless you’re an athlete, plan on eating breakfast in your dorm room and getting pizza or fast food at least once a week.

Speaking of eating in your room: see if your roommate will go halves on a mini refrigerator with you, and DON’T buy/rent it from the on-campus service! You can buy a used one for less than you’d spend to rent it for a year, and a new one at Sears for about 1.5x that price.

By: The Travelin' Man

The Travelin' Man — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:58:32 +0000

Facebook should come with it’s own caveat. Guess what? The Dean of Students will look at your Facebook account and see pictures of you doing keg stands at frat parties when you get called in for your first underage drinking infraction. Your excuse of “it was my first time” goes out the window when the Dean turns his computer screen around to show you the pictures that YOU posted with a beer funnel coming out of your mouth! Oh - and just because your profile is set to private doesn’t mean that the Dean won’t find those pix anyway! Trust me.

Our campus has Bank of America (not shilling for them - I am sure that every campus is different - something may be more appropriate depending on your school) that is on campus setting up “free” (I don’t believe that anything is truly free) accounts during orientation. They also have ATM on campus, which means that students who are trapped on campus have easy access to their own banking.

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Mon, 06 Aug 2007 12:06:56 +0000

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By: Peter Mottola

Peter Mottola — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 21:49:14 +0000

I want to stress a couple of things you mentioned:
1. FACEBOOK! Go to http://www.facebook.com and sign up. This doesn’t have anything to do with money, but it has everything to do with social networking (which is infinitely more important than money).
2. Bank Accounts. I graduated from RIT, stayed in the Rochester area, and only then opened an account in New York state. Dumb move. Do it now, kids!
3. Textbooks. I propose another strategy: don’t buy books. Roughly half (probably more) of the textbook’s you’re told to buy aren’t required in any way. You save more money by not buying books than you would by buying them on sale. By the end of the first day of class you usually have a pretty good idea of whether or not you’ll need the book. Sharing books is also advised. Finally, borrow! Libraries and other communal book depositories are your friends.