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I really have had a different experience. Nearly all correspondence between the student and college was done on the students portal. I did receive a couple of letters and that's about it. Parents and students don't receive payment notices - it shows up on the students portal (and they have a calendar on line that indicates when payments are due). It's the kids responsibility to check their portal (and I will admit that I remind my kids when the fall semester payment is due since it's due in the middle of summer). The other payments (winter and spring quarter) are considered due when they select classes). Neither my kids nor I received notices on what to bring - all that info is on the college website (as well as dorm information, food plan information, etc). The college would like me to donate money - that letter I receive!
I did accompany my kids on college tours. I don't think it occurred to either my kid (or me) that I should find something else to do during that time. As far as I can recall, it appeared that nearly every kid had a parent with them (and sometimes it looked like the entire family came along).
This was pretty much my experience at my three kids private colleges. The information was there on the college portal, but it wasn't sent snail mail to us.
I went on dozens of college tours. I liked them. They were interesting. There was usually a free meal involved. Our monthly college payments were more than our mortgage payment, you bet I wanted to know what we were paying for. I went to two out of three orientations too AND the open houses. They too were fun. That doesn't mean that we got involved in anything to do with our kids academics. That really didn't occur to any of us as an option. Just because a parent is interested in their kids college stuff doesn't mean they're some sort of helicopter parent.
We talked to our kids in college maybe once a week depending on what was going on. Now that they're out of college, it's about the same. I know other parents that were more involved in their kids schedules and talked to them more often. Now that they're all adults, it doesn't seem to have mattered much one way or the other. All of our kids went to college between 7 and 16 hours from home.
I don't know what parents you know, but just because they are children, doesn't mean their parents don't hold them responsible for their actions. That isn't the parent - child relationship I experienced or see among my friends and neighbors, or the students I've encountered.
Let's just say that my 26 years of experience working in higher ed must not be the same as yours.
Let's see, when I went to orientation and moved in back in the 70s, the college did have orientation for the parents back then too. The students and parents went to different meetings, but parents were there. However mine didn't come with me to either event. College trips were bit different, at least in our area. The only ones any of us went on were arranged by the high school. Being the first in the family to go to college I really had no idea what to expect.
When DD was doing the college search, yes we went on the tours as well. Like several have said, since I'm paying, I wanted to get a good perspective on the value I was paying for. Plus, we would look at different things and then compare notes when we got back into the hotel room afterward.
We did do the orientation thing with her, though parents and students were completely separate for the most part. Parents part more focused on paying the bills than anything else. Though they did feed us a very good meal.
For the most part, the parents we met were pretty much in the same boat as us, with the same educational background who knew pretty much what to expect. But there were some parents who had never been on a college campus and had no idea what to expect for their kids, so orientation was a big help to them.
My children attended two major Big Ten schools. I do not believe that we, as parents, ever received a bill.
We just got our bills in the mail a couple weeks ago, the information is also online in the student portals. The bills technically come in our kids' names now that I think about it, but they are still sent home, where our kids are not, and not to the school, where our kids are.
We just got our bills in the mail a couple weeks ago, the information is also online in the student portals. The bills technically come in our kids' names now that I think about it, but they are still sent home, where our kids are not, and not to the school, where our kids are.
Our kids' experience also... bills got sent home (schools in PA and NY).
We just got our bills in the mail a couple weeks ago, the information is also online in the student portals. The bills technically come in our kids' names now that I think about it, but they are still sent home, where our kids are not, and not to the school, where our kids are.
Mine were, too, years ago, long before the advent of LMS/student portals.
Just an "address of record" issue.
The thing that always irked me was that my grades would also go to my home address (again, prior to the era of this info being distributed electronically, if only ever so slightly), as the assumption was that students would go home at semester break. Even though my grades were addressed TO ME, my dad would always open them (my address of record was several states away, and I didn't always go home in between semesters), versus or prior to forwarding them on to me. We had words over this intrusion many times, and it was never pleasant. I was never happy that grades were distributed to home address of record, but it was policy. I would have gladly shared my grades with my parents, but that info was MINE to share.
We just got our bills in the mail a couple weeks ago, the information is also online in the student portals. The bills technically come in our kids' names now that I think about it, but they are still sent home, where our kids are not, and not to the school, where our kids are.
You ever notice how college consider the kids as adults in every way -- privacy, sex, grades -- except one. Yep, when it comes to money, they are still considered dependents. Look at the FAFSA. Parents are included in all fund sources because it means they get less financial aid than if the looked at the students as adults.
My children attended two major Big Ten schools. I do not believe that we, as parents, ever received a bill.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Qwerty
We just got our bills in the mail a couple weeks ago, the information is also online in the student portals. The bills technically come in our kids' names now that I think about it, but they are still sent home, where our kids are not, and not to the school, where our kids are.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pitt Chick
Our kids' experience also... bills got sent home (schools in PA and NY).
Again, I do not believe that a tuition or housing or any University bill was ever sent to our home. Now, it is possible that our children received a bill, in their names, before they left home the summer before their freshman year but I do not recall that.
Bills sent to their home (parent's home) address? Never.
Maybe it is a different between public Universities and private schools.
Again, I do not believe that a tuition or housing or any University bill was ever sent to our home. Now, it is possible that our children received a bill, in their names, before they left home the summer before their freshman year but I do not recall that.
Bills sent to their home (parent's home) address? Never.
Maybe it is a different between public Universities and private schools.
:::shrug:::
Both schools are private, one in PA and one in NY. The kids got an invoice for every semester, sent to the home.
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