College in Fall Scholarships???

I can't believe I am one of the mom's on here saying that her son is leaving for college in the fall! My time is here I guess.
Here's my concerns.
He is going to BYU Hawaii.

*Are there scholarships out there for books? I am so scared about all the costs.
*How likely is it for kids to find jobs over there?
*Being in Hawaii for college, what should he do about a fridge? He will be in a dorm and can't very easily take a fridge. LOL
*How are the medical facilities in Hawaii? We have Kaiser

I am all ears by the way, if anyone has some advise. I need all the help we can get. It is all so new for us.

 

What an exciting time for you and your son! Hopefully I can help answer some of your questions.

Re: Books
There may be scholarships for books, but I have never heard of any. Sorry! My best advice is to get to the bookstore early and see if he can pick up used books. They are usually a bit cheaper than brand new books. You can usually pick up decently priced books online as well at amazon.com, half.com, etc. There are a lot of places out there that sell textbooks online. Also, in my experience I bought a lot of the books but never touched them, especially if they were text books. Many of my professors tested only on the material presented in lecture and never required that we read. The text book was more for reference if we needed further clarification. The profs usually placed a copy or two of the books on hold at the library, so that students who couldn't afford the book or didn't want to buy the book could have access to it. Please keep in mind, that I was a biology major, so my experience will probably differ greatly from someone majoring in literature for example. Your son may want to buy the books for the first semester and find out what works best for him.

Re: Jobs
I went to a Big 10 university, so I am not sure how it will compare to BYU Hawaii. However, there were always jobs available for students....working the front desk at the dorms, in the dorm cafeterias, at other restaurants/coffee houses around campus, in labs, as tutors, in the campus bookstore, as campus guides, etc. There were always plenty of jobs and since they were on or near campus, the employers understood their schedule and need to work limited hours. Unfortunately, most of these jobs didn't pay a whole lot, but at least it was income.

Re: The refridgerator
Is the trouble transporting the fridge to Hawaii or do the dorms not allow fridges? If it is a transportation issue, he could either buy it there or you could buy it online through Target, Wal-mart, Best Buy, etc and have them ship it to his dorm room. This might be difficult since it might take some time to get it to him after he has moved in. Is he rooming with anyone? If so, can his roommate bring a fridge? It might be easier for the roommate to bring it and then you don't have to worry about what to do with the fridge when he moves out. To be quite honest, I don't think he will be able to get around not having a fridge in his room as there usually isn't any other place in the dorm to store it.

Hope this helps! Good luck!!

 

Thanks!!!

Such great ideas. THANK YOU~!
As for the fridge, the college said they don't allow them in the rooms...So, I don't know what to do. Maybe I should start by calling the students with disablilites office??? I don't know, but Cameron will not want to be put in a special dorm just because of this issue.That would really make him feel uncomfortable. Any other ideas on who I should call?

 

I would try calling the health center on campus. They might be able to store the vials that he is not using in their refrigerator or at least point you towards someone else who might be able to help.

 

You're welcome! As for the fridge, definitely contact the housing office and explain to them that he has type 1 diabetes and that his medication must be refrigerated and he must have access to it at all times. I am sure he probably isn't the first T1 to stay in their dorms, so they probably have a system set up to accommodate him and my guess is that they will allow him to keep a small fridge in his room.

Also, I am not sure if I would agree to storing my insulin in a fridge that was outside of my room. First, I would be worried about who had access to the fridge and that my meds might be stolen. Second, I would be afraid that I wouldn't have 24/7 access to my insulin. I could just see myself dropping my vial of insulin and having it shatter on those hard tile floors at 3am and not being able to get a new bottle until the next morning.

 

Dayna, is there an option to "rent" a fridg for the dorm room? I have my younger son starting college in August. Both Ohio State and this new university have their own fridges in the dorms. Housing can tell you that. At OSU, I did ask for permission to bring in our own 2nd fridg because ds had 3 other roommates. The 2nd fridg request was granted.

There should be a department for student employment on campus. I know normally there are a ton of student employment opportunities. The dining halls alone require alot of employees. Often times they'll even let you work 1 or 2 hours a week - whatever you're available.

Exciting and apprehensive time isn't it? We're going through it now our second time. It's not much easier the second time around.

 

Found this section for student employment at BYU Hawaii. There's a contact person in this general section also if you want to ask questions.
http://hr.byuh.edu/students/howtoapply

 

RE: Books

When I was at college, one thing I learned especially in higher level courses was not to purchase the book until after the class began. At least in the field of study I was in (environmental biology) several of the instructors told us the first day of class that we really didn't need the book. In lower level classes I did usually need the book, but I was told by a friend not to purchase until after the first class, and it saved me a lot of money on books that were not needed.

Also, instead of using the campus bookstore, check online for used books. I know 10 years ago there was a website that sold used books for cheaper than I could get them at the bookstore. I don't know if that will be the same considering shipping to Hawaii, but it's worth checking into.

I hope he enjoys himself, that's a long way from home. Then again, who wouldn't enjoy Hawaii!

 

Fridge!!!

Well, I called over to BYUH and they said they would allow a fridge in the room, but you have to bring your own...so, we will have to get one sent to him! Yikes, I bet it is expensive to ship it, but the things we do for THE LOVE OF DIABETES!!!!! LOL Now to find a place to purchase his books the very cheepest possible! A grant for books would be nice

 

I'm sure they have stores in HI...he can buy a refrigerator there. Just check on the sizes b/c some colleges are picky about how big they can be.

As far as scholarships go, here is one that might help: http://www.diabetesscholars.org/college.html

We didn't find out about it until this year so Alex isn't eligible (only for incoming freshmen).

I've got to go now but I'll read and type more in a bit.....

 

I was thinking also about his buying a fridg when he's there if he had transportation that is. That could be tricky.

 

He'll only need the smallest size of little bar fridge -- I would have him buy it in Hawaii and bring it back in a cab. Surely cheaper than shipping from Van?

 

Will you be going with him to move him in to the dorms? I went with Alex when he went across the country to OR for college. I bought him a refrigerator and a bunch of other dorm stuff there so we didn't have to transport it across the country. There is a little bit of storage available for over the summer storage in the dorms so he stores the refrigerator there. The first summer he rented a storage unit nearby. This summer his roommate is storing some of his stuff for him (lives locally).

For books, find out if the college bookstore has started renting books yet. That seems to be a new thing and Alex's school will be starting that this year. I have no idea how that will compare $$$wise but it's got to be better than buying. Of course, used books, Amazon, other online sources and finding out which books he *really* needs are other ways to save money.

I agree with the comment that there should be plenty of on campus jobs available. Did he apply for financial aid? Alex got workstudy money thru FA and has worked some both years so far. That has helped out a lot $$wise.

Other stuff: find out if they have a pharmacy on campus or find a local pharmacy he can use. We now have a credit card thru our medical reimbursement plan thru dh's work and Alex keeps one of those to buy prescriptions and for any other medical expenses.

Have him introduce himself to the health center staff so they have at least met him. Ask if they have any sort of list they keep of kids with chronic conditions so they can contact him in situations like the H1N1 vaccine situation.

Feel free to ask questions. When Alex decided to go to OR, I pointed out that HI and AK are US states and he could have gone there if he wanted to get farther away from home! LOL But he's doing well.

 

Fridge

The sad part is that I will NOT be going with him to help him get settled. We simply can't afford to do that right now...We are scraping just to pay for his expenses and the cost keeps going up! I can only imagine what I will say once he gets there and calls and tells me he paid 4.oo for a bottle of water! LOL
I am thinking that we will have him try and buy one when he is in Honolulu and then somehow try to get it back to Laie with him. He is up by Turtle Bay somewhere. Should be tricky, but I think he will find a cute girl that might help him get it back! LOL

 

try half.com for books ..its the best i can find for a deal! ive had books for english classes as low as .75 ..they dont kill you with shipping either ...also there are sites where you can rent books and allot of colleges are moving towards doing this on campus as well so his school may offer this...some classes allow e-books as well if he has one of the e-readers or an ipad or itouch

also if you cant find them there get to the book store early as others have said and get used as well as check message boards on campus for students selling used books


now as for the computer they have walmarts and such there and most likely there is one on the island he is going to or has to travel to to get to where he is going so maybe that is an option

 

College Scholarships for students with Type 1

The Diabetes Scholars Foundation offers college scholarships to incoming freshmen with Type 1. The scholarships are open to all students (US citizens) in the United States. In the past three years we have awarded almost $300,000 ($5,000 each) in college scholarships to students with Type 1. We are the only foundation that offers scholarships open to all students with Type 1 diabetes. The scholarships are not based on need. We look at the whole student (ie grades, activities, volunteering, leadership, advocacy, an essay and letters of recommendation from both an endo and a high school counselor). The scholarship is very competitive. This year we received over 500 applications from 46 states.
Since your child is already a college student (or will be in the fall) they would not qualify. Please feel free to pass this along to anyone who will be a high school senior this year. Our applications are available online on our website at www.diabetesscholars.org in January.
Mary Podjasek, President

 

I'm cracking up here...

Sorry but I had to post this. I thought I'd google BYU Hawaii and see if there are stores nearby that would have a fridge. So I clicked on the maps link and it was for directions so just for fun, I put in an address near me to see what it would say. Check out directions 37 and 38!

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&u...ult&ct=directions-to&resnum=2&ved=0CDIQngIwAQ

Oh the link didn't work with my address in it.....just put in your address and see what it says.....

 

That is funny!

 

What an exciting and stressful time for you! Congrats to you for guiding your son through high school and on to the next big step.

My son just finished his freshman year and we found that we were able to save a lot of money on textbooks by buying through Amazon. A few of his books were about 20% of the cost being charged in the school bookstore. Matt's girlfriend rented a number of her books through a website called Chegg. She saved a lot of money by doing this.

http://www.chegg.com/

Good luck!

 

You guys are awesome!!! Keep the ideas coming!

Thank you ALL for your helpful hints for college life for my son. I feel very grateful that he has created the oppportunity for himself to get into college. Working at the high school, I see many kids who just don't make it...I truly have no idea what I did that instilled in him the importance of doing well in life but TAAAA DUHHHH !!! He did it. All so scary but SO exciting for me at the same time.

It is going to be a crazy journey I am sure, but thank you all for your responses. The link for the books is a great idea! I bookmarked it and sent it to Cameron. Keep the ideas coming!!! =)