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Post by sld123 on May 2, 2009 7:43:55 GMT -5
possible to be discharged from meal plan as a 504 accomodation?
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Post by sld123 on May 2, 2009 7:48:06 GMT -5
v should be movin in to his 1st alone tommorrow, couple in the basement move up and he gets theirs. he shared a 3 bedrm when he was 17 for about 9 months so he has his feet wet.
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Post by healthy11 on May 2, 2009 8:43:06 GMT -5
sld, I'm sure v. will be fine. I think it's a bit more difficult to try and be a full-time student in an apartment because of the requirements to do independent studying, in addition to everything else.
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Post by sld123 on May 2, 2009 9:51:32 GMT -5
it will be hard , not much left after rent, utilities no health ins.
your ds knows how to do indept. studying already. what is the everythingelse?
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Post by sld123 on May 2, 2009 14:26:33 GMT -5
and another wkend where the couple again says they are too busy to move out/move upstairs. llord does not care. v is stuck as there just are not apts as cheap as this around v should be movin in to his 1st alone tommorrow, couple in the basement move up and he gets theirs. he shared a 3 bedrm when he was 17 for about 9 months so he has his feet wet.
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Post by healthy11 on May 2, 2009 14:42:45 GMT -5
sld, my son really doesn't do independent studying well. At least in a dorm, there are other kids who get together for "study sessions" and other people to ask questions of, if they're cramming late at night. There is a library to go to if quiet areas are needed. He would be sharing the apartment with other boys who have different class schedules; maybe one gets up early, while another wants to sleep late. Maybe one wants to entertain friends, while another needs quiet to study. Also, unlike having a job where you only go there once a day, I don't think my son understands how he needs to allow extra commuting time to go back and forth, back and forth, since his schedule isn't solid classes 8:30-5:00. It's in an old part of the city of Chicago, not the safest neighborhood. Even grocery stores aren't located within walking distance, so he'll be dependent on the bus or subway schedules. We'll see what happens; they haven't signed the lease yet.
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Post by wetmores on May 2, 2009 16:40:12 GMT -5
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Post by empeg1 on May 2, 2009 17:30:47 GMT -5
Healthy:
Even if your ds does not have classes from 8:30 to 5:00, there is no need for him to return to his apartment between classes. He can stay on campus and study in the library. No need to commute back and forth. A lunch can be packed or bought on campus, etc. I did the above when I was a student at U of Minn and I lived in St Paul. It was too expensive for me to take a bus more than twice a day and I couldn't afford the time it would take to commute back and forth. I stayed on campus until I was ready to leave for the day.
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Post by healthy11 on May 2, 2009 22:00:04 GMT -5
wetmores, yes, it's primarily the food issue. The college only has one cafeteria, it closes at 7:00, and they are very restrictive on their meal plan choices. The selection is limited. You can't even get snacks between regularly scheduled meal times, unless you pay extra. They only allow one small refrigerator per dorm room, (not per student) and no microwaves unless they're rented from the school, and no other cooking appliances of any kind. My son "eats constantly" when his meds wear off. At 6ft. tall and barely 140 lbs, food is an important consideration. (However, I doubt he's considered the extra time it will take to grocery shop, plan meals in advance, cook, and then clean everything!)
empeg, I'm trying to convince my son of exactly what you've stated...He seems to think otherwise, but he's always been a kid who has to learn for himself, not listening much to what I say!
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Post by sld123 on May 3, 2009 7:28:24 GMT -5
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Post by healthy11 on May 3, 2009 9:18:25 GMT -5
sld, thanks, but I've talked to several ADHD coaches and their overwhelming opinion is that teens are the hardest to deal with. Unless the kids themselves WANT the advice (not that the parents are asking for a coach's assistance) it's a waste of money and time. My son insists on doing things HIS way, and usually doesn't recognize problems until he experiences them for himself.
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Post by sld123 on May 3, 2009 9:46:31 GMT -5
our sons have a bunch in common
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Post by healthy11 on May 3, 2009 11:40:59 GMT -5
Most teens are that way!
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Post by sld123 on May 3, 2009 12:06:18 GMT -5
it is a bit different for 2e young adults though
replies are atleast, 'i'll take it under advisement', to suggestions
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Post by sld123 on May 3, 2009 12:33:22 GMT -5
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Post by sld123 on May 3, 2009 12:37:30 GMT -5
Looking for a Third Roommate for Apartment in Lincoln Park Post your profile I have a room in Chicago Contact Member General information Address: Wolfram & Diversey Neighborhood: Lincoln Park, North side, Chicago City: Chicago Rent: $650 per Month(s),$151 per Week Available: 20 Aug 2009 Minimum Stay: 12 Months Roommate description Gender: Female Orientation: Straight Smoker: Non Smoker Occupation: Student Age: 19 yrs old Pet: No Preferred roommate description Gender: Doesn't Matter Orientation: Doesn't Matter Smoker: Doesn't Matter Occupation: Doesn't Matter Age Range: from 16 to 99 yrs. old Couple: Not Accepted Room and apartment description Dwelling type: Apartment Floor #: 2 Room type: Single Room # of BR available: 1 # of bathrooms: 1 Parking: No Pet: Not Disclosed Apartment Sq ft.: 0 Sq. Ft. Room amenities: Hardwood floor, Air conditioning, Closet, Cable jack Home amenities: Washer/Dryer, Balcony/Patio, Internet, Cable ready, Dishwasher Comments: I am a 19 yr old female college student. I am moving into an apartment with my 20 yr old female college friend this August and we need a third roommate (male or female is fine). The apartment is located in Lincoln Park, off the Diversey stop on the Brown Line, and is a ten minute walk from DePaul University. There are 3 bedrooms, one bathroom, with a spacious kitchen and living room. The landlord does not allow pets. All hardwood floors and a nice little deck for BBQ! The apartment also has its own washer and dryer. The lease starts starts in August and is for 12 months. The rent is $650/month plus electric. We are both pretty laid back, but we do have a few requirements: -We preferably would like someone between the ages of 18-25 -No drugs/ not a huge partier -Smokers are ok, but not in the apartment. Sorry! -Relatively tidy, keep the clutter to your own room -Reliable, we need to know your rent will be paid on time -Financially stable (we're in college, we know money can be tight but we don't want someone struggling to keep their head above water) -No drama! If you respect our privacy, we will respect yours www.easyroommate.com/chicago-roommate/looking-for-a-third-roommate-for-apartment-in-lincoln-park/H09040415148654/2009040401514816386wow your prices are sooo high, like double ours
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Post by healthy11 on May 3, 2009 21:39:47 GMT -5
Yes, prices are very high in Chicago (although not as bad as NY or Boston, they say) and since it's not a "college community," all apartments insist on year-long leases, even though school is in session 9 months. The "bedrooms" in some of the older units are about 5 ft. X 7 ft, so there isn't even room for a desk and the bed, which is why studying in the "common area living room" could be more challenging.
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Post by healthy11 on Jul 24, 2009 8:18:06 GMT -5
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Post by majorv on Jul 24, 2009 23:20:19 GMT -5
Their "essentials" list is pretty comprehensive. I'm counting on two college kids getting by on a lot less, though. We and dd's roommate's parents have decided that we're just providing bare minimums for now. The more we get the more we have to store during the summer months!
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Post by healthy11 on Jul 25, 2009 9:21:14 GMT -5
Majorv, my son, only yesterday, found an apartment that he and two "friends" decided to rent. They are totally clueless, and the one kid (who I met last night for the first time; I haven't met the other at all) admitted his parents are somewhat apprehensive, because he can't cook a thing. I asked if the guys figured out who will be getting utilities set up (ie, they need to have a credit history) and the kid said "I don't have a credit card." I've requested his parent's phone number, and am going to be calling them this morning, to try to figure out if they really are serious...THEN I hope to be able to get them to agree on who will bring what "bare essentials." It's a mess.......
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Post by majorv on Jul 25, 2009 9:53:35 GMT -5
That's what we're doing. Roommate's parents are setting up the electricity and I will be setting up the cable/internet. We can bypass putting up deposits that way. Fortunately, I already know the girl and her parents so it's a little easier to do this. Both girls seem to see this as their independence. Roommate is bringing a Great Dane puppy and dd wants to take BF's lab. I can already see that this might only last one year...
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Post by healthy11 on Jul 25, 2009 21:13:13 GMT -5
My son's place said "small fish are okay" but nothing 4-legged.
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Post by healthy11 on Jul 30, 2009 9:54:34 GMT -5
RENTER'S INSURANCE:
I have spent about 10 hours trying to get a straight story on renter's insurance, calling half a dozen companies (Allstate, Farmers, Countrywide, State Farm, Geico, and an Independent agent who quoted Erie rates) It's an absolute mess. First thing to know is that renter's insurance generally covers property loss AND liability. Liability could be from someone visiting them in an apartment and falling, or someone cooking and leaving the stove on which starts a fire, or a tub overflowing and water damage to their apartment and ones below it, or even negligence, like kids at a party getting out of control. (Although my son's lease says absolutely no parties are allowed, a "party" could be just two other kids over, horsing around, and one gets injured or damages the place...)
For the most part, agencies claim a college student's personal property should be covered under the same terms as their parent's homeowner's insurance, for up to 10% of the insured value of the parent's policy. (In other words, if your homeowners covers $200,000 of contents, then the college student's belongings are covered up to $20,000.) I doubt most college kids have anything of significant value beyond their electronics. However, they're also subject to the same deductible rates as the parents. On our homeowners, we carry a high deductible, so if our son's laptop got stolen, we might just as well buy a new one, than pay the deductible and have a claim showing up against us. (Because having made a claim raises your rates for several years.)
Now, if you want your kid to get their own renter's policy for property loss, with a lower deductible, that's a possibility, because (as an example) if the total cost of the policy is $300, and they want to raise rates 50% if you make a claim, you're still only talking $450. However, if they keep rates raised for several years, the difference adds up.
We've pretty much decided the main reason to get renter's insurance is the liability concern, especially since we don't "know" the other kids my son is going to be living with. As the agents have told us, on one hand, if something bad happened, and somebody sued a student without insurance, they'd probably garnish future wages. If students have liability insurance, usually lawyers just settle for what the policy value is. While some companies will sell renter's insurance on a unit, so roommates can share the cost, most insurance agents have said that's not a good idea, especially if you don't know your roommates well. If one person makes a claim, even if it's not YOUR child, the rate increase will affect everyone, and that's not something we want to deal with.
My advice on getting renter's insurance is to start with whatever company you have your homeowner's coverage with, to verify that they'll cover college student's property to some percentage. If your child's auto coverage is with another company, call them, too. They may also give you a discount on a separate renter's policy, since your child might be eligible for a "bundled" rate.
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Post by healthy11 on Jul 1, 2010 8:14:14 GMT -5
As the first year of my son's apartment lease draws to a close, I will try to point out some of what we've (hopefully he's) learned: First and foremost, it's a mistake to get an apartment/rent a house without knowing ALL of the kids who will be staying there. In my son's case, it was a 3-bedroom apartment, and he knew one boy from his classes, but did not know that boy's "friend." Apparently, the 2nd boy didn't really know the 3rd kid very well, either, and the 3rd kid always had "excuses" why he couldn't meet with us before move-in day.... To make a long story short, that 3rd boy did not cooperate in terms of agreeing what "common items" (ie, table, chairs, kitchenware, etc) to bring ahead of time. He would NEVER do dishes (in fact, he'd use my son's or the other guy's plates/utensils and then claim "they weren't his dirty things...") and worse than anything, he has an anger management problem. It is unclear if that's fueled by a drug habit and/or gambling, but my son ended up being threatened by the 3rd boy, who was in a rage and using a baseball bat to hit things one day. (My son filed a police report for assault against the kid.) The second issue that caused huge headaches for my son this past year was the matter of security. In most cases, students probably don't have to worry as much about forced-entry break-ins, but my son's apartment was the upper floor of a 2-story house. There weren't a lot of other students "coming and going" all the time, so it was probably easier for "opportunistic burglars" to watch for signs of occupancy (ie, were a lot of lights on?) After the second robbery (their laptops and other electronics were stolen) then the landlord installed a burglar alarm system, but it's only good if they remember to use it. They shouldn't give keys or entry codes to anyone else, either. In all cases, even in dorms, students HAVE to keep their doors locked when they're not in their rooms/apartments to minimize chances of things "disappearing." I would also re-emphasize the importance of having a plan/spreadsheet that outlines who is paying for which items (especially utility costs) and "even up" with all roommates on a monthly basis. Personally, I think it's best if each kid SHOWS their bills/receipts to the others, because again, my son ended up having trouble with the 3rd boy in his apartment; he was trying to charge us for HIS "service fees" and "late payment fees." There were other minor problems during this past year that we could have lived without, but now that we're entering the last month of their year-long lease, there are bound to be new "headaches." My son has decided to transfer to a different college for next semester, so we need to remove all of his belongings. My son says the 2nd roommate is going to commute from home next year, and we think the 3rd kid flunked out. My son said the roommates "sublet" their bedrooms to some guys taking summer school classes. The landlady has every right to "show" the apartment to prospective new tenants before the end of the month. My son (and the others) need to clean the place thoroughly, in order to get back the security deposits. I don't know how to ensure it's done, with other kids occupying the apartment, but I guess time will tell.
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Post by healthy11 on Jul 2, 2010 15:11:09 GMT -5
OMG ~ It's worse than I expected... Today we went to the apartment to help take some of my son's furniture out, and the moment he opened the front door, the one kid laying on the sofa said, "Is your mom with you?" I was a few steps behind, and walked in to a pig sty. The guys who are subletting the apartment from my son's roommates are messier than the awful roommate my son had, who left moldy unwashed dishes in the sink, and who still hasn't removed the damn bongs that he brought when he first moved in. The subletting guys have dirty dishes, and then some..... These idiots (apparently they are going to be Seniors???) had garbage everywhere, including half-eaten fast-food containers and empty bottles/cans throughout the bedrooms, living room, kitchen, and even the bathroom. They have been too lazy to walk downstairs to put their garbage bags in the trash bin, so they had MAGGOTS in the pile on the back deck. (My son took the hose and managed to clean them off.) To say I am p.o.'d is an understatement. The apartment now is infested with fruit flies. I am amazed they don't have rodents or roaches (my son's bedroom, which was padlocked, didn't show anything in the traps that he has.) I screamed and hope I made it clear to them that if we don't get our security deposit back, I will hold them responsible, because the apartment was in reasonable shape the weekend before they moved in, after I spent several hours cleaning the kitchen last month. It still needed another once-over, especially the floors and stove, but it didn't need fumigating then, like it does now. I called my husband to "vent," because he is, after all, the one who co-signed the lease in the first place, against my better judgement, and he seemed to understand the magnitude of the problem. Unfortunately, we have no paperwork signed by any of the guys subletting the place from my son's roommates, because they aren't paying my son. (We are still paying our 1/3, even though my son isn't staying in the place.) Can you tell I'm beyond frustrated? It goes back again, I guess, to knowing the people you allow your kids to rent with. Obviously, my son didn't know much, and so he knows even less about who they opted to sublet to.
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Post by majorv on Jul 2, 2010 22:13:18 GMT -5
That's pretty bad. They have a lot of work to do before the lease runs out don't they? Bet y'all end up having to clean it up.
Knowing who your renting with does help but isn't a guarantee. My daughter roomed with her HS friend in a dorm the first year. They decided to rent an apartment last year. Neither of us quite realized how much of a slob her friend really was until she saw how she left the kitchen and bathroom. I went with my dd to get some of her clothes for the summer and I couldn't believe the pile of dirty dishes in the sink, caked with dirty food. The bathroom was covered in clothes and towels. Maybe she's worse when my daughter isn't around. Between her housekeeping and the Great Dane she insists on keeping there, I don't expect we'll see the security deposit back whenever they move out.
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Post by healthy11 on Jul 3, 2010 11:57:57 GMT -5
I told my son that if they don't get the security deposits back (around $500 per person) then he will be reimbursing us. My son was not successful in finding a job this summer; if he doesn't want to be further in the hole, his job is to get the others to clean the place, or do it himself.
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Post by empeg1 on Jul 4, 2010 0:22:15 GMT -5
Wow, when I was a college student and lived in an apartment, my essentials were below bare bones. My senior year at UC Berkeley, 4 of us moved into a one bedroom apartment. We couldn't afford the rents otherwise and we wanted to live on the safer, quieter, saner, north side of campus, which was more expensive. Two of us took the living room and then two the only bedroom. The dining room became our living room, a door became our table (propped on the couch on one side and then bricks on the other side; taken down at the end of a meal), a bookcase was made from boards bought at a recycling place and bricks, and well, not a whole lot of stuff. It worked. Our apartment was the gathering place for local friends and those who came to visit CAL from afar. For Thanksgiving we hosted all of our friends for turkey dinner. We sat on the floor as no way did we have the table or seats for all. No matter. We had fun, studied, and did not suffer from the lack of amenities. The undergrad library became my home away from home when I got serious. it worked.
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Post by healthy11 on Jul 4, 2010 19:49:32 GMT -5
Empeg, if my son had been a senior, I would have hoped he'd have known more about the kids he was living with. We did get most of his furnishings from Goodwill and Craigslist, plus he used some things from my deceased mom's house. It's better than having to use a door as a table, like you did, and the stuff should be good enough to take to another student apartment someday, but for now, having him go back into a dorm is looking REALLY good. His current apartment situation keeps getting worse and worse...I decided to call up the parents of the roommates whose names are on the lease, since my son hasn't had any luck calling the kids, and tell them they need to "supervise" their sublease guys, who are trashing the place. The a-hole Asian kid's father said, "it no matter; they not get security deposit back anyway ~ it's for the last month rent" (which I assume means he didn't even pay this month's rent, and is assuming his son will forefit the remainder, so he has no plans to help clean up the place.) Then the other kid's mother hung up on me when I asked what their plans were to remove his belongings.
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Post by dwolen on Jul 4, 2010 20:43:46 GMT -5
What a hassle! You really get to know people when you are roomies with them. I hope future roomie situations are better in the future. Healthy11, since you refer to the ethnicity of the worse roomie, is it safe to assume that your family is not of Asian origin?
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