[charla]

Another thing to plan for that I just thought of is extra gas if commuting/errands or for coming home on breaks/weekends.

Those extra fees for ds's major are going to add up into the multiple thousands of dollars over the five years. It's quite a big chunk.

And yes, ds found it better to go to the class or get the syllabus before buying the books. He paid for a very expensive book the first semester and never used it and the bookstore only wanted to buy it back for around $11.00.

And as you factor cost, you will want to remember that scholarships and grants may offset some of those expenses. And your son might be awarded several other things in the financial package like student loans and work study. One thing we were totally shocked about is that we were required as parents to take out a parent loan (or cough up the money upfront) up to a certain amount each year determined by some kind of income calculator based on the FAFSA. We will have to repay it same as a student loan upon ds's graduation.