WUSTL Class of 2013 Forum

[fl0w]

Am I the only one that finds WUSTL's mandatory health insurance ridiculous? I can understand a requirement to show proof of coverage, but to actually force students into their own plan is crazy. (How is this even legal?) The only legitimate reason I can think of is cost saving to WUSTL. They save a TON by funneling everyone through their student health center.

you're probably right that it saves them money...in which case what they're doing makes sense.....people probably don't care too much since it costs $500 and while tuition is over 40k. i'm thinking many will just be covered under 2 health insurance plans, their parent's and the schools. i, myself, don't plan on asking my mom to drop me from her insurance.

i think it's awesome that they have a plan. people like me can't be on their parents' plan and my coverage is done at the end of this month. And it's so so so so much cheaper than COBRA. you guys might not have an idea of how lucky you are.

[camstant]

Did someone say they had set up direct deposit with the university already? if so, howd you do it?

[2013esq]

Awesome Rock Chalk! I know there's more people out there who wanna come! Preference for a place? I moved in Friday too lol. PM me if you're interested in getting lunch sometime as we wait for everyone else to get here (slow pokes!).

That's cool, are you in the CWE? I'm currently working downtown so it would actually be more convenient to do lunch there, would that be okay for you?

I'm in STL, too. Starting Sonnenschein next week but I'd love to meet you all for lunch since we only meet in the evenings.

PS: Rock Chalk - I was only in Lawrence for a night but I did get to hang on Mass Ave for a minute. Cute town. Good ice cream.

[fl0w]

Did someone say they had set up direct deposit with the university already? if so, howd you do it?

yes, i set it up. you do it on WebSTAC. In the billing section.

[publiuspublicola]

Enjoy (and get ready for that first dance party): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFz2WkVAk38

[ohnine]

Oy.. Just got off of the waitlist. Serious curveball. Is anybody still looking for a roommate?

[quadsixm]

I'm having trouble setting up my WUSTL email. I need a key/login to set up email, but I don't have one of those. It wasn't in my acceptance email this week, and it wasn't in the "set up your email" message, either. How the crap do I get a WUSTL key??

[Harry Ballsogna]

Am I the only one that finds WUSTL's mandatory health insurance ridiculous? I can understand a requirement to show proof of coverage, but to actually force students into their own plan is crazy. (How is this even legal?) The only legitimate reason I can think of is cost saving to WUSTL. They save a TON by funneling everyone through their student health center.

you're probably right that it saves them money...in which case what they're doing makes sense.....people probably don't care too much since it costs $500 and while tuition is over 40k. i'm thinking many will just be covered under 2 health insurance plans, their parent's and the schools. i, myself, don't plan on asking my mom to drop me from her insurance.

i think it's awesome that they have a plan. people like me can't be on their parents' plan and my coverage is done at the end of this month. And it's so so so so much cheaper than COBRA. you guys might not have an idea of how lucky you are.

I'm aware of the cost of COBRA - I deal with continuation of coverage on a daily basis. I think it would be great if WUSTL actually "offered" coverage, as opposed to forcing enrollment.

WUSTL's health insurance is cheap ($775 for basic medical/dental/prescription) because its plan design is very weak. If you actually use medical services, you might be paying a lot more thank you think. Anyways, I think it's a good idea to check out the Summary Plan Description before you go to the Doctor so you aren't hit with fees you didn't expect. You will find things like this:

"Physician’s Office
Visit Expenses: Covered Medical Expenses are payable as follows after the Annual Deductible has been
satisfied:
Preferred Care: After a $20 per visit copay, 100% of the Negotiated Charge."
http://www.aetnastudenthealth.com/schoo ... re1011.pdf

This means you have to pay the full deductable before the $20 copay kicks in for a normal office visit. This is basically unheard of for a regular office visit lol. This is not normal. Its also not normal to force a group into a certain sponsored health plan, and then require the use of 2-3 primary care physicians (the student health center). There's lots more but I'll stop there. Anyone feel free to PM with any questions on this stuff.

[publiuspublicola]

Am I the only one that finds WUSTL's mandatory health insurance ridiculous? I can understand a requirement to show proof of coverage, but to actually force students into their own plan is crazy. (How is this even legal?) The only legitimate reason I can think of is cost saving to WUSTL. They save a TON by funneling everyone through their student health center.

you're probably right that it saves them money...in which case what they're doing makes sense.....people probably don't care too much since it costs $500 and while tuition is over 40k. i'm thinking many will just be covered under 2 health insurance plans, their parent's and the schools. i, myself, don't plan on asking my mom to drop me from her insurance.

i think it's awesome that they have a plan. people like me can't be on their parents' plan and my coverage is done at the end of this month. And it's so so so so much cheaper than COBRA. you guys might not have an idea of how lucky you are.

I'm aware of the cost of COBRA - I deal with continuation of coverage on a daily basis. I think it would be great if WUSTL actually "offered" coverage, as opposed to forcing enrollment.

WUSTL's health insurance is cheap ($775 for basic medical/dental/prescription) because its plan design is very weak. If you actually use medical services, you might be paying a lot more thank you think. Anyways, I think it's a good idea to check out the Summary Plan Description before you go to the Doctor so you aren't hit with fees you didn't expect. You will find things like this:

"Physician’s Office
Visit Expenses: Covered Medical Expenses are payable as follows after the Annual Deductible has been
satisfied:
Preferred Care: After a $20 per visit copay, 100% of the Negotiated Charge."
http://www.aetnastudenthealth.com/schoo ... re1011.pdf

This means you have to pay the full deductable before the $20 copay kicks in for a normal office visit. This is basically unheard of for a regular office visit lol. This is not normal. Its also not normal to force a group into a certain sponsored health plan, and then require the use of 2-3 primary care physicians (the student health center). There's lots more but I'll stop there. Anyone feel free to PM with any questions on this stuff.

The plan is pretty standard of any Student Health Center oriented insurance. The section you quoted refers to a physician's office visit, which will almost never be necessary since you can go to the student health center for only a small fee (discussed in the section just above what you've quoted on the brochure).

[fl0w]

Hey all. In case you were curious all of your bill information for the Fall semester is posted on webstac. It has your anticipated loan amounts, your scholly amounts and your fees.

I double checked it with the spreadsheet I'd made ahead of time to make sure they were doing it right, I would recommend others check to make sure everything is right as well.

[fl0w]

additionally, I can now access my @wustl account directly.

For those of you that had done some setup already, next time you try to login with your WUSTL key it will prompt you to register for "go wustl". After completing that process you can go to outlook.com to access your @wustl email address. Directions on that process are at

http://go.wustl.edu/

The only email in my inbox is concerning my successful registration of "go wustl" so nobody is missing any emails by not having access to their @wustl account at this time.

edit:
personally i plan on never logging into this again, as I will be having it all forwarded to my gmail. But just wanted to post this information for those that are interested.

[najumobi]

it sucks that wustl's email is on a microsoft exchange server...going to have to switch from thunderbird to outlook....

[rhit2004]

it sucks that wustl's email is on a microsoft exchange server...going to have to switch from thunderbird to outlook....

Thunderbird can just retrieve the mail from webmail.law.wustl.edu ---- that is how my wustl e-mail is currently set up via Thunderbird.

[najumobi]

it sucks that wustl's email is on a microsoft exchange server...going to have to switch from thunderbird to outlook....

Thunderbird can just retrieve the mail from webmail.law.wustl.edu ---- that is how my wustl e-mail is currently set up via Thunderbird.

hmmm..thunderbird finds webmail.law.wustl.edu but my username and password isn't getting me in.
so you've set incoming mail to --> webmail.law.wustl.edu?
and use your webstac login id as username?

[publiuspublicola]

Just bought a ThinkPad today for $379.80. The sticker price was $900, but outlet.lenovo.com has some killer deals. This laptop was rated as "new," i.e. it had been bought and returned but the package was never opened, and it was still nearly 60% off. Their discounts on refurbished units are even better. If you're like me and can't shell out nearly 2k for a MacBook Pro (though I wish I could!), Lenovo has consistently put out the best PC laptops over the past couple decades. I'm sad to be returning to Windows, but pretty pumped about this deal.

[camstant]

Just bought a ThinkPad today for $379.80. The sticker price was $900, but outlet.lenovo.com has some killer deals. This laptop was rated as "new," i.e. it had been bought and returned but the package was never opened, and it was still nearly 60% off. Their discounts on refurbished units are even better. If you're like me and can't shell out nearly 2k for a MacBook Pro (though I wish I could!), Lenovo has consistently put out the best PC laptops over the past couple decades. I'm sad to be returning to Windows, but pretty pumped about this deal.

+1 got a new thinkpad about a month ago, its awesome. Honestly don't understand how people can pay more than double for a mac compared to something like this that seems a lot more practical imo...

[Harry Ballsogna]

Just bought a ThinkPad today for $379.80. The sticker price was $900, but outlet.lenovo.com has some killer deals. This laptop was rated as "new," i.e. it had been bought and returned but the package was never opened, and it was still nearly 60% off. Their discounts on refurbished units are even better. If you're like me and can't shell out nearly 2k for a MacBook Pro (though I wish I could!), Lenovo has consistently put out the best PC laptops over the past couple decades. I'm sad to be returning to Windows, but pretty pumped about this deal.

I'm doing the same thing... Lenovo outlet has amazing deals. I have two Lenovo's - one for home and one from work. They are both diesel. I have to give the one from work back, and the only reason I am getting a new personal laptop is because I want something more up to date with increased portability.

Thinkpads are built like tanks. I personally don't even want a 2000 dollar laptop when I'll be carting it around all the time and taking it in and out of bag 5x a day.

[2013esq]

Hey all. In case you were curious all of your bill information for the Fall semester is posted on webstac. It has your anticipated loan amounts, your scholly amounts and your fees.

I double checked it with the spreadsheet I'd made ahead of time to make sure they were doing it right, I would recommend others check to make sure everything is right as well.

Mine looks like I'm actually getting a little more money back than I thought. Is yours the same? Also, do you know when we'll get our refund? I already set up my direct deposit. I thought I saw somewhere that we get it the first day of school (Aug 30) but the bill is actually due Aug 20 so I wonder if we'll get it then. I might call on Monday to ask just so I can finish getting my budget together.

[J-tow10]

So anyone else who uses a Blackberry having trouble syncing it with Outlook? I guess I could just forwarded my mail to Gmail but I kind of wanted to keep it separate...

[jumpropeck]

Whoaaa i'm getting refunded way less than I had budgeted.

It's cool though -- i'm not really into eating or socializing.

[2013esq]

So anyone else who uses a Blackberry having trouble syncing it with Outlook? I guess I could just forwarded my mail to Gmail but I kind of wanted to keep it separate...

I set mine up on my Blackberry. You have to use the email address listed in webstac under "sends to" it should be your WUSTLkey@go.wustl.edu

[publiuspublicola]

In non-tech news, saw "Inception" on Wednesday. I have officially bought into the hype -- the movie was freakin' awesome. Anyone else?

[fl0w]

Just bought a ThinkPad today for $379.80. The sticker price was $900, but outlet.lenovo.com has some killer deals. This laptop was rated as "new," i.e. it had been bought and returned but the package was never opened, and it was still nearly 60% off. Their discounts on refurbished units are even better. If you're like me and can't shell out nearly 2k for a MacBook Pro (though I wish I could!), Lenovo has consistently put out the best PC laptops over the past couple decades. I'm sad to be returning to Windows, but pretty pumped about this deal.

+1 got a new thinkpad about a month ago, its awesome. Honestly don't understand how people can pay more than double for a mac compared to something like this that seems a lot more practical imo...

for someone like me a macbook pro is the only option. i've used thinkpads for years for work and they are indeed awesome. but for personal use i need something that will cut my music, create and edit my videos, and handle everything i want to do professionally. the mac is just built around my lifestyle as a dancer. practicality really is all about what you actually are going to use the machine for.

For people that are only getting a computer for school... i don't really understand why you need a high end mac. if you like macs, cool, but you don't need something with enough power to pull a tractor.

[ninano]

Thanks for making me feel bad about my MAC purchase...I just needed a computer but I was worried about catching a virus with a PC.

Btw, Im currently in STL bored out of my mind. What are upcoming events in STL for a possible WUSTL law student meet-up?

[najumobi]

Whoaaa i'm getting refunded way less than I had budgeted.

It's cool though -- i'm not really into eating or socializing.

ha