University of Florida
HUH Expert Parent2018-08-02T16:35:23-04:00University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611 (352) 392-3261 Congratulations! If you are on this page, you have a UF student! Read on to find out the insi [...]
Career Showcase
Michelle Balaun2019-08-17T13:18:18-04:00A Student Perspective Sometimes the thought of choosing a career is scary. Attending career showcase is important for all students no matter what year b [...]
Tax Time
Michelle Balaun2019-08-16T18:17:43-04:00Tax time is Always Right Around the Corner! Taxes, we have to admit, are not fun but necessary. As you are preparing your return or having a CPA prepare [...]
FAFSA
Michelle Balaun2019-08-26T17:28:57-04:00What is – FAFSA? First Applicants Find Substantial Assets, of course! FAFSA is the national Free Application for Federal Student Aid but, based on how [...]
Florida Prepaid, Show me the Money!
Michelle Balaun2019-08-02T11:06:26-04:00What Does It Pay For? Many of us who have lived in Florida, planned for our students’ education by taking advantage of the Florida Prepaid program. The [...]
Valentine’s Day Gift Guide
Michelle Balaun2019-04-09T17:02:17-04:00Sent With Love As far back as I can remember we always celebrated Valentine’s Day; it was a tradition I grew up with and continued when I became a mom. [...]
Favorite Apartment Rentals
Michelle Balaun2019-07-01T19:22:39-04:00Favorite Apartment Rentals Here are some great tips about our favorite apartment rentals. With both of my daughters, I have two, not one stayed in the d [...]
They’ve Been Accepted
Michelle Balaun2019-04-09T16:45:07-04:00They've Been Accepted Congratulations Class of 2023… It is great to be a Florida Gator for so many reasons. You can now take that sigh of relief that a [...]
Bright Futures
Michelle Balaun2019-07-02T13:28:58-04:00The Future Is So Bright You'll Need Shades! SEE END OF BLOG FOR CHANGES EFFECTIVE WITH THE 2020-2021 ACADEMIC SCHOOL YEAR Bright Futures has been a grea [...]
First Time Student Loan Borrower?
Michelle Balaun2019-08-02T11:39:15-04:00You'll Need to Do This. What is the Entrance Counseling? In July of 2016, the U.S. Department of Education made it a requirement that, in order to have [...]
Spring Break
Michelle Balaun2019-08-16T17:35:15-04:00Letting Off Steam before Finals Mention Spring Break to most parents and immediate visions of lawless partying comes to mind. I get it. I grew up in For [...]
Budget 101
Michelle Balaun2019-08-16T17:46:24-04:00Asking for Money? I can vividly remember being in college and having to make the dreaded call home to my father to ask for money. My parents had three d [...]
Ready for The Next Four Years
HUH Expert Parent2019-08-26T17:39:39-04:00Are U Ready For The Next Four Years? So you have a student ready to spend the next four years at UF? That means you will undoubtedly be visiting once or [...]
Meal Plan and Other Ways to Eat
Michelle Balaun2019-08-26T17:44:24-04:00Burgers and Pizza and Fries… Oh my A Guide to Meal Plans The start of college is right around the corner and many of you might be envisioning your stude [...]
Interning in New York City, Take a Bite of the Big Apple!
Michelle Balaun2019-08-02T11:04:34-04:00Who doesn’t want to live in New York City? I love New York! Ok, I am a little partial. I am a born and bred New Yorker, living in S. Florida for 25 plus [...]
Dress for Success and be ready for Adulting!
Michelle Balaun2019-08-16T17:22:44-04:00Time to look the part! As they get closer to graduation, one of the greatest changes our students are about to experience is abandoning their shorts, t- [...]
What U Should Do Before Heading to UF
HUH Expert Parent2019-08-26T17:36:43-04:00Before you leave! Before you leave to take your kid to college, there are a few items you will want to take care of that are extremely important. Most c [...]
Home Sweet Dorm
Michelle Balaun2019-08-26T17:21:28-04:00Is It Home Yet? You may be surprised at how one can transition a mass-produced, industrial-looking dorm room into a warm and inviting room/suite. And th [...]
Care Packages That Really Help
Michelle Balaun2019-08-26T17:19:20-04:00Special Care - Care Packages When my older daughter left for UF, I wavered between giving her space to find her way and wanting to hear all about her li [...]
Banks and Credit Unions at UF
Michelle Balaun2019-08-26T18:54:55-04:00Many Places to Grab Money, Banks Galore! Leaving for college comes with so many new things, but handling their own money can be one of the scariest. We [...]
Money, Money, Money
Michelle Balaun2019-08-02T11:32:29-04:00When Will Financial Aid Money Disburse? The time has come to pay for your college costs and panic sets in. I remember receiving my tuition statement fo [...]
Types of Student Loans and Your Options
Michelle Balaun2019-08-27T10:36:33-04:00What are your options? When I attended school back in 1979, my Dad had four of us in college at the same time. It was through student loans that my pare [...]
An Insider’s Guide to Campus Dorm Living at UF
Michelle Balaun2019-08-02T14:11:07-04:00We have the inside scoop on places to live on Campus! You can certainly read about the dorms and where to live on campus on the UF Housing and Residence [...]
Managing the Gap, when they are in between
Michelle Balaun2019-08-02T14:38:19-04:00Where Will They Live During the Gap? Although it feels like you just moved your students into their dorms, you now have to move them out. The worst part [...]
Health Insurance
Michelle Balaun2019-08-26T18:50:36-04:00The Plan for Insurance Students at many colleges today must have a health insurance plan that meets their University’s minimum requirement. And, if you [...]
Are U Ready For Some Football
Michelle Balaun2019-08-16T18:32:27-04:00You can almost hear the crowd roar! Now may not yet seem like the time to talk football, but if you are planning on coming up for a game in the fall, yo [...]
The ABC’s of 529 Savings Plans UF
Michelle Balaun2019-08-26T18:52:16-04:00What 529 Pays When you decide to have kids, your first thought is not how am I going to pay for college, but it might be your second. I made a decision [...]
Birthright Israel – Hillel
Michelle Balaun2019-04-07T14:18:47-04:00Young Jewish students trip. Birthright Israel is the gift of a free, 10-day trip to Israel designed for young adults of Jewish heritage, aged 18–32. M [...]
The Best Apps For Students
Michelle Balaun2019-08-01T20:31:14-04:00UF and College Studying Apps Remember when you were in college and everything was easily accessible via apps on your phone? No? Well, me either. Our kid [...]
The Stress of College
Michelle Balaun2019-06-04T17:42:24-04:00The Stress of College Stress. It happens to all of us, including our kids. As though balancing a full schedule, the welcome distraction of football sea [...]
Tutoring
HUH Expert Parent2019-09-10T15:13:15-04:00Challenges - Tutoring Can Help Students who attend UF, no different than many other highly sought-after colleges, will be faced not only with challengin [...]
Credit Cards for College Students
Michelle Balaun2019-08-19T10:43:57-04:00What Every Student Should Know Recently I told my daughter to go pay something with a check. She responded by asking me if she had those somewhere. She [...]
Spring Sports
Michelle Balaun2019-04-09T16:57:22-04:00There is always more than football! Spring may not have football games but there are tons of other sports to enjoy! When people think of UF sports, the [...]
Beauty and the Beast
Michelle Balaun2019-08-24T15:00:13-04:00Beauty and the Beast It's not just for fairy tales, getting the beauty treatment makes her happy. As the mother of girls, I know all too well that not [...]
Are Your Student’s Valuables Protected – Everything Safe?
Michelle Balaun2019-09-12T15:28:42-04:00Is Their Stuff Safe? One more thing to worry about: is the stuff safe? Right up there with the call from my college daughter that she lost her phone, ke [...]
Staying Fit and Keeping Freshman 15 At Bay
Michelle Balaun2019-04-09T16:57:54-04:00Freshman 15, Keeping Fit! Keeping fit counts, it helps mentally as well as physically. The phrase “Freshman 15” happens- it may not be 15, it may [...]
Getting There – Transportation
HUH Expert Parent2019-08-26T18:26:42-04:00Trains, Planes, and Automobiles...All the Transportation You Can Think Of Freshmen who bring their cars will quickly learn that parking during the fall [...]
Eating on a Budget
Michelle Balaun2019-07-29T10:55:38-04:00Budget Eating, Is Possible Getting your college kid to be eating and budgeting is a challenge. I have experimented with various approaches to teaching m [...]
Books, Books, Books
Michelle Balaun2019-08-26T18:42:09-04:00Book Time A lot has changed since I was a student but the one thing that has not is that textbooks are expensive. Sure the format is different, but the [...]
I’m Not Your Maid
Michelle Balaun2019-08-24T14:37:46-04:00Cleaning Services Needed? I never thought I would be saying this, but sometimes it is a good idea to hire a cleaning service for your students’ apartmen [...]
Fix it! Repair it!
Michelle Balaun2019-08-26T18:23:24-04:00Repair Shops Car, scooter or bike, oh my! At UF, you will find all in large numbers. Talk to any student about which is the most useful at UF and you’r [...]
Searching for Scholarships – Find Your Way
Michelle Balaun2019-09-08T13:13:40-04:00Searching for Scholarships We invested in Florida Pre-paid for our daughters and encouraged them to get as much as they could from Bright Futures Schola [...]
Food for Thought – Some Students Need Help
Michelle Balaun2019-08-02T11:33:41-04:00No Student Hungry, Food for All! Much like the national campaign No Kid Hungry®, there are many students at colleges throughout the United States that a [...]
Volunteering Turns Your Compassion into Action
Michelle Balaun2019-08-27T10:40:44-04:00Volunteering with passion is key. From personal experience, I have found that those who volunteer with a passion and find purpose in their work, have a [...]
Dropping A Class
Michelle Balaun2019-04-07T14:32:09-04:00Here's how to do it right. Drop Deadline April 12th Withdrawal with 25% Refund (W assigned to all Spring courses) is February 1st Dropping the Subject– [...]
Teaching Them to Budget for Life
Michelle Balaun2019-08-02T11:30:20-04:00My Best Budget Advice as a Parent Three times the charm. Well, I suppose that isn’t fair; all three of my kids are charming and adorable. The difference [...]
Sorting Out College Life – A Guide to Laundry
Michelle Balaun2019-09-11T14:59:44-04:00Laundry, the worst chore ever! I spent my daughter’s senior year of high school teaching her how to do laundry. I even tried using enticements (money) f [...]
Restaurants for Dinner Time
Michelle Balaun2019-08-26T18:31:57-04:00Dinner, Early or Late! Adam's Rib Co - Two locations in Gainesville. Consistently considered a must-visit for dinner after 10 years in Gainesville. Famo [...]