<p>“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is a song by the Rolling Stones on their 1969 album Let It Bleed. ;)</p>
<p>My face is literally getting hot. I’m so embarrassed! Ha! Ha! My husband would shake his head at me. Oh my!</p>
<p>If only I could edit that!</p>
<p>I’m another one who agrees it’s better to have loved and lost… for most kids who have been told in advance that they must get both an acceptance AND enough financial / merit aid to make attending an expensive program affordable.</p>
<p>I love the stories above and we can relate. The process of auditions, and in my S’s case, interview/portfolio reviews, was both a challenge and a right of passage, helping him mature and–as others have mentioned–giving him a lot of important experience at putting himself out there. Not everyone gets an acceptance to a coveted program, so that’s a risk in itself. But for those who do get chosen, even if they cannot attend due to financial reasons, there is a definite self-esteem boost. It is one thing to be a star at the HS level, and among teachers and family, but they grow in confidence from the outside validation of faring well in a highly competitive arena. The cost to apply and travel to audition is high, but the experience can be priceless.</p>
<p>I agree that the financial aid picture seems to have changed rather drastically in the past 5 years since our older son went through the application year. In 2008, a CMU rep told an audience that they prided themselves by making competitive grant awards and we should feel free to appeal to their FinAid if our kids had received higher grant aid at peer schools. However, 3 years later this practice had already been stopped. One can still appeal an award, but the message is there is no guarantee to meet competitive offers, and while we know some students who got increases, our son did not and that made the school unaffordable.</p>
<p>I also agree that applying to a wide range of schools makes a lot of sense for those needing the best package, and for student with great HS stats as well as theatre ECs, applying to some great BA programs at schools with generous merit or FinAid is just smart.</p>
<p>LOL resrchmom!! Sounds like something I would do. May be back with some questions for you soon, as my S is considering adding Guthrie to his list.</p>
<p>My S will have be applying to a very wide range of schools too, but most of his safeties will be at BA schools, as he would be just as happy at one of those on his list, if he doesn’t get in, or we can’t afford a BFA school. So far he doesn’t have a " dream school" and I am hoping to keep it that way. I don’t think he is going to have time to visit too many schools, as he will be gone most of the summer at Northwestern, and then in the fall he will most likely be in his HS play. He will have time to see maybe one or two more schools, probably not until Nov. though. I am gearing up for the nail biting year:)</p>
<p>We’re here for you, 5boys, all throughout next year, too!!!</p>
<p>Thanks SO much MH… I am oh so grateful for that. I can’t tell you you how much I have learned from all of you this year. I truthfully can’t believe it is our turn at bat now. I am so thankful my S has such a positive and upbeat attitude about the whole thing. He is probably overly confident, but that is not always a bad thing… he is also realistic as well… a very good combination going in I think.</p>
<p>Really, that is the ONLY combination to have. Confident and realistic is the way to be. </p>
<p>At this point, are you guys building a list, or trying to whittle one down?</p>
<p>Well, my S seems to think he will have more clarity after his 6 weeks at Northwestern this summer. I have heard from many people that this program… as well as programs at BU, CMU, UM, help kids decide if the BFA is the direction they want to go in. He did attend a very selective program at Cal Arts 2 summers ago, that definitely simulated a BFA program, and he was all for it after that summer. He just has had some second thoughts in the past year about giving up the rest of his academic passions. Truthfully, I think he is going to go the BFA route… but we will see. His list is pretty long now, with half BFA programs and half BA’s. We went to a college fair last week put on by our HS,with a lot of schools in attendance. My S, as outgoing and gregarious as he is, walked up an chatted with almost every school. His question, " how is your theater program?" was always enthusiastically answered with positive remarks… LOL!! It didn’t help him narrow his list in the least. He definitely needs to narrow his list… So far he has Emerson and Elon as EA auditions…and Muhlenberg as an on campus audition for scholarship. This may whittle the list after he hears from any of them.</p>
<p>Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal this morning suggests that college tuition may be reaching a tipping point with schools falling short of their enrollment targets and offering record amounts of financial aid.</p>
<p>[Colleges</a> Cut Prices by Providing More Financial Aid - WSJ.com](<a href=“Colleges Cut Prices by Providing More Financial Aid - WSJ”>Colleges Cut Prices by Providing More Financial Aid - WSJ)</p>
<p>By the way, I wanted to say something about financial aid at CMU. CMU never promised to meet competitive offers so I’m not sure the situation has in fact changed. It is still their stated purpose “to compete with certain private institutions for students admitted under the regular decision plan” and applicants are encouraged to appeal awards on this basis. I don’t know if the number or amounts of grants have changed. </p>
<p>If anything has changed, however, it is mainly that CMU is now using larger and larger amounts of their own money, due to dwindling federal government resources–another complication for all of us.</p>
<p>Sorry, theater mom, if I misspoke. You know I love CMU and so does my son2, so it was with great reluctance he/we had to put that one aside. I’m happy to read that CMU is still offering to compete on their aid offers and it is certainly worth applying, if the school is the right fit.</p>
<p>And speaking of CMU, I cannot wait to see the new Star Trek movie. :)</p>
<p>I don’t know if I love CMU, madbean. I only wrote to make sure that prospective applicants knew that the school does make some concessions to its outrageous tuition. </p>
<p>Perhaps my most enjoyable experience at CMU, so far, was filling out our LAST EVER FINANCIAL AID application last month! If my D decides that she wants to go back to school, at some point, she can fill out her own forms. I will be available for consultation, free of charge.</p>
<p>What is this about the Star Trek movie?</p>
<p>Zachary Quinto–CMU grad, no?</p>
<p>VAMom1234, University of Richmond has a beautiful campus. There are quite a few alumni of U of Richmond working in theatres in and around the Washington DC area, especially as technicians in some of the larger Equity houses. Good Luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>U of R is one of the prettiest campuses…Richmond is a great city to go to college in, I went to VCU, U or R is much prettier!!!</p>
<p>The change over the past couple of years at CMU regarding meeting or beating another school’s financial aid package has to do less with federal funds and more with the fact that CMU’s endowment took a serious beating in the economic downturn. They lost nearly 25% of their endowment at the end of the last decade. They don’t use their endowment for operating costs, so they say the quality of their programs and research hasn’t suffered. Fair enough. But no matter how they spin it, it is certainly coming to roost now in a very real way and they are being much more guarded with their packages. And they’ve had some big tuition hikes over the past 7 or so years, and just when people need more help in a not so hot economy, the gap is getting wider. I figured the drama/mt kids were safe from this since they make up such a small percentage of the university, but I’ve heard from parents of accepted students here and “on the street” that the gap between what people can realistically pay and what CMU offers (even after financial aid review) is getting wider and wider.</p>
<p>CMU says it uses an larger share of its resources for financial aid but of course the share could be greater because the resources are smaller. I did notice the hit to their endowment but I would have assumed that they had gotten a lot of it back by now? At any rate, I can only really speak to my own experience. Over 4 years, any changes in FA have been in response to changes in our finances. This is not to say that the school is easily affordable or that the aid is generous. Although 4 years ago it was certainly better than, say, BU or NYU. But the experience of prospective students now, as opposed to 4 years ago, could be very different for all I know. I was just saying that their stated policy is the same. </p>
<p>Oh, and madbean, I’m embarrassed to see you know more about CMU grads than I do!</p>
<p>^^theater mom: you caught me in a slight crush. ;)</p>
<p>you have good taste</p>
<p>Did you see him (Quinto) on Fallon on Wednesday? Really charming, and obviously very smart.</p>