@morgan830 - Did the FA letter include need-based aid or just merit aid? I think it’s really, really important not to fall into the “dream school” trap at this stage in the process - okay, not ever but especially now. Any school your D gets into and likes that you can afford is the BEST school for her. The location for Pace is fabulous and obviously it’s a great program but being a bit farther out of NY for less money may end up your best option. Don’t go nuts with worrying yet - there’s plenty of time for pulling your hair out when all the acceptances are in. Make sure your D knows that it’s in her best interest to minimize debt too and ask her to aim high but keep an open on “best fit” until all the acceptances and FA awards are in. Don’t despair, mama!
@NYart15 Darn right about all that money they’ll be making after graduation…
… of course, they’ll be making it on a copier in a basement somewhere. Hope they don’t get caught; those prison shows are awful.
@CaMom13 the second letter included merit and financial aid. Still a hefty price tag! You are so right… we have had several conversations about all the factors that should go into this decision. Sometimes it just helps hearing it from multiple sources. She’s gotten an acceptance from Baldwin Wallace with a pretty nice package- and she knows that it’s a wonderful option. Nyc is just the dream, you know ?
@NYAndOne and @NYart15 - you guys are just cracking me up! I am hoping my child makes her subsistance-level income on the right side of the law… although prison helped Roxie Hart’s career take off in Chicago so maybe counterfeiting has an upside…
@morgan830 - if BW is affordable you are sitting pretty! There’s plenty of time for her to get to NYC.
Another financial note, that I’m sure you all know already, but those packages include Parent Plus loans, not just student loans. I’ve said this before, so I sound like a broken record! It’s a very personal decision whether or not you want to take out Parent Loans, but since my husband is close to retirement, we could not. And our EFC was very high. D had to turn down a top school, and take herself off the waitlists (she was on a bunch) of several that let her know there wouldn’t be money left if she came off the WL. She ended up coming off one at an affordable school, so no luckily, no loans.
And our MT D who graduated & lives in NYC pursuing the dream is working at Lululemon and a Pilates studio (training to teach) and living paycheck to paycheck (no basement money, lol). She also babysits for extra money. No complaints - she is deliriously happy. She has a very small student loan that we are paying for her. She would have a hard time making huge loan payments.
@MTmom2017 thank you for sharing. It is a hard and very personal decision on how much debt we are willing to take on for them. Sigh. Hopefully a beautiful happy medium will fall into place
@morgan830 Big Agree. Every family has different resources, kids have different goals and different personalities. There is no “right” answers when it comes to the financial stuff.
That said… I’m not a fan of any system that produces artists that can’t produce art due to enormous debt burdens. And it’s practically immoral to require today’s student artists to take on extra debt so that the school can build stuff that attracts future artists (who will, undoubtedly, pay through the nose to avail themselves of the new facilities). Yes, I’m looking at that Pace fee.
Pace does have very generous merit aid and so many of the BFA applicants qualify for “merit” that I wonder if that extra 5k isn’t their way of equalizing the funds available for their BA candidates. Not defending the cost but when we were going through the process I was actually surprised they would automaticallly offer the same merit aid (based on GPA and test scores) to BA and BFA students.
ITA @NYAndOne on the debt but just as artists aren’t paid much - the performing arts takes money and teachers shouldn’t be underpaid either. The overall cost of college (especially in a high cost area) is mind-blowing even without the expense of new facilities. It’s not a challenge unique to artists - lots of seniors will face the dilemma of dream school vs less expensive school in April. Our kids just have an extra incentive to stay in the range of “affordable” because they won’t be booking comfortably salaried jobs at graduation.
@NYAndOne, excellent point. I read an article or essay not long ago that pointed out that it’s SO important for theater to reflect a wide diversity of perspectives and life experiences…yet increasingly, the system is set up so that only rich, privileged people can afford to go into theater (as actors, playwrights, directors or casting directors), and that will hurt the art form in the long run. There are so many stories to be told, and we need artists from all walks of life to tell them.
@NYAndOne @actorparent1 it is really hard to breathe when these all in price tags come in— and we’re torn about what’s best for our kids that have worked sooo hard. These schools are EXCELLENT in the marketing department and these kids can’t even comprehend the payments on $60-80k or MORE in student loan debt. As a single parent it’s hard to swallow taking on that much extra debt as well. I think my D knows deep down that it’s either nyc for college and then back home because of enormous debt or a little more reasonably priced school (they’re ALL expensive!) and nyc after.
@CaMom13 Pace has offered a very generous merit scholarship with even a little extra — it’s still over $40k. D got pretty same amount of merit from BW and Webster though so…
@morgan830 -When you have all your acceptances in hand, before eliminating the more expensive “dream” school, call them and see if they will match or perhaps come close to matching one of your other offers. This works best with similar programs (e.g., a competing BFA offered more than the dream BFA). They typically say that they won’t do this, but we were lucky when my S’s first choice closed the gap (somewhat-not 100%) with something they called “grant” money. I was extremely nervous when I asked - and after I asked, I contacted the school’s theatre department to ask for their help with the merit aid department, but am delighted every semester when I see that extra grant money discount.
I totally concur with the main sentiments here. 1) try not to fall in love completely with any one program until all hte offers are in. Especially if the one that is in is expensive. It is really hard for an actor/artist to support themselves while paying down huge loans. Save the decision about being in NYC versus not being in NYC for later, although it can be good to talk about it. My D chose to accept her offer at UNCSA which is in North Carolina rather than her NY schools. We are lucky that we live in NJ and she already has a bit of a NYC network. But she also wisely pointed out, Mom, I will spend the next stage of my life in NYC, or LA, auditioning and all. It could be kinda nice to have a college campus now and then do that later, since it will clearly happen.
Baldwin Wallace has a great reputation and if a program like BW is seriously more affordable I would weight that heavily. The $$ difference can help set up life in NYC upon graduation.
2) Yes, you can sometimes use one offer against another, if you have a successful audition season. See everything through. Just my thoughts!
@MomofJ5 - yes! We were able to do that with our MT D. For Acting D, she asked for and was given an additional small scholarship but it wasn’t enough to make a difference for us. But it’s definitely always worth asking for more!
@MomofJ5 great advice! Who do you call…guidance, financial aid or theatre dept? And when is it a good time to start asking? We have an offer from a top school but still waiting for acceptances from others . Not sure if waiting till end of February or March, schools will run out of funds…
I’m a parent from last year’s class of BFA Acting applicants. What a hectic year it was! In the end, my son was very lucky to have 4 BFAs to choose from. He selected the first one that had admitted him - BW! If anyone has questions about this program, just ask. His classes have been great, and there are lots of performance opportunities. This week my son was in a play called Scab. Next week he starts rehearsal for Blithe Spirit. He was in two shows in the fall. BW’s BFA has a focus on classical training, and my son is a huge Shakespeare fan, so that was a clincher for us. When we started looking at schools, my son said he did not care one bit about the campus. He just wanted the best program that offered him a spot. But when we toured his BFA choices, he really liked the pretty campus. Also, they have an active LARP group, which he loves.
@MomofJ5 @FourStars thank you so much. I’m so happy I found this board. We have learned so much along the way- this is my only child so all of this is quite daunting and so much to learn! And unless you’ve been through it or are going through it, it’s tough to comprehend.
@JeanneDArc so happy for your son! BW was D’s first audition and acceptance. We loved it there as well and it’s been a true relief to know she’s in somewhere and a good somewhere at that. Thanks for sharing that he’s thriving!
@thespies1 - wait until you have all offers in hand ( most likely April 1). I first called the theatre department (we weren’t eligible for FA, so this was only about competing merit/talent money offers). The theatre department told me I had to call the FA office and that I should let them know if I needed their help. I called FA, they said no reconsideration of merit would be allowed…but they’d look into grant $. Ok great. I then contacted the theatre department and asked for their help. About 1 week later, I heard the good news. Don’t wait until the end of April – all the “grant” money might be gone by then.
Also- to help out other families, try to only do this to go to your top choice. If the school offers you grant money, they can’t offer it to someone else. (Obviously if you can’t go to top choice because they don’t give you enough, move on to next choice, etc.) My point is don’t just do this for all schools without narrowing down your options since it will take money away from others who do want to go to your lower choice schools. Good luck!
anyone get passed around and/or video recorded at mason gross? it happened to a friend and we’re trying to figure out how common it is and if its a good or bad thing.
@tryingsohard Did your friend audition on campus or in NY?
on campus yesterday!