<p>I’m not saying it wouldn’t be handy. I’m there wouldn’t be enough business for anyone to earn a profit.</p>
<p>Conservatory level students, though, tend to go for the higher ticket instruments that are not often found in a small town music store. Plus, they want to try out eight or ten or more of them and pick the one that works best for them. Not many small stores can afford to have that amount of high end inventory sitting around waiting for someone to come in. In addition, they tend to want a good instrument before auditions, so they generally arrive with something decent in tow. Students who cannot afford to do that frequently arrange to borrow an instrument from the school (and Oberlin has a very nice collection of instruments to lend to students). </p>
<p>As far as printed music goes, Oberlin has a very large music library where students can obtain much of what they need without having to buy it. It is hard for a store to compete with free.</p>
<p>Other accessories, when needed, can frequently be found in much greater variety and at somewhat lower prices on the Internet than at a small music store.</p>
<p>There was a small music shop in the corner of the Oberlin Inn roughly across the street from the Apollo Theater a few years back. It sold mostly guitars and drum kits and was not there very long.</p>
<p>How about minor instrument repairs? bow re-hairing and such?</p>
<p>[Mohr</a> & Mohr Bows :: String Instrument Bows for the Discerning Musician :: Oberlin Ohio Bow Maker & Repairs](<a href=“http://www.rodneymohr.com/shops/oberlin-bow-making-repairs/]Mohr”>http://www.rodneymohr.com/shops/oberlin-bow-making-repairs/)</p>
<p>Thanks monydad!</p>
<p>Besides, there are music shops, of various kinds, in greater Cleveland and Lorain county.</p>
<p>One general question for Oberlin and all other schools.
If I applied for ED, withFA, I got accepted but I didn’t get enough FA,what can I do?
Or in this case they won’t accept you in the first place?</p>
<p>Still anyone else chance me for Oberlin?</p>
<p>Does Oberlin look at writing?</p>
<p>Financial aid works differently for international students–I suggest you ask the FA office directly about your situation. </p>
<p>But the general answer to your question is that, if the financial aid doesn’t meet your needs, you don’t have to accept the ED offer of admission.</p>
<p>Note that Oberlin claims to meet 100% of documented need, but they do not claim to be need blind in admissions. </p>
<p>That suggests:</p>
<p>a) If they accept you, they feel that they have provided enough aid for you to attend based on the financial numbers that you gave them. Unless you can document the additional need between what they think is enough and what you think is enough, they may not be very happy with you for backing out of an ED acceptance.</p>
<p>b) If you can document the additional need, there is a good possibility that they will give you a better FA package, particularly if you appeal early enough in the admissions cycle before they have committed all of their available FA funding.</p>
<p>c) The bar for acceptance may be somewhat higher for those who need a full ride or something close to it, particularly if they also happen to be international students, than it would be for a domestic student who needs only a fraction of that amount to be able to attend.</p>
<p>Also consider that Oberlin is one of not many US schools that offers aid in large amounts to international students. If what Oberlin comes up with is insufficient, it may be hard to find a better deal.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>But the answer can’t really stop at that point in the continuum. Looking forward down the road, it’s an awful situation to be in because there’s no telling whether other schools – ones that weren’t worth applying ED to – will give more FA than Oberlin. So, you may be discarding your best card. You won’t know that until the springtime…but saying “no” to the Oberlin FA package means saying “no” to your favorite school…because you’re betting other schools will beat that amount. And if they don’t…? It’s not as if you can tell Oberlin that you’ve reconsidered and will accept the ED offer that you rejected. If you love a college so much that you’re willing to disregard all the rest if that college accepts you…would you want to enter into a decision-matrix in which there’s the possibility that you’ll discard that matriculation opportunity away so you can gamble for better FA from less desirable colleges?</p>
<p>I think, practically speaking, if you’re applying ED to the “dream” college and are seeking FA, you need to be prepared to take the family contribution number they lay on you, whatever it is…knowing that you won’t have other peer institutions’ calculations to help you make the case that Oberlin must have overlooked something or miscalculated. There is no “negotiating” room (for lack of a better term) and you’ll have to have faith that you just got the best possible FA award because, once you accept – and withdraw any other college applications – it will, in fact, be the best FA award you’ll see.</p>
<p>It’s sort of the Schrodinger’s Cat of college admissions. If you apply ED seeking FA and you get accepted to your most favorite college, you need to do so on the assumption that, regardless of what the FA package says, you’ll still proceed to matriculation, foregoing your right to withdraw due to inadequate aid. At the same time, the only people who – I think – can afford to make that sort of gamble are people who may not need financial aid. You need FA…and, at the same time, you don’t need FA – or maybe that college really isn’t the top choice anyway.</p>
<p>I think if your ability truly hinges on the FA award – then, as a practical matter, you need to bow out of the ED pool. I don’t think the right to reject an offer of acceptance if the aid package isn’t sufficient is a desirable fallback position for your clear favorite college. It’s better to go through the RD process, I think, and then – if your favorite college doesn’t give you enough aid, you might have other FA decisions that you can use to make the case that you ought to get something more.</p>
<p>In any case, imagine how awful it would be to turn down an ED acceptance, go through the RD process, and not have any FA awards that matched or bettered the ED award amount from the awesome college that you refused to attend a few months ago? That’s one nasty outcome that you could face if you go into the ED round thinking, “No worries! I can always refuse the offer if the FA award isn’t enough!”</p>
<p>That’s a good point indeed, but my family really won’t be able to afford such high tuition, especially as an international.</p>
<p>If you are interested in Early Decision, and financial aid is a concern, contact the Admissions Office. We can get you an early financial aid estimate before you commit to the binding Early Decision application. </p>
<p>Also, important note for anyone talking about applying ED and then turning down an offer for financial reasons: yes, no college can actually force you to come if you can’t afford it. But, colleges do talk to each other sometimes, and backing out of an ED agreement at one school might result in other schools refusing to offer you admission.</p>
<p>I think it’s perfectly legitimate to apply ED with need for financial aid (disclaimer: I did so myself, at a different peer LAC). The key is that you AND YOUR FAMILY has to be willing to spend as much as you can afford to attend the ED college. You should be prepared to back out of the commitment only if the aid is truly inadequate. A test for inadequacy: if this was your best FA offer in the RD round, would you take it? If the aid offer were truly inadequate, you would be forced to regretfully decline it and choose to attend a state university or community college at lower cost.</p>
<p>If it is possible (as ElizabethHouston points out) to get a good approximation of what the FA offer will be before committing to an ED application, then there should be no need to back out of an ED acceptance unless there is an unanticipated change in family finances. In that case, an appeal should be possible.</p>
<p>Also note that the OP is an international applicant, so a State U might not be any cheaper (out-of-state rates and little or no FA) and I doubt that many international students would travel thousands of miles to attend a Community College. As Elizabeth also says, schools sometimes share lists of those accepted in the ED round and comparable institutions may choose not to offer admission to those on the list. Hence, backing out of an ED acceptance could leave an international student with few alternatives.</p>
<p>“As Elizabeth also says, schools sometimes share lists of those accepted in the ED round and comparable institutions may choose not to offer admission to those on the list.”</p>
<p>This is pertinent when the other schools would offer about the same amount of financial aid; there’s no point, since the applicant couldn’t afford it the first time. But if another school had a reason for wanting the student more, it might well offer more aid.</p>
<p>Possibly, but still a risky strategy.</p>
<p>There is a definite downside to reneging on an ED acceptance to Oberlin, namely running the risk that there will be no later offers that are more affordable or that any subsequent offers made in good faith might be rescinded. Increasing the probability of acceptance by applying ED to Oberlin only matters if you wind up attending Oberlin, in which case the existence of other offers is moot. I rather doubt that you will get a better FA offer out of Oberlin by producing a copy of the RD offer from a competitor, thus proving that you did not withdraw your other applications as promised. If there is another school out there that wants you more than Oberlin, an ED application to Oberlin may not disqualify you in their eyes but it is not going to make them think any better of you. If their offer is still on the table after they find out about the Oberlin ED acceptance, it would have been there anyway had you not applied ED to Oberlin. It seems to me that you have nothing to gain and much to lose in this situation.</p>
<p>Yes, and in such cases where no school is affordable, Community College may be the only alternative. I don’t buy the “punishment” side of one school being unaffordable. Category admissions are unpredictable; a student may have a good hook at school B that doesn’t apply at school A, especially an international applicant.</p>
<p>I wonder how many international students would actually travel thousands of miles to attend a Community College in this country. If it came to that, I expect most would consider options closer to home. (Don’t get me wrong, there are some excellent Community Colleges out there, but how many of them attract students from beyond a reasonable commuting distance, let alone out of country?)</p>
<p>^ I agree, not many. 
I wandered off topic, speaking generally, not about the OP in particular. SBT.</p>