I don’t think anyone knows for sure when BoCo is coming out other than before April 1…could be tomorrow. I think I recall that they email with a portal update? Not sure…
@MomofMTBoy my D’s friend received an email this morning that she was accepted in BOCO Music Therapy program - so maybe notifications are starting to trickle out.
@MomofMTBoy my D’s friend received an email this morning that she was accepted in BOCO Music Therapy program - so maybe notifications are starting to trickle out.
Just remember - your student doesn’t have to come out of school with huge debt to be successful. Yes - NYU and Boco are very prestigious … but they are not the end all be all. I think we as humans tend to get wrapped up in the name … this is the time to really think about what paying off all that debt is going to look like to your 22 year old trying at the same time to audition and take professional training. They will be prohibited trying to make their payments. If you are wealthy and can afford it - go for it … why not - they have a great name out there.
We couldn’t have afforded NYU if she had gotten in (so we didn’t apply) which makes me sad because as a parent you don’t want to deny your kids any opportunities that could be wonderful. I had to rethink what I was able to give my child and I realized that having her come out of college debt free and starting her life in NYC without worry of student loans was going to be just as miraculous as attending a university that may have been her dream. She quickly moved on to new dreams and as a rising senior in college she now sees how smart this move was for us. NYU is amazing and if you can afford it there is no reason not to attend. For those of us where money is an issue, know that not going into incredible debt can be the best gift you can give your child. 
As final acceptances and financial award letters come in, someone might want to start up a new “sticker shock” thread. Here’s the one that was started in 2014: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1631040-sticker-shock-cost-of-attendance-from-financial-award-letters-p1.html
My way of thinking of this is that there are a million different ways to do the college thing (in terms of artistic decisions, academic issues, and financial considerations) and not ONE of them is an absolute right or absolute wrong path. Everyone should do what feels best to them and their family.
I think talented/driven artists find a way to be successful no matter where they’ve gone to school.
My D attends a little school in the middle of nowhere - and yet, one of her classmates had a substantial part in a Reese Witherspoon movie and an alum has a decent tv career going and was on Broadway in Spring Awakening. (Just to mention two that come to mind.)
I’m not denying that Tisch or Carnegie Mellon may get your foot in the door - but it’s not the only way to jumpstart a career.
NOW KEEP POSTING THOSE FINAL DECISION STORIES!! THOSE ARE MY FAVORITES!! 
Sometimes I find it funny - but not ha-ha funny - that we accept all kinds of financial inequality in our daily lives, but when it comes to college we seemed to be shocked that there are colleges we can’t afford. It’s lovely to want to give our kids their dream college, but financials are firmly a part of it. Sure it’s their future, but there are equally bright futures from schools that fit closer to the family’s means. The dream school doesn’t trump common financial sense or unwieldy student dept.
Been reading and biting my nails down to the nub,lol. Unfortunately found these boards rather late in the process and have many regrets after all the late night reading. Can anyone give any insight on the Emerson BFA MT major as compared to Wagner? Also I see no mention on these boards of the BFA at Kean University any info there would be appreciated.
I firmly believe that where you go to school doesn’t determine your success.
On the issue of cost, however, per this discussion…I see an assumption in many posts that the debt incurred belongs to the student, and yes, too much debt for a student will be limiting.
However, my kids, who did qualify for FA and scholarships, have not paid any of the loans that were also a part of the financial aid package. As parents, we not only took out Parent Plus loans for part of the cost we didn’t have on hand, but took out the student loans with the intention that they were truly our loans as parents but at the student interest rate. For my D who went to grad school, there are no Parent Plus loans and so I considered all the student loans as for us as parents to pay back. I would not assume that those who pay part of the cost via loans, are having their child pay it back. But many of us don’t have the full amount of money on hand either.
Lastly, the price tag to a college is not necessarily the final cost for all those who attend. That is an assumption I see a lot when people quote the price…my kids attended what many consider very expensive colleges…NYU, Brown, MIT…we did not pay the full price tag. For my MT kid, NYU was actually the biggest scholarship offer for four years out of all her BFA acceptances. I’m not saying that is the case for all people, but just to point out that not everyone is paying the high price tag.
PS…my D’s husband, a Tisch grad in her same year, had a student loan …not sure for how much…I gather his parents had him take one for a part of education with them paying most of his education…but I know he paid it all off within five or six years. He works in theater/acting.
Absolutely true that everyone doesn’t pay the price tag. There are scholarships, grants, loans, etc. My oldest goes to a pricey school with a huge scholarship, and I always feel the need to tell people when they raise their eyebrows about the cost.
What concerns me is when I read about the high costs now, at this stage of the game. Both my daughters in different areas applied for schools out of our price range and both were told that if the money didn’t come through, they weren’t going there. That limited the number of schools they chose like that and also kept in check their expectations about their “dream school.” They were reminded through the process that their dream school would provide the education they needed, in a setting they liked, at a cost we could afford.
@waitingforlife - My S was accepted into New Studio on Broadway last year and we were told at the accepted student day that the MT studio class would be 64 students.
@soozievt Tisch has now made my S rethink things. He was not expecting a scholarship and it actually makes his final choices closer in the price tag and now more doable. He is really struggling now with this decision. Originally he thought it would be completely unaffordable. You are correct that not everyone has to pay the full price tag. I do wish his offer was just a little bit higher though. I just want him to be in the program that is the best fit for his success, happiness and personal growth.
My D did not apply to Tisch because we knew that Steinhardt gave merit aid and that Tisch did not. We were full pay and I wanted her to graduate debt free. In the end, we saved $44K over 4 years because of the merit aid she was awarded as a Steinhardt VP student with a MT concentration. The money saved helped us sleep better at night and at this point will help us cover her living expenses now that she is returning to NYU for a full-time MBA.
For the same reason, she did not apply to any of the Ivies because they would have been full pay for us. But for those with financial need, schools like the Ivies that meet full need are the cheapest option. That’s why researching schools and understanding your particular financial situation is so important.
Another month of waiting is over and no one has literally died from it – I hope!
Most of us have decisions to make and are frantically tapping calculator buttons comparing costs, adding up scholarships, figuring loan amounts and factoring our kids’ dreams into the equation as well. I thought waiting was hard! Ugh! THIS is the part I dreaded most!
Wishing everyone very small bottom lines.
I agree with @soozievt that debt does not necessarily mean student debt. We have loans so that our D is able to go to NYU - but they are for us, not for her - she will graduate debt free. We have paid what we could as she went along, and will finish up after she is done. I will freely admit I don’t like the “you must be loaded if you are paying for an expensive education” mentality. (whether that is CMU/NYU in the BFA world, or elite LAC/Ivies in the “normal” world) We’re not. We choose to see it as an investment, and are comfortable with how it works for us
Thank you everyone for providing information about training at the different studios at Tisch. Onto cost. We will not qualify for any need based aid and looks like Tisch does not offer merit aid. I was a bit worried reading the posts about 70k not being worth it for a BFA, but I agree with you toowonderful. Whether or not you are loaded, an investment in an education of any kind that means future stability is worth the price tag. I also agree that it is a personal decision and has to make sense at many levels and no decision here is right or wrong. All the best to all
@soozievt @toowonderful and @LBSMOM I agree with so much of what you have to say - please understand that first of all Congratulations to everyone who got into NYU or any school - all of it is an accomplishment and to be celebrated. I just personally don’t believe in limiting people because of money - I am someone who grew up well below the poverty level and yet went to a posh New England liberal arts college. You just don’t know until you try - and that’s what I tell my girl. I was just so surprised that the NYU award was so off the FAFSA - I haven’t seen anything like it before. So I was astounded. That certainly doesn’t take anything away from the many many people whose kids are able to attend. It is a lovely school.
What’s interesting is my daughter got the email from Carnegie today with the financial award. It is down to the penny the exact same as the FAFSA. It would be painful - but doable. Now if she can only get in off the waitlist! And actually out of all our schools they have given us the most aid. Damn! Somebody out there say a prayer for us…
@singoutlouise when we did the financial aid calculator for BW I was absolutely THRILLED with what it would cost for my D to go there - by far the cheapest school on her list but of course, she didn’t get into the conservatory! 