Food - healthy fresh food - was a huge concern for m y D in her college search.
For those of you headed to Chicago, look up Farmers Fridge. They have them all around the city, on many campuses, the train station, the airport …
No moldy hamburgers here! It has been a lifesaver! My D wasted her meal plan freshman year even with buying meals for buddies. She just had too few options. And then came along the Farmers Fridge! It may be a bit expensive but at least she eats well.
@akapiratequeen, first of all, congrats!! I just want to mention that for my eldest (non music-major), class of '15, an accepted students day cemented his perception that he fit in well, socially and intellectually, with the peers at that school. At that moment I realized that a key factor in choosing a school is the peer group, because the student builds a life there. In the case of music, though, I think it would depend on who the perceived peer group is, ie within the music school or in the larger school community, in terms of whether or not an accepted students day would be helpful in decision-making.
akapiratequeen ~ my D is in the same boat and can’t afford to miss any more school (3 APS)by any stretch of the imagination She just heard from Syracuse as well and is in for Vocal Performance!! She has spring break coming up so we are scheduling events then but she said “no way” to the overnight in the Carrier Dome (which is the only one that conincides w/ her vacation) I read on other posts on this forum that sometimes setting up a shadow day is optimal as the music faculty are more available because it ISN"T a massively attended accepted student day!
I love reading all the great news. Congrats to all with recent good news, especially @akapiratequeen @HereWeGoAgain2018, @AmyIzzy and @UniversityMomOf2. Sorry for those I missed. And to those who are still waiting, hang in there.
Our soprano D applied mostly to LACs and a few dual degree programs. She’s still waiting on most decisions, but got the wonderful news on Friday that she has been accepted into the dual degree program at Peabody / Johns Hopkins. She knew that Hopkins releases decisions on March 15, but she didn’t expect to hear from Peabody until the end of March. So, she is thrilled to have been accepted and shocked that she found out already. I guess dual degree students get early notice. She loves this program, but she will not decide until she has heard from all schools.
@HFoFan - A HUGE congrats on the acceptance to the dual program at Peabody/Johns Hopkins! You must be thrilled!! I admire students that do both…sounds like she will have a difficult decision once the other acceptances come in from the LACs. So exciting!!!
In the midst of all the acceptances - I can’t help but wonder (except for the Curtis and Colburn acceptances) - how are you going to fund your musicians’ college - and how much debt will your musician take on?
I know this is a personal question - but I’m just wondering since we will have 3 in college next year. How much debt is too much for a musician to take on? Our daughter was advised to take on zero debt - which quite honestly, will be impossible. Even if she is very lucky and gets a full tuition scholarship, room/board is not inexpensive! (at the schools on her list, room and board ranges between $16k and $18k for a year (actually for 9 months). She will get a Pell Grant of $3,500 and the can take out a federal loan for $5,500 but that will still leave $7k to $9k.
Will you musician be taking on any debt - and if so, how much is too much?
Congrats @HRoFan. My S applied to the double degree at Hopkins/Peabody but did not get into Hopkins (Alas his 1500 SAT and exceptional academic record and ECs were not enough for that incredibly competitive school). He has not heard from Peabody yet so we assume that will come when conservatory only applicants hear later in the month. On to the next one!
So sorry to hear @jazzboydad re: Hopkins. I’m always incredulous when such stellar academic/EC records get rejected. S16 was in the same boat. What stung most was when one of his peers, who got a 1700 (old SAT) with less GPA and EC, got accepted with ED, which they were able to do knowing they qualified for max aid. In your case, your S has his music on top of everything else, so I would’ve thought that an acceptance would be a given. Makes no sense, but as you say, on to the next one and ultimately to a school where your S will thrive.
@tripletmama I think we have finally figured out a formula as far as student debt and how much we will help. It’s true that zero student debt is ideal and I applaud all of you who can make that happen for your kids. We never really planned well in that regard and trying to support the theatre classes, piano lessons, vocal lessons, NYC travel to workshops and enrichments opportunities, etc. didn’t help much with the college saving aspect we should have been more aware of. Not to mention that my husband is self-employed so his income was up or down over several years and quite unpredictable. We do have a decent retirement plan and hope to downsize when they kids are out of the house, so a few ways to pay off the college bills when they come due or at least comfortably pay them. We would like to think our financial support along the way was integral in pushing our daughter to a professional, serious level and probably already paid off in the local, regional and national recognition (which boosted her resume and confidence) and merit scholarships we have already welcomed. So no regrets in that regard.
We recently determined our goal COA which will require sacrifice but is within our financial comfort level (it’s about $3000 lower than our FAFSA says we can afford each year.) We will require that our daughter take out the max Stafford loans each year so she SHOULD be leaving with about $23K in debt. However, if she can justify a school that goes over our determined COA goal, she will have to take on that extra debt too. So we already have a few schools with offers that would ONLY require her to take out the max Stafford loans. But the most expensive option right now would require the $5500 in Stafford loan and an additional $15,000 on her end so she’d be leaving with $80K in debt rather than $23K. In our own minds, we’ve eliminated such schools (unless we can appeal in a big way) but we want her to see those numbers and for HER to make an educated decision with full understanding that she could pay $200 per month for her college loans when she graduates or closer to $700 per month for 10 years (I may be way under with those numbers as to how much interest is added on but that’s a general comparison.) We HOPE she will make the smarter choice and are confident that will be the case. I don’t think she’d be able to justify going into that much debt. If she works hard during college and we are in a good spot financially when she graduates and can help her pay off some of the college debt it MIGHT be part of her graduation gift but we definitely want her to think it will be all on her…so you all need to keep that on the down low! Lol. So the ideal COA I mentioned will still require a Parent loan for us but we are giving her a set amount we will pay and she’s responsible for the Stafford loan PLUS any extra if she chooses a more expensive college. Hope that makes sense.
I think it was someone here who said a good rule of thumb is that student debt should not exceed the expected amount of a first year salary. So I’m trying to operate with that in mind with a conservative “starving artist” goal of no more than $25-$30K for her. Hopefully I’m way off and she’ll be a big superstar making millions fresh out of college! Lol.
HRoFan, Jazzboydad——— WOW…This is really making me nervious for my son who applied to Peabody (Jazz/Music Ed combined degree) with a very low academic profile. I found this in another thread.
VERY competitive this year. “2,309 new students selected today to join the Class of 2023, a diverse group selected from an applicant pool of 30,163.”
@AmyIzzy - we feel the same way - we have contributed so much to our musician’s daughter’s training thus far - we are hoping that it pays off in scholarships because I don’t think that we can continue at the pace we’ve been doing - lessons, renting then buying an instrument, paying for her to live in LA and study with the best instructors. We’ve had to make big sacrifices to do that. Here’s hoping that our investment pays off!
I’m with you - the Stafford loans feel reasonable for a musician - and btw, I think it’s more like $27k total ($5,500 the first year, then $6,500 the second year and then $7,500 the last two years - just fyi, for a total of $27k - maybe that will extra $4k will help…
@JeJeJe - are you kidding me? Peabody had 30,163 applicants for 2.309 spots? Oh dear!!! (or is that John Hopkins?).
@jazzboydad - If you have a musician that got a 1500 on the SAT - he is so very multi-talented! Seriously! That is truly amazing. You must be very proud.
Thanks @tripletmama!
@jazzboydad - Admission to these top academic schools seems like such a crapshoot. Our D has applied to several top schools and was deferred at one and waitlisted at another before getting accepted at Hopkins. It’s hard to know how the decide when all the applicants are so well qualified.
@JeJeJe - those stats sound correct for JHU, but are not relevant for Peabody applicants.
Thanks @tripletmama. Yes we could not be more proud of our S. Hopkins was not in his top 3 so he is not crushed by not getting in but it was the first decision he received so there’s a little sting. I envy all you parents with kids who already have some options but I’m sure S will have some come through in the next few weeks.
@tripletmama Yes, you are right! I knew the loans bump up each year but was off on exact numbers. But at least it stays under $30K which seems like a good place and not too crazy.
And I agree-those SAT scores are incredible! How can any school reject a student that amazing? My daughter mentioned Peabody at one point (I think because her ex-boyfriend goes to John Hopkins. Lol) and I fell over when I saw average stats! I had to politely steer her in a different direction.
“Peabody only” threshold should be lower than JHU / Peabody dual-major. But how low??? Well, because my son planned to apply to only private conservatories (no SAT/ACT required), it was too late when my son added Peabody in October and took his first SAT test in November to meet 12/1 application deadline.
Anyone who is a serious musician and has over 1500SAT, you are truly AMAZING!!!
Speaking of those nice low interest loans for our kids, did anyone see this in the news recently? Ugh!! Talk about bad timing! Please tell me these proposals won’t actually pass through! I envy the countries that make it so easy for students to go to college. Why are we so backwards and pushing to make it MORE difficult?
Edited: Here are the relevant parts & below is the full article.
“First, the proposal eliminates subsidized student loans. Currently, students don’t accrue interest on their loans while they are still enrolled in school. Trump’s budget would do away with this, thereby potentially increasing the cost of attending college or graduate school for those with student loans.
The budget would also eliminate the public service loan forgiveness program. This program, signed into law by President George W. Bush, provides loan forgiveness to government and not-for-profit employees after 10 years of timely loan payments. Ending this program could deter students from entering a range of public sector jobs, such as becoming civil servants, police officers, firefighters, prosecutors, and public defenders.”
@tripletmama Re: debt… I’d assume that having 3 entering college at once means that all “rules of thumb” go out the window for you. Unless you are blessed with full tuition for all, I’d assume you’re just going to have to thoroughly inform each of them about their potential debt to potential income ratios and let them decide.
Something else not often brought up… how much do you intend to help them post college? That is something to consider when debating how much debt is too much.
@AmyIzzy
Keeping it real tip:
If you’re giving your kids a set amount (your contribution) and having them take loans for the rest…
Unless your school locks in COA for four years, i’d recommend looking at numbers using 1st year only and that $5500 loan only. The $6500 / $7500 / 7500 the next years will likely just cover increases. So, for example, 1st year net COA is $20K, don’t calculate $80K for 4 years less your 40K contribution less $27K Stafford loans = $13K gap.
Instead calculate 20k - 10K - 5500 = $4500 gap x 4 = 18K total gap. That is likely going to be much more realistic. If you happen to get lucky and find cheaper housing or additional funds, you can be pleasantly surprised and reduce the loans or save your stash.
We did not save or plan much for college until D got to HS. I really didn’t want D to have any debt but she did take the $5500 freshman year as we didn’t want to NOT take it and end up in trouble the next year. However, we’ve found that we’ve been able to pay more out of our household budget than we anticipated. I highly recommend a monthly payment plan if your school allows one with no fees attached. This has allowed us to throw as much cash as we can toward the payment every month and only withdraw from our savings what we can’t pay. I know that if I just paid the whole bill out of savings every semester, we wouldn’t be so diligent to pay ourselves back and would have drained the account much faster.
Maybe it’s just us, but maybe will help like-minded parents! We have D#2 coming up to college age shortly so we’re hoping to reserve as much as possible for her.
@jazzboydad, my S also falls into the group of high stat kids that applied for JHU/Peabody dual degree and did not get into Hopkins. Peabody decision to come. . .
Found this article to help our kids through this torturous waiting period.
https://www.hercampus.com/high-school/7-ways-stay-calm-when-waiting-college-decisions
I suppose we can apply a few as parents but where is the article for US? I seem to be going much more crazy than my daughter, after all. There should at least be fun drinking games set up as we wait:
3 glasses of wine* for each acceptance letter
4 glasses per scholarship offer (5 glasses for full tuition!)
6 glasses for a rejection letter
2 glasses for a waitlist
10 glasses on a day you hear nothing at all.
Haha! Just trying to have some fun as I prep for ANOTHER long week!
*parents may replace wine with shots, beer or any cocktail of choice if preferred! Lol.
@dbandmom that is extremely helpful advice! I just copy and pasted it to my “important college notes” page. I don’t have a very mathematical mind so sometimes I need those formulas to see it in practical terms! Thanks so much!