Congrats on all the great news today. We’ve been out of town at a choir festival all day so haven’t seen mail or portal for USC news. S’ concert choir won grand champion of the festival and jazz choir was first runner-up. Crazy amount of singing in one day with pre-lims then evening showcase for both choirs. Choir is off to Europe this week for a big tour. These kids mind as well already be professional musicians! Fingers crossed for the late night portal check when we finally get home.
@Pikachu’s Mom - Very thorough post and great to see it all in one list. Re: NEC news. Which part of the country do you live in? Since it looks like they tend to notify via snail mail it’s likely held up in the USPS. I hope you hear soon! I know how brutal the waiting is.
i’m trying to transfer to thornton and they’ve presumably already selected the new pop music class, but my transfer applicant portal has not changed a bit. anyone know if i will have to wait?
@oregonkiddo : USC website says transfer apps will be notified by May 31st. So, your painful wait continues…
love it. thanks @gram22
This is such a wonderful, if a roller-coaster, of a thread! It’s been a comfort to relate to, and keep me busy lurking while pacing the floor! I have found solace here, while D has in her many peers on Snapchat ?
Congratulations to so many of you; I know we all shared in that stress. Nothing can quite prepare you for how brutal this process is.
For the sake of those lurking (like me, all year ?), or reading later, know that if your story doesn’t end with a golden ticket, you aren’t alone. Sometimes, you can think you’ve done everything right (visits, scouting the school’s current level, attending high level summer programs, sample lessons, and careful preparation), and still come up empty handed. I stand by the decision that D only applied to where she truly fit, and I still believe that she will find her way there (she’s too resilient and passionate not to). Sometimes, a little time is what you need. We’ll be back, next year ?
@cellistamadre - best of luck to your daughter moving forward. I am sorry to hear that things didn’t work out for her this round. But, with passion and preservence, as well as your support, I have every confidence she will triumph next year.
Well S did not have a magic box from USC waiting for him last night and the late night portal reveal after a loooong and very successful day at choir festival did not have happy news, but he has two great options in Frost and Oberlin (In at the college, wait list for the con). Just wish he didn’t go to bed sad after such an amazing day. This can be such a brutal process with so many ups and downs along the way.
@cellistamadre I am fairly new to the board (about a month or two now), and not a big poster, but I am reading everyday. I am sorry to hear that your daughter did not get in to her school choices. We all do what we can with the knowledge and energy we have at the time. As much as I’m bummed I did not find this board sooner, because it might have pushed me in some different directions for school apps for my s, and it might have helped us prepare his applications better, I was not ready for it. I knew in the back of my head that these types of forums existed, but I was on overload already in my life. So, we all do what we can. What will your daughter do this year if she did not get in to the schools she applied to? Will she take a gap year?
@cellistamadre Thank you for this kind and lovely post. What an amazing person you are. With you as her mom, I have doubt that your D will persevere and thrive.
Congrats to everyone who feels their child has a good place to go next year. And for those like Cellistamadre know that sometimes the paths we end up being forced to take end up leading us to a place that is so much better than we ever could have imagined.
For anyone with questions about NEC-I am a parent an alum from 2016 so feel free to private message me with questions/concerns. I also live local
@tripletmama — we’re in Iowa! So maybe Monday, if there is good news? Does bad news get sent out at the same time? We’re okay, as we have our most viable options. Just waiting on this and an aid package! I think we’re looking at accepted student days or visits, also.
I can’t believe it, but we are moving into decision mode. We have one more school to hear from but it’s not one of S’s top choices. I can’t believe how quickly I’ve jumped from apprehension to excitement to apprehension again. Slow that roll, mama! S is handling things with much more aplomb, on the surface at least. He doesn’t want to do accepted student days (has already spent time/had lessons at his top choices) so I guess he is waiting for inspiration to strike from above. We’d like to do appeals (hopefully just one) in early April — does anyone know how long it takes for the schools to get back to you! — so I’m trying to lay off him until then. In a perfect world, he’ll be done by April 12, his spring break, when we leave on a family vacation.
@cellistamadre - I’m so sorry this journey didn’t end where you and your D expected. Sounds like she (and you) have an amazing attitude. I know my S was pretty pragmatic and was totally willing to take a gap year and study more if he hadn’t gotten in anywhere. So maybe your D’s journey is a little long on the front end, but will be shorter later on…
@cellistamadre I have a long view of this process, and can report anecdotally that, over the years, I’ve seen gifted, well-prepared applicants who ended up in your daughter’s situation and took a gap year. It’s one of the risks of this process. All of these gap-year students ended up at excellent programs the following year. I agree with your and your daughter that it’s wise to follow your dream and not accept compromises. Good luck to her!
@cellistamadre I believe a gap year is a very common and healthy path for a musician. My son applied USC last year to their RHP(Resident Honors Program) as a HS junior. One of the moms on CC was surprised because one year would make a huge difference for a musician. He passed the prescreen but not the audition. My son is not mature for his age and it did show in his playing. I was just trying to send him to college a year earlier so we could save all the hassles of college applications. He has matured and progressed a lot his senior year and landed into some very good programs including USC. I’m very confident that after a gap year, your D would grow a lot and would get into one of his dream schools.
For those of you waiting on NEC financials, D got an email from Lauren Urbanek in FA last year on Tuesday March 27 around 4pm with instructions to log into her portal to see what she got. It was a bit confusing as I recall because the way they listed it, it looked like she got way more than she did which was ultimately only 10K. And they really are not open much to appeals. Let me know if anyone is confused by how it reads. I recall they put the Stafford loan in there somehow that made it falsely look like she got more than she did in actual merit money.
New School sent D an email on March 26 at 7am to log into her portal for her decision. The merit money was in that letter. But I do know that other kids didn’t hear for one or two days later which was really odd so decisions kind of went out staggered. California kids heard on Tuesday or Wednesday of that week if I recall. That was odd.
Hope that intel from last year is helpful! Can’t wait to see the final stretch and don’;t forget with all of the March Madness comes the April Angst for many, including us last year who didn’t end our journey until the 11th hour of April 30th!!! ACKKK!!!
Oh those darn white boxes causing so much sadness across CC, it just breaks my heart. I’m so sorry for some of you and your kids if that was their dream school. I have always been in the “they end up where they are supposed to be” pool of thought but it is hard and challenging road to say the least.
I am so very sorry to all of you who did not receive the good news you were hoping for and I feel confident that whatever decision you or your student make next will be the right one.
CONGRATULATIONS are in order for so many of you, it’s so inspiring to have been on this journey with you. As parents your support is unmatched.
BTW it was a no for us as well for USC. I thought my D was waiting for the white box and low and behold she was so excited with her admit to UCLA and Frost she couldn’t care less. But that could have easily gone a different way, I had not idea what she actually wanted, she was radio silence these past few months. I would be extremely grateful to anyone who has experience in the UCLA Global Music studies to reach out. We have heard from a current UCLA music student that they are starting up a new division next year for music business and song writing. My D really wants to be a music therapist some day and is evaluating all the different paths to get there.
Gap Year vs. Transfer – Oops, I meant to post this here, but somehow started a whole new thread that I can’t figure out how to delete: As acceptances and nonacceptances are rolling in there is discussion of a Gap Year.
What about students who get into top schools of their choice, but do not get anywhere near the $$$ aid (whether it be merit or need based) they need to attend? If a school offers a certain amount of merit one year and a candidate does not accept, has anyone heard of them getting a larger scholarship the next year?
Or, is it better to accept an offer at a lesser known but affordable school, and then reapply the following year as a transfer student? I already know the answer to this for my own child’s situation, but I’m wondering about other people’s experiences and thoughts on the subject.
Congrats @BayAreaMom2016 and great post. My S woke up this am with a great attitude after the late night USC news. Said Thornton was his third choice anyway—I think he was in just very emotional because of the long day of competitions (bus left at 7:30 am and got back at 12:00 am).
Any thoughts out there on what S can do to wiggle off the Oberlin Con. wait list? He really loves the school’s embrace of double degree and was accepted to the College. Still very high on Frost but a little concerned that they discourage double degree there. But maybe that’s an unfair assessment?