@RMSqueencat - I’m so sorry about IU. It’s the worst feeling in the world when you want something so badly, it feels like the right fit and it doesn’t transpire. Can you musician transfer in next year?
@Jacole - CalArts isn’t “weird” from what I’ve heard. Our daughter’s friend is there and the only thing he doesn’t like is that it’s far from downtown LA (an hour or so). I think you need to visit if it’s your son’s first choice and you have reservations.
Our daughter is still over the moon about Berklee - but it was quite the roller coaster ride last night. Some of you may remember that she received a $20k merit scholarship at the end of the 5 week Berklee Summer Program last summer. That wasn’t enough for her to attend so she re-auditioned last month (in LA). She worked very hard for months on all the components of the Berklee audition. She felt she did better but when we clicked on the Merit Award last night (at midnight) it was the same $20k. Big let down! Almost some tears but we had heard that Berklee rarely bumps the Summer Program Award and are not known for being that generous, so it was not unexpected. Our daughter was very let down, though.
But then, I thought - well, I should at least take a look at the financial aid letter. I was inclined not to because for the last 12 colleges letters that our two daughters received this year they received the same amount (between $5k and $6k of a Pell Grant and a minor misc. award.
So - I jumped through hoops to open up the financial aid letter (we all know how difficult these portals can be to figure it all out) - and found it. I nearly fell off my chair! It had the usual Pell $6k - but then an additional $14k Berklee Grant and a $20k Berklee Word Tour Award (at first I thought that was in addition to the scholarship letter so I was beyond shocked). Those two pushed her yearly award to $40k!! Big difference!!! If we win the lottery, I suspect that the $20k will go away but I don’t expect that to happen anytime soon (you have to play to win).
So - now we have to figure out how to pay for housing. I just found out that she doesn’t need to live in the dorms (which I think would suit her), except it is hard to lug around a bass. Housing and room/board is $18k a year at Berklee. Does anyone know if off-campus housing is that much less expensive? In a year or so, I suppose she can try to be an RA - otherwise she will have to take out some loans (with us co-signing).
@lkbux64 - thanks for the congrats knowing everything we have endured. Her car is in the tow lot again (long story and not her fault of course 
). I’m justs so grateful that she is going to a city where a car is not needed!!! She will just have to learn how to ride the T with her bass in tow. Thanks all for all the congrats. I’m worn out!!! (like the rest of you). Big sigh.
@tripletmama what a roller coaster!!! I’m glad it came through at the end. Regarding your comment on benefits of being in the dorm given the difficulties of lugging the bass around, I think the Berklee dorms are not that close to the school and I’m not sure if there are practice rooms in the dorms so being in them might not offer too much of a benefit anyways. Please check in with @AsMother . I recall she was looking into housing arrangements for her son for next year. She might have some good insights for you. Best of luck!!!
OK but is CalArts really clothing optional? I mean, maybe weird isn’t correct term, but I can see where that would be uncomfortable for some. Especially as a Freshman. My D is easily defined as liberal, but she definitely doesn’t consider clothing “optional”. I’m just curious.
@AmyIzzy Isn’t your D considering CalArts? Have you done your research on this? lol
I can’t wait to see where all the “Commercial” kids end up this year. I think there are at least a few of you!!
@dbandmom clothing optional? Hell no! That’s crazy, where on earth did you hear that?
Berklee dorms are right on campus (my S lived there last summer) and super
Convenient. I have a daughter in Boston and it is very very expensive. The only way to save would be to live 45 minutes or more away and I think that would be a setup to fail the first year. If she lives in the dorms she won’t need a car (Big Savings—I bet her insurance is a fortune) and she won’t need to take the bass on the T because she’ll be right there. By all means do it the first year if you can.
@akapiratequeen I read that in a post on a previous page on this thread. Honestly, hadn’t ever really heard much about CalArts before.
It’s a fantastic place and that is an absolute falsehood!
Congrats @tripletmama and so thrilled that it seems like her dream school is going to be a reality.
Crazy ride of emotions from merit not improving despite the re-audition into joy at the FA package! Phew.
At the end of the day what matters is that it’s in reach.
If only they’d let you get a definitive FA answer back at the end of 5 week you could have been spared this madness. Although looking on the bright side, having seen other schools I’m sure your D is even more confident in her choice, so that’s all for the best.
My D has lots of friends who are current freshmen at at Berklee and more headed there this fall.
She’ll be in great company!
The whole clothing optional thing is cracking me up.
My D had CalArts on our list but ran out of steam before doing the app and figured USC would be our one LA shot.
@dbandmom speaking of “commercial” we’re in an interesting situation in that my D is ultimately deciding between the popular music program at USC and a jazz performance program at Miami. So in effect the school choice is also a genre choice for her. Both are part of who she is and where she wants to go professionally, so she needs to do some real soul searching.
Yeah soul searching…my S is right there with your D, @DrummerDad18. It’s a real crossroads for him, and while he knows what he wants, it’s a big commitment. We’ve put in an appeal and are waiting so in FULL angst mode. Not sure how much more I can take!
Also: have all schools sent letters as of today? What are people still waiting on?
I have a question - for those who got into Jacobs, have you received scholarship info yet? I just found out I hadn’t done my FAFSA verification yet so financial aid is delayed, not sure if that means merit too or just FA.
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Fully agreed if you can get the nearby dorm (150 Mass Ave)… If you get stuck in the 270 Commonwealth Ave the walk is quite a bit especially in the bitter cold Boston winter. Not sure if students have a choice based on instrument and convenience needed. Still on 2nd thought I agree with you in that going without room/board first year is most likely going to add extra stress and impact success.
Good luck with all the appeals. I hope it all goes as hoped for and needed.
Yes @tripletmama definitely request 150 or 160 Mass Ave the first year! ? between them they house over 800 students and they are right in the middle of everything.
@DrummerDad18 Yes, commercial / pop / rock … there really aren’t a lot of choices out there for those kids. And there can still be such differences in the programs that are available. It’s great if your D enjoys jazz equally. Opens up a lot more options!
But Miami and USC…ooooh really tough choice! I’m sure she’ll choose the right one for her! They tend to know themselves better than we realize! If she hasn’t already, really have her dig into what her class schedule will look like. That can be a big help.
Good luck!
Still waiting on Peabody. Anybody heard yet?
@sssulliv - I ‘hacked’ into my kid’s email and saw that JSOM emailed a financial award a day or two ago. They handle all the awards including the ones from IU.
We are still waiting for scholarship info from Temple then kid will make his final decision. McGill requires a reply by 4/15 so our timeline is a bit ‘accelerated’.
Exciting set of choices, @lendlees! Can’t wait to hear!
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Thinking of everyone here as we approach crunch time!
I think the CalArts “clothing optional” idea came from an anonymous review on a website and I read that way back in September and figured it was a joke. I have heard that there is kind of a modern “hippy” vibe there but it’s a major arts college so that’s not surprising. My daughter isn’t exactly a hippy but she connects well with those free-spirits and artsy types so I’ll bet she would fit in well. I was joking with @SpartanDrew & @DrummerDad18 that if it’s clothing optional, we could save a lot on my daughter’s college wardrobe budget! lol.
We are actually still waiting on the official acceptance letter and offer from CalArts. They have been in touch by email and indicated they definitely want to accept her but due to the major change they recommended to “undeclared” they were still working on it and hoped to get all acceptance letters and awards out by April 1st. I’m not holding my breath (that laid-back hippy reputation seems to apply to returning phone calls and updating portals! Lol) but maybe I’ll have some news tomorrow.
If it remains a reach financially, it will simply fall off the radar, we have no choice. But if the numbers somehow work out to put it in play, I will do more research. What I have learned so far is there is no doubt it’s an exceptional music school. The student samples I’ve heard are top-notch. Not sure about the overall diversity (which is important to my daughter) but they do have many international students which is very cool. My daughter is passionate about many art forms so it’s a school that encourages cross-curricular Arts study which is wonderful. It’s small (only 1400 students) and offers very individualized instruction and small class sizes (most under 10 students.) It’s more about crafting the art and passion and collaboration than the marketing/commercial focus, which would thrill my daughter but can be a negative too when you consider future employment or goals. The students who are self-driven and good collaborators seem to do best there. It’s 45 minutes from LA so a negative if you want to be right in the heart of the city but a positive if you want a quieter, less action-packed place of study that is close enough to a LA but not right there. It certainly sounds like an interesting option we would look into more if the opportunity seems realistic. A visit to learn more and see the campus would be ideal but I’d love for her to just talk to some professors and some current music students to get a feel for things at the very least. Preferably when they are fully clothed! Lol. I’ll keep you posted if we hear anything tomorrow.
@SuzeViolin @tripletmama @mperrine @AmyIzzy @music2023 (Hope I didn’t miss anyone.) Thank you all for your kind and empathetic words. It was a rough day, and we had family over. It was the last thing I wanted to deal with today, but it also helped us to not sit around dwelling on it. My DS needs a couple of days to process this, and then we’ll talk more. He has some good options for CS (which he is questioning right now,) and he can attend IU through their Exploratory program. Hopefully, he’ll be able to transfer into JSOM or another music school for Audio Engineering in his sophomore year. Wish I had found this forum earlier in the process. You’ve been so helpful. Wishing your children much success in all they do.
CalArts is actually clothing optional! But no one goes naked on a daily basis. Sometimes in the pool, the kids skinny dip, but that is it. Also, you are allowed to bring pets on campus and to class, so there are always lots of fuzzy friends to pet. CalArts is truly a special place and focuses on each student finding their voice as an artist. It was the perfect school for my daughter. She graduates in May. For graduation, each student can choose what music they want to be played as they walk across the stage and they can design a costume or theme as well. Last year the president of CalArts jumped out of a giant egg, some parents walked with their students across the stage, some had their dogs and cats with them LOL and of course…one kid walked across the stage buck naked. It was a one of kind graduation.
@astute12 ??? that’s awesome!