@Mamager19 it took just under a week. They emailed with a link to the updated portal page.
We attached all relevant docs with the appeal so they didn’t need additional info.
Thank you @akapiratequeen ! Not sure which docs to send so we didn’t.
It was a long shot anyway but I thought we should try.
@Mamager19 we also appealed at Eastman. We have not heard back yet and when I called they told me maybe 2 or 3 weeks. They were very nice and told us everything they needed … even sent an email for more information. I am not expecting much but any will help. They said that most appeals yield more… maybe not all … but more.
Should say the additional scholarship was need-based… $2k a year. S had a generous merit award and this helped push us to the finish line.
Should we start an Appeal thread to capture the information or leave it on here?
Congratulations @akapiratequeen on your new logo. So happy that his first choice came through for him!
@mperrine - that’s good to know. Thanks for the info.
Congratulations @akapiratequeen!
@OnTheJourney19 we got our offer too. &10k. Not nearly enough on out of state tuition ?
Really struggling with the decision. Seeing the cost in black and white (and red) is very scary. S has full tuition offer to state university (but he doesn’t want to go there), The two others are excellent music schools but he really wants the most expensive one. Total 4 year cost is 80K vs 150K. I think my biggest fear is that we say yes to the more expensive one and once he gets there we get hit by lots of other expenses…like summer programs, trips, extra semesters, etc. Anyone else factoring those other expenses into your decision? I’m actually feeling really guilty that we even went down the path of looking outside of our budget. It’s led to massive stress. Oh…and one other question…anyone know if music kids usually are able to keep their scholarships for all four years?
@TwoInCollegeMom we also have a pretty large (to us) cost difference between our son’s first and second choices. Both are in budget, but the more expensive choice would mean us saying no to study abroad, summer programs, and such. The extra semester my son is expecting for his program at some schools is definitely factored into the cost as he considers his options, and the merit scholarships only last four years, not 4.5. I don’t have experience with music kids since my musician is my high school senior, but my older two kids were able to get the grades to keep their academic scholarships. However, we had told them clearly from the beginning that if they lost their academic scholarships at the out of state private schools they chose, they would come home and finish college at our local, commutable, state university.
Read the terms of any scholarships you’re being offered and make sure they are renewable for four years. It can vary.
@TwoInCollegeMom I can’t speak for every situation, and a lot would depend on your student’s instrument or course of study, but in my experience, college level students generally go to tuition free summer festivals, or else they work for the summer. I don’t know many parents of instrumentalists who pay for summer programs (perhaps airfare and travel would be a cost.) Likewise, an extra semester would be unusual. I agree with the poster above who cautions to check that scholarships are renewable for all four years.
My son’s double major at Eastman (jazz and music ed) will take 4.5 years; however, the 9th semester involves student teaching and is tuition-free. Other schools we looked at offer similar arrangements. Re: scholarships, in my experience they renew as long as you maintain a reasonable (2.5 or 3.0) GPA. None of my kids have ever had them revoked, in spite of some pretty serious wobbles. In fact, some schools (eg NYU) offer additional scholarships for study abroad. NYU also offered a “finish line” scholarship for the final year before graduation. None of these required applications — they just appeared. I guess my point is, once you are in, they want you to finish in a reasonable time frame. There’s no up side for them to losing decent students by discontinuing their funding.
@twoincollege in some ways I feel like I could have written your post. We did not do the research of how many full ride or full tuition scholarships certain schools gave out and s applied to 4 schools out of our budget and 3 schools in our budget. We knew the 4 expensive ones would be long shots for our finances. Hindsight is always 20/20 though. I guess I don’t completely regret that he applied to them at all. Even if he does not end up attending any of them, he at least now has that experience of auditioning at top schools under his belt. If he wants to go on do a MM he already knows that much more about those schools.
We are definitely looking for hidden costs, including study abroad, and one of my son’s academic scholarships requires him to keep a 3.25, which has me nervous. Definitely considering all of these things in final decision. This is pretty much the reason we are not appealing FA or merit at his top two schools, even if they offered 10K more, it would still be a big stretch for us.
The last six months have been extremely stressful in worrying about finances. Not the senior year for my s that I was envisioning.
Unlike instrumentalists, VP kids generally will have costs associated with summer program tuition (especially if female). Some offer merit scholarships to lower the price tag, based on either live or recorded audition. They (or you) will still have to cough up airfare and room and board, and usually part of the tuition. D has chosen programs in the US so she was able to pay using a combination of merit awards from the program and her work savings (we kicked in for domestic airfare). Others chose overseas programs which are great for developing language skills but they are so pricey! They do need to do something over the summer - you can’t not play your instrument for 3 months.
@“Pikachu’s Mom” I’m sorry I’m a little behind, but we’re in a similar boat. My d got into 2 conservatives that are within larger schools so she has opportunities to take other classes and probably do a minor with her BM. She’s been thinking about both of them while we wait for financials.
But then on Saturday we visited another school she got into that only offers a BA. She didn’t even want to visit when she got into the other schools because she wanted the BM.
I said it’s not that far away so why don’t we just go visit anyway since you already signed up. So we went. And now she’s even more confused than ever. And so am I. She really liked it. Her other interest is in psychology and neuroscience and they have lots of opportunities. And she thinks if she doesn’t ultimately make it in opera or as a classical vocalist, she’d love to do research or practice in the field of psychology.
I thought/suggested she go to the conservatory and re-evaluate after the first year. But she’s afraid she won’t get into the BA school again, or at least it’s not guaranteed. I told her as long as she did well freshman year I’m sure she’d get in again. I assume they don’t let you defer and go to another school first.
I think she’s leaning toward what I said, but she’s really struggling. Plus the BA school is our in-state option and we’re still waiting to hear about FA and scholarship at one of the conservatories. But we’ve told her to pick what she wants and what she feels is right for her. But she’s just not sure how to know that.
Not sure my point here, but thanks for listening as April angst continues at our house!
@SuzeViolin your story above is very helpful to me as well! We’re still in the middle of deciding between apples and oranges! And we’re all totally stressed out here. Your story helps.
@Choirsong we’re also between BA and BM, which just happened this weekend. It was all BM until we visited the BA school on Saturday. Our heads are spinning!
@TwoInCollegeMom same here. Well at least up until Saturday. Her by far top choice was the most expensive. And I fear all the extra costs too (VP). Now we’re throwing in the BA (and much cheaper) option, but I suspect it may flip back to original first choice after we visit that school next week! What a roller coaster ride! And not really a fun one I might add. 
Just in case you all thought that everything is over, we are still waiting for a decision from McGill. I just called and they said that we should not expect a decision for one to two weeks!! The portal shows that audition evaluation has not been forwarded to admissions. Decision deadline is still May 1.