@Percussionmama D often asks for hot water with lemon since caffeine and dairy are considered bad for the voice. Considering their voice is their instrument, they really need to care for themselves!
@tripletmama right there with you and part 2-3 of April Angst - looking into loans for S. Not an immediate need for first year or two BUT nervous about him doing a couple of years and then not getting a loan later yikes!! If I may ask, how was the application process? any advice or tips??
@VibistMom - we haven’t applied for any loans yet. We will likely do a credit union loan which will have much better terms (I think) than the ParentPlus ones (which are at 7.6% - oh my!). I’ve heard that the Discover loans are also good. We are mainly looking for our aviator who leaves on May 10 since her tuition is on the horizon. We have until August for our Berklee girl.
We can cover our aviator’s tuition and room/board - but her flight rating fees will be $80k over two years! Yikes!!! Now, that’s a big loan! She hopes to get a flight instructor job her last two years of college to pay off a big chunk of it.
@tripletmama — still in the thick of April angst, but I guess we’re making progress. One ‘will not attend’ email sent! Down to three.
@mperrine, congratulations on your D’s From the Top upcoming performance!! How wonderful!!
And with the San Diego Symphony. Can you PM me details? It’s close by. 
@akapiratequeen and @percussionmama That makes three of us! I don’t know how I birthed a child who can get through adolescence without coffee. Or who can sing… since I can’t carry a tune in a bucket!
We had a short break from April Angst this evening. My S, whose primary instrument is guitar, also sings with his high school vocal jazz choir. Today the University of North Texas Vocal Jazz singers came to S’s high school to workshop with the high school singers and then they all performed this evening. It was the first glimpse I’ve had of college level music. The talent was astounding. S also had a great time jamming with the rhythm section before the performance.
So we are still in April angst here. How often and appropriate is it to contact a school (SFCM) you are on a wait list for? The wait list is a long shot, because it would require serious scholarship money to make it affordable for us.
Also, a school different school offered s a music scholarship on top of his academic scholarship. They then doubled his music scholarship. The initial offer had an acceptance date of April 5th. He asked for an extension and they gave him until April 17th. This is a music school at a flagship state university. Do they have the same rule as stand alone music schools that they have to give us until May 1? Right now it is second choice of affordable schools, but we are still investigating and comparing with the top choice affordable choices.
My son just found his letter from Berklee via their web site (no email yet)…he had deferred from last year and auditioned again in Feb hoping to get a scholarship…they’re offering $14K per year…he is VERY happy!! My work will also contribute a similar amount, plus financial aid .
He may not be living on campus…but dad lives in Mass and a close friend may be moving to Boston…
We’re kind of in shock but very happy for him! I hope to be switching my name logo over to Berklee very soon!!!
: )
my D is a senior vocal major at Laguardia HS and a few of her instrumental classmates have gotten into Calarts. It’s supposed to have an excellent music program
If you’re considering a Plus loan, I’ll throw out there what we ended up doing, while putting 4 kids through college. We started out using Plus loans, but the interest rate is really high. We’ve lived in our house, that we own, since the early 90’s and the mortgage was nearly paid off, so we refinanced and used house equity to pay tuition–and we paid off those 7 and 8 percent plus loans. The interest rate was very low at the time, but rates are still low. To do this you have have house equity in the first place, and you have to be willing to spend it on your kids’ education, but it is a way to save money. You can also borrow against or withdraw from retirement savings without a penalty as long as you use it for tuition payments. None of this is appealing, but could be better than a higher interest loan.
@glassharmonica - yes, Parent Plus loans are now at 7.6% which is not that great. I’ve heard that Discover, Sallie Mae, and most credit union loans have lower interest rates.
Hello everyone. Proud to say that my Son will be attending the Peabody Conservatory at The Johns Hopkins University. Best wishes to everyone still in the process of making decisions.
Congratulations @WestOfPCH and everyone else who has finalized their decisions. Sorry for not personally cheering for all as I have been away for a while.Very happy to see all these success stories.
@SnackysMom and @WestOfPCH great news! Love that Peabody logo!! ?
Congrats @WestOfPCH and @SnackysMom. We’re in a holding pattern here with two big accepted student events next week.
Congrats on your wonderful news @WestOfPCH and @SnackysMom!
We are also in a holding pattern. I would like for S to commit to his first choice school so we can be done, but he is curious to see whether that school may increase its scholarship offer if he waits. The director at his music school told him that he needs to tread carefully as she is aware of a Frost STAMPS scholarship recipient in a prior year who had his scholarship offer pulled before 5/1 when the school reached out to him and he said he hadn’t made his mind up. That sounds crazy to me, but has me a little nervous. Is there a real risk of losing a scholarship offer (not from Frost) if you hold it until the last minute?
I doubt there is a risk although it might make things harder for those on the waiting list! Is the school likely to offer more? I can see asking via appeal but just waiting seems unusual. Hope he decides soon!
My DS bassoonist is headed to Jacobs School of Music at Indiana. He’s hasn’t taken off his IU sweatshirt all week! He’ll graduate from high school, we’ll head to orientation the next day and then he’ll be home for two days before he’s gone until End of July. Crazy journey - thanks all for the ride! 
Congrats @leejay22!