Big congratulations @PianoMom88 – great choice!
After sweating the prescreens, racing around the country for auditions, and a long angstsy month of balancing pros and cons of several wonderful options, S has committed to Princeton. He plans to major in music and pursue certificates in music performance, jazz studies, and, if possible, physics or another natural science. He’ll get a broad based liberal arts education and still be able to immerse himself in music.
S had been looking forward to attending a conservatory or music school within a university or LAC but ultimately saw this as the best option. Princeton recently opened the spectacular Lewis Center for the Arts and is building a strong jazz program. The financial aid provided by Princeton was also the highest of all the offers he received and does not include loans.
I am grateful for everyone’s advice and terrific company along the journey. We started out the process feeling terribly behind but learned so much on this board. S didn’t end up at a music school, but I feel a great kinship with all of you. Maybe we’ll see you on the grad school journey.
YAY!!! So happy for your family and S, @jazzboydad! A Princeton education will inspire and motivate your talented kid, I have no doubt. We’ll see you for grad school! ?
PS Jersey for the win!!
Congrats @jazzboydad! You can’t go wrong with a Princeton education given that they are also so clearly invested in the arts. What a great outcome! Best of luck to your son!
Congrats @jazzboydad - what a great choice! And same to you @PianoMom88! So great when kids figure out their ‘fit’! Glad the angst is over.
Dear all,
S has finally committed to Boston Conservatory@Berklee, which has been his dream school since joining their summer composition program 2 years ago! In the past few months as the acceptance results rolled in, S and I had quite a bit of sensible discussion about the pros and cons of each school, until a month ago when BoCo’s news arrived. I had always believed that college choice, like marriage, should be one’s own decision, but given the cost of attending BoCo being an outlier among S’s options, there were times when I struggled whether to let him decide. I did have strong reasons to force through another decent option, which could have cost us much less. That said, I understand his internal fire is not only driven by his love for music but also the school and its location. He needs to be where he FEELS he belongs. So I’m crossing my fingers, putting full trust in him that he’ll be devoted to advancing his own path.
I would like to use this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to all posters, whose experience sharing on this forum has given me lots of insights since 3 years ago when I was still lurking as a non-member. I want to extend my gratitude especially to a bunch of CC friends who exchanged private messages with me in the past year. Your advice has guided me through the difficult tasks of navigating summer courses, composing the college application list, appealing financial award, and making the final decision. Equally important is the emotional support I’ve received along the way. I’m truly grateful that I’ve found this place with all these exceptionally welcoming, understanding and supportive parents!
Hope your kids are all flourishing on their path of choice!
P.S. Special thanks to
@akapiratequeen , @AsMother , @bridgenail , @compmom , @dbandmom , @diglass , @dramasopranomom , @glassharmonica , @GoForth , @indeestudios , @laurasti , @MusakParent , @Pohsmom , @SpartanDrew , @SpiritManager , @StacJip , @tripletmama , @winjammer , @violamama
from the bottom of my heart!
Back at ya, @Compojazzmom ! And congratulations! From what you said about your son, I really feel that you both made a great choice, and that he will absolutely flourish at BoCo. Please keep us posted once he gets started!
@Compojazzmom I’m so glad to see that you (edit your son!) made a decision! You won’t regret it. Good luck!
And good luck to all others. There are too many to list. The musical growth that your kids will experience in the next 4 years will amaze you! I’m so excited for ALL of you.
@Compojazzmom I teared up when I read this! So glad you were able to give your son a clear open road to the pursuit of his dreams. I shared your struggle in this area, as many of us did, and I’m so proud and happy of the way we’ve supported our kids (and each other!) in making the decisions that were right for our children and families. Now to step back and watch them soar!
Congrats @Compojazzmom I’m sure you’re son is going to have an amazing experience there and it feels good to be done with the process right!? YAY! We definitely had our struggles here too and my kid had to make some compromises on academics vs. music to allow a dual degree option on a final decision. AND he’s still on a wait list too (please don’t call!).
I might try to catch up around here if I ever get a little time! Congrats all around!
Congratulations @Compojazzmom on Boston Conservatory! It’s wonderful when our kids find a place that they feel they belong.
Also, I know that @Lyoder2051 has not been around much since all of his acceptances came in. But, since I now do follow him in Instagram, I thought I’d share with the group that he announced today that he will be attending UCLA on a full scholarship!
Thanks @lkbux64 ! And yes, super excited to be a bruin! Will be double majoring in piano performance and history. And congrats to everyone else who have made their final decisions!
Congrats @Lyoder2051, saw that on IG as well! So much good news…
Congrats to all who have committed!!! We’re still not there but oh so very close. Just making sure all i’s are dotted and t’s crossed. We got an extension but truly hate the thought of going past May 1. So maybe tomorrow I can finally add a logo!?!
Hang in there @meltedbutter!
@SpartanDrew What year is the Bassoonist on Stamps scholarship?? My D cannot wait to get there and meet the other Bassoonists at this point. It is like the rest of life is irrelevant now!
I’ve only been here since February or March, but I’m already feeling sentimental, like I will miss old friends once conversation here trails off after tomorrow (hopefully, only temporarily!)
Before people get busy with summer, I do have some questions for you 2023 parents about early admissions, however! I’m already thinking about whether it’s worthwhile to push my D to apply to a place or two early. She’ll be returning from summer programs four days into our school year (our schools start August 7 – and they aren’t even the earliest ones in our state!) and I know she will be tired and stressed. But I’m wondering if it is better to be stressed in September than in January or March?
Especially @AmyIzzy @lkbux64 @akapiratequeen @PAPDAD @Propinquity4444 and others whose kids applied early… In most cases, it seems your kids applied to a school or two early… and then also applied to others regular admission.
For ALL of you: How do you feel having an early admit changed the process, for better or worse? Was it worth the scramble to get the apps in early? Did you feel your admissions or scholarship offers were enhanced by applying early?
If your kid got in to their top choice early, was it worth the effort to go to all of the other auditions and then ultimately choose the early one? What led you to do so? Did you ever think about skipping the rest of the auditions if you already had a good school in the bag?
If your kid got in early but decided ultimately to go elsewhere, was it because they changed their mind and an early “top choice” fell out of favor? Or did a better offer come in somewhere else? Was the early school more of a “safety” all along, rather than a top choice?
For others, like @tripletmama @mperrine @PercussionMama @Lendlees @jejeje and others whose kids did not do EA (at least I don’t think so), did you regret it?
AND LAST QUESTION: Is there a great music-specific thread on early admission? I didn’t find one in a search, but the search function within the major isn’t the best…
Thank you all!!
@khill87 We did not do EA and I probably would not do so now if I had it to do again. Quite a lot of the big$ came at the end for quite a few, and sometimes offers from other schools are motivation for a school to offer a good deal to your D/S to secure their commitment.
I think it pays to work hard at communicating with your first choice(s) so they KNOW your D/S is very interested to motivate the professor to think about putting some $$help in your court. GOOD LUCK!
@meltedbutter I am waiting with you! Hoping for your logo to change so we can all cheer!!
@khill87 - we sort of did EA, but none of the schools S applied to had early audition dates (except maybe one?). He wasn’t ready to audition that early and was all-consumed with prescreen videos. So, I really wouldn’t do ED/EA unless there was one school that he really, really wanted. As it was we went down to mid-April before deciding on a school he got into back in February. Go figure. Some schools (especially McGill) only had one or two audition dates that were late in the cycle, so that can play a factor as well.
Good luck @meltedbutter…