ASU is a good music school, the facilities are pretty. We live nearby so it was never my son’s first choice but a friend of his (oboe) attends and is doing well. I don’t know if it’s worth full OOS price with no aid at all though. Can you contact the financial aid office and ask about merit scholarships? Maybe something was missed if he was offered merit from other schools.
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Music education is not a field with a quick ROI and financial soundness is so important in supporting them for the long run. It could be one of the most critical factors that lead to their ultimate success or not. It looks that you are in a strong position with that potential option. So BIG congratulations on the full ride offer. Also totally understand the agony regarding other options. Good luck with those as well. It’s such a give-and-take process. Gain some and lose some.
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IDK if this will be helpful because every family is of course different. My D also has a wide range of cost options - from nearly full ride to breathtakingly high full pay private college. She’s been thinking about her options compared to the nearly full ride - i.e., do I like School X $50k (or $100k or $350k!) more than school Y? We do have some savings, so the options can also be compared as “School Y will leave me with $$ to help fund a period as a full time performer (or grad school)” and “School X will leave me with debt so I will need to find steady employment that may interfere with my music career.” My D is also highly inclined to like schools that have offered her music merit money - she sees it as a sign that they believe she is a good fit so likely good opportunities there. (Schools with just academic scholarships get no credit in her book - ASU falls in that category for her, which made me sad - it was a bright shiny object for me!) That all being said, I’d sure encourage him to go for the full ride or at least the moderate package! I suspect my D will end up in the moderate package range.
@Parentof2014grad Thanks for the notes on the music school. As far as merit, I did call financial aid and the reason he does not qualify is that they only look at unweighted GPA (no additional credit for the Honors, AP or IB classes he took and no consideration for the P/F our school did last year because of COVID). His 3.4 unweighted was below their cut off. Every other school took his school’s reported 4.2 weighted GPA.
It’s a reason, but OMG REALLY?!! (sorry, I know this isn’t the rant forum).
We encountered this with University of Arizona as well. With merit the OOS tuition looked like a pretty good deal but the way they calculated it, it ended up being a $2,500/yr scholarship I think. Within our price range, but just barely.
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My son is considering music ed as a major. Knowing he will need a masters to teach is a big factor we have to consider when looking at undergrad costs.
Hes only a sophomore in high school but so far can’t imagine doing something that didn’t include music. He knows he won’t be rich but he’s hoping for doing something that doesn’t cause him to hate his job.
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Congratulations on the acceptance offers! Does anyone have any insights into the top undergraduate voice/opera studies on the west coast? I have seen them seldom mentioned in CC. Thanks!
Hello. my son has been accepted at CalArts, NEC (Contemporary Improv) and The New School. He’s still waiting for 2 more responses but I think it’s going to be a tough decision for him. He likes various aspects of each school. He is a clarinet player (jazz/contemporary) and also interested in music technology. If anyone else is also mulling these choices or has any thoughts/insights to any of those programs I’d love to hear more. Thanks and congratulations to everyone’s amazing kids!
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For those that auditioned for USC, how many judges did you have on the zoom? what about for Frost?
forgot to add I have a kid who auditioned on guitar for USC popular music and for Frost’s contemporary program
When my son auditioned EA (jazz percussion) for Frost in Dec, the 2 jazz drum professors and the bass professor were in the Zoom session.
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For the record IU still has not sent out all of their admission decisions yet. So dont rule it out yet. I’m hearing they are notoriously quite slow.
My husband the IT dad has come up with a system to help S make decisions. Ratings and ranking done by son to give each school he’s accepted to a final score/ranking
I can share if you’d like .
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@musicmom98 that would be great, thanks!
YES!! I love IT nerds as I am a total idiot when it comes to anything spreadsheet related.
We went through this all last year… I feel your pain! My son had basically a full ride from NU ($70k in financial aid), but he was really draw to Rice, which would still cost us about $20k/year. His teacher gave us the best advice. He said, that might seem like a lot of money now, but university is about building connections. The music world is very small and you need to be in the best place to make connections for your future. You might get through debt free - but it won’t matter if you didn’t build the connections. 
So my son went with his gut and he’s been very happy there. I know the money is a huge issue, but if you come out of university with a) the best education you could get and b) the ‘connections’, you’ll be farther ahead in terms of job offers, etc. So it will even out. Within reason of course!
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And I can help if there are any Rice/Shepherd applicants - they’re also in person there, thankfully!
$20k to Rice is in incredible!
I think if the difference is much larger, it could be a very tough call. It all depends on the individual circumstance.
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Students can also make connections at summer programs, and of course, in grad school. We tried to save at the undergrad level, and have found that in the best grad programs, musicians come from lots of schools and backgrounds.
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We are at a crossroads with this decision right now.
Weighing all the options and trying to determine the pros of all the choices and which provides the best bang for the buck. Luckily a few have been crossed off bc of price alone. It’s not an easy decision. I’m just not a fan of huge college debt. It’s a delicate balance between wanting to send them to the best place and trying to be financially responsible
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yes we def needed financial aid but “free” did have an appeal!
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I can smell “April Angst” in the air! It sounds like you have a good handle on all the considerations and just need some time to settle into your best choice.
For all, note that some kids/families make quick decisions. Some take to the bitter end. This can drive parents crazy but it’s best to let your kid come around in their own time. There is no one way or right way to do it.
And remember if anything goes wrong at the school (and yes it WILL…a bad semester, a hard class, a missed performance opportunity), your amazing kid will slip in the ole…”if I had just gone to the other school everything would be different” (and you might even belief them…truth be told, a very good choice school will and should present challenges). It’s best, in the end, to be able to say “well, this is the school you chose so you’ll need to work with it.” Instead of thinking “this is the school I talked you into”…and now I feel kind of responsible…
Of course money consideration are a little “different”. Steering a kid from a ton of debt is certainly appropriate. Hopefully most families have had this discussion already…but when the money comes in (or not) it does create angst and sometimes disappointment. Sometimes your kid (and maybe you) will need a little time to “mourn” the lost of a school choice…and find a new “love”. You are not alone if you experience this (I have!).
Kind of a ramble here but April Angst can be a thing…followed by Buyer’s Remorse in May…after that it’s clear sailing! Everyone DOES find their happy place in the fall…even if that takes a little “work” in April.
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