100% agree with this. With my college freshman who has had a very different year than expected (obvs), I have been grateful that she chose her school. She did wait until the last minute, and (probably just to torture me) announced casually over dinner that she had made a deposit that morning. She’s invested in it, so she supports the choices the administration has made, which has been easier because they have been excellent choices.
I’ve been so much more involved with this second kid - she is a totally different person and of course the arts application process is much more complex. She is chomping at the bit to commit to the one school that has shown her a ton of love. She uncharacteristically shrugged off two very much expected rejections this week, and I can tell she doesn’t really want to wait for the last two schools to come in, lol. She’s so lucky that she found one practically perfect fit for her and that they seem to think she’s a good fit too. That’s my hope for all of you/your kids!
You summed it up so well. Angst. There’s so many emotions flying around. My biggest goal is the health and happiness of my child. Music is a special focus. I couldn’t dissociate her from it if I tried. So, I try to combine fiscal responsibility with happiness. We have narrowed down to about 5 schools and they all have different pros and cons. It’s going to be a challenge!
Hello- Congrats to you all! First time posting, but have been reading all of your wonderful advice! My daughter is a Voice major & has received acceptances to Eastman, Ithaca, Boston Conservatory, Michigan(SMTD), Carnegie & Peabody. Waiting to hear from MSM & NYU. I am hoping to gain some insight to the music programs at these schools! Best of luck to you all.
My daughter went to University of Colorado Boulder and was given a full scholarship, she graduates in May. We are in Colorado so she really was disapointed to have to chose CU over NEC and BOCO where she also was accepted for undergrad but even with a scholarship it was just too expensive. In the end it has been an amazing education. They just opened their state of the art new Music Building. She must have received great training as she was accepted to every Grad School she appied to with pretty large scholarships and will be attending Mannes in the Fall. So ask away if you have any questions.
Hey all I have enjoyed and benefited from the all the knowledge on this board since my daughter began her school search 5 years ago. I was wondering if any of you had any advice for how to approach a school regarding negotiating for more money? She is seeking her MM in Vocal Performance and is a Soprano. She has been offered $15,000/year scholarship at Mannes (her first choice school) and $22,000 at SFCM. She was asking me how is the best way to approach them for possibly more money since a Grad student does not get Pell grant money like an undergrad so thought it was worth it to appeal for more. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Boulder was on our list, we are OOS, it is one of the only schools that, as far as I know, offered no merit money
It’s nice to hear about their program and glad you D got a great education. Sometimes it’s hard to say NO to the schools that have the big name, but in the end she ended up where she belonged! It’s a great comment, especially with so many of us dealing with the same decisions right now.
I’d love some input from those in the know! DS has been accepted to Eastman and MSM (trombone performance) and all he knows is that he loves both trombone professors (he’s done lessons with them via Zoom) and programs on paper. We have never visited either campus (and will not be able to do before decision day) so we would LOVE any feedback from you all regarding atmosphere, competitiveness, student experience, prospects after graduation, etc.
If Mannes is your daughter’s fist choice, write an appeal letter and share a higher offer from SFCM if Mannes can increase an offer to match or even higher. If she knows exactly how much she would need in scholarship / grant to attend, considering high cost of living in NYC / SF, she can include $$ in her appeal letters.
Congratulations! Both great schools(!!) but totally different setting / locations. Akapiratequeen’s son is currently at Eastman. According to her recent post, Eastman is doing mostly in-person classes in this semester.
We toured MSM years ago. A campus is located in one large block with all buildings connected including dorms. Dorm rooms are fine, not too micro-compact. There are 100+ practice rooms. Columbia is in next blocks. Area is probably more college student / family friendly.
@BooMimiMommy My son is in CIM. Let me know if you have questions. I think they really did a great job this year with Covid and everything else. The new dorm is fantastic.
My son has been accepted at several good trumpet programs. I have a question about appealing financial aid packages. While all the schools he has been accepted at have provided solid financial aid packages, some were better than others. So, my question is, is it appropriate to appeal by way of pointing out that other schools have offered better packages? Any help would be appreciated. We’re totally new to all this.
You have absolutely nothing to lose by appealing for better financial aid. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. If there’s a particular change in circumstances, inform the schools of this. If your son would rather attend school X, but got a better package at school Y, ask X to match Y’s package. Worst that can happen is that they say they cannot. Best is that they improve their offer.
A few years ago, friend’s son got into a private engineering school that matched (merit aid) his state flagship U’s cost. But then flagship U offered a merit scholarship, too. Friend felt it would be pushy to ask private college to increase their merit award to match the now improved flagship U’s offer. Finally I convinced her to ask… and they immediately matched it, for all four years.
You can say you (or your child) would love to attend, that the school is first choice, but another school offered a larger package and you may have to go with that. Then they will either offer or not, in our experience. We found that the teacher and/or chair of the dept. might do advocacy for more funds.
Yes, for what I’ve heard, it’s worth appealing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It depends on how much wiggle room they have and how much they want the student. I’m also in the process of appealing for my D first choice school. We are asking them to reconsider the merit award so she can attend.
I haven’t updated in a while because there’s not much to say. Since my daughter has chosen Lawrence, the music-specific part of our journey is nearly over, for this cycle. What’s left is the coming of age part. My daughter is a very even keeled, thoughtful kid who mostly just rolls with whatever is in front of her. I can tell her outlook is broadening as things are starting to sink in. She’s been coming in with a new question every day. Yesterday she was asking about health care. Today it was (gasp) a question pertaining to what her resume would look like four years from now when she graduates from college. This is super forward-looking for my daughter. Big changes!
On a lighter note, we got a letter sometime last week from Florida State welcoming her to their music program. This is the program where they had told her they didn’t have her audition recordings (they did), and rather than try to straighten things out, she had recognized she had acceptances she preferred and had withdrawn her application. We are scratching our heads here! But I do think it’s still nice for her to see an example of her hard work paying off.
Congratulations again on all the acceptances! Even on the waitlists! I am very curious to see how financial package appeals work out. We lucked out with Lawrence giving us a great financial package and no need to appeal, but I’ve got another kid coming through in a few years and this looks like a key part of the process.
Now to start thinking about the million little details of sending a kid off to college!..
When we appealed financial aid for my daughter’s undgrad school (she is heading off to grad school in the fall, time flies!), we mentioned her offers from other schools. The school then requested that we submit proof of those offers and came back with a much more generous offer that matched the other schools. I know it doesn’t always work, but it’s definitely worth trying!!
Were the schools you presented as competing offers similar type schools? We have a great offer from a College/conservatory but a large state university tuition comes in about 9k less per year. My concern is that the conservatory won’t really see the university as a good comparison.
