More great points! (This is why I asked!) One of the two he cancelled he did summer program at… it was def a back up option in his mind. The other we’ve visited and didn’t totally love it. He has offers from his top 3 and I broke it down above in my response to Beverly! Thanks for taking the time to respond and we will def wait!
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It is a great feeling to be done! It’s an even better feeling to know he feels so great about his options! It def was a very long grueling process starting with so many visits junior year to figure out where to apply, then the travel this Fall/winter! I’m excited to hear where yours will wind up as well! Please keep updating!
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Really wish we could have accommodated son doing inperson in Indiana this weekend. But with his adhd and my ex and all grandparents not available, I did not trust him to drive 10 hrs by himself.
Im bound by court order to be with my daughter at an out of state dance competition.
So he had to do precorded.
I’m sorry he couldn’t go in person, but it sounds like you made a good decision with your kid. A 10 hour drive is pretty miserable to do by yourself, especially at a young age. With our virtual auditions, I’m trusting the process. The professors are experienced with hearing a student’s skills and personality in a short interaction, and they have a lot of practice doing this virtually by now.
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I want to circle back and give a little report about UNT. I am so glad he went alone. He had some experiences and insights he never would have had with me tagging along. 
He said the audition went great, including being very happy with his sight reading. Even though he missed out on meeting some people he planned to meet, and missed sitting in on classes, he seems to have gleaned a lot of information and also a sense of the place and the program. His reactions to it were not exactly what I expected, but totally make sense given who he is. He had the space and time to discover that, even on a short visit alone. He met some other musicians who were there to audition, and some of them went to a performance of three high school jazz bands and the One O’Clock band, and the skill and talent was off the charts.
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So glad it went well for him! Nice to have a great audition and hopefully the visit will get him an acceptance and the information he needs to help choose the best fit from his options in the end!
I’ve heard the One O’Clock in person once and it was really a treat!
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We have finally wrapped up all the auditions – 5 live + 2 recorded – all over the country for undergrad cellist. In the past 24 hours, he has received 3 emails from 3 professors/schools saying “I’d love to have you in my studio” and “Let me know if I can answer any questions you might have” sort of thing. He did trial lessons with them all so he knows them in a minor way. But this is not an acceptance right? In my mind, I am calling it a soft acceptance. Or is it nothing more than a kind, personal email? No financials. Is this how this process goes? Never heard about this step.
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First off, congratulations on the wonderful connections and feedback! He must be very proud professors want him in their studios. My son got an email like this from one professor, but it was concurrent with his acceptance letter. His other acceptances and auditions did not involve any further communication. I don’t know if that signifies something. I feel like he’s in a different world than a cellist, but I can say I’ve read in these threads that a student should wait for formal acceptances before making any assumptions or plans.
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We didn’t consider anything an acceptance until it was officially communicated by the school (on the letterhead, as it were).
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It’s fun to get something on real letterhead. My H and I were just explaining how there used to be big and small envelopes, and you did not want to get any small ones. 
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This sounds like acceptances on letterhead will follow soon! Sounds positive! My son got two “this would be a great place for you”'s and one was a verbal “You are accepted and I will get a letter out ASAP”…with the last one the letter was in his portal by Monday and the others came when expected, per the universities timeline. Isn’t it great to de done??? Congrats!
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That is very positive! Congrats!
But…a word of caution…I recall that there have been reports on here in the past of kids who got the same kind of outreach from the faculty and, sadly, weren’t accepted.
I bet it doesn’t happen often, but sometimes it does. So I agree with considering it a “soft acceptance”.
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Thanks, all. And I agree, this could mean everything or nothing. Back to worrying for a month.
I’m cautious by nature. I would think that what should matter is the total cost, rather than how any merit/scholarship money is labeled. Unless one type of $ seems more easily lost than the other in future years, you should only care about how much you need to pay, which you won’t know until you have that final piece of paper.
And I might keep the auditions, at least if they aren’t too trying on the family. He may discover that there’s a fabulous prof he didn’t realize he’d gel with so well.
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Thank you! He already has the academic money for that school so just waiting on music…def don’t care how it is labeled (academic, music, whatever…) but that piece will give us the whole picture! I guess my question was: IF he is certain do we wait for the total package or commit now before the music money and I confirmed we should wait! And YES! He only cancelled bc he is familiar and has visited/participated in camp with both programs and is sure they are #4 and 5 on his list…He already got in 1,2,and 3! He doesnt feel the need to explore and wrap up with the others! Thank you all so much for your advice, it is so appreciated and made us feel good about waiting for the whole pic!
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This is no doubt “very good” news. You can feel proud of any positive communication. My D received this as well. It is not uncommon with some schools and some teachers. Still not all do it…so no one should worry if they didn’t get feedback. My D got acceptances from schools/teachers that did this and didn’t.
STILL, you need to wait for the official acceptance…as you have figured out. It’s rare that it would not work out…but you just don’t know for sure until you have the official letter of acceptance. With 3 follow-ups like this…he most likely has a couple in the bag…no need to worry too much.
Enjoy the positive feedback!!
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Also be sure that your S follows-up. I’m sure that I don’t need to say that…but it would be great for him to have some basic communication with the teachers. They may be trying to gauge his interest. You may want to be a parent over his shoulder…just to keep an eye on it…in case the teacher asks for a commitment…he doesn’t need to do that. I think my D talked over her responses with her private teacher.
Love the school that loves you back right? Really hoping my son clicks with a school on upcoming tours. Have to say I have been really impressed with communication with some of them.
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I think waiting is best; the ball is in your court (but only until you commit).
I think the counter offers vary widely (I have not heard about $10k increases necessarily except in a rare instance), but you don’t lose anything by asking!
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