Ah well, If they are off the table for you and your son, then they’ve lost. I was trying to figure out what his big choices are looking like, and I remembered him getting in there a long while ago.
I’m no expert, but it sounds like they are trying to figure out if they can make a competitive offer. It’s late compared to when they accepted him, but I don’t feel like it’s really late in the game overall. We just found out about my son’s scholarships at two schools last week.
My D (viola) also accepted to San Francisco Conservatory of Music!
The other schools he was accepted to early gave him his packages at the same time. Seems like they should have at least reached out to have the conversation about other offers given we had them on the table…
Without a scholarship, the COA for UNCG is actually higher than the two other EA schools that gave great scholarships but still are quite pricey!
The admissions office kept asking him what he was waiting for before making a decision, and he kept saying, numbers 
**
He seems to want me to appeal the Oberlin College aid award and stay on the waitlist for the conservatory but I don’t know why. I think the vibe at both Lawrence and Gettysburg/Sunderman was much better, and Oberlin is not affordable at their current scholarship level.
FYI for vocalists, I just saw an excellent Sunderman Choirs concert! I think they should be on more people’s radar. Small but personal conservatory.
Son was just accepted to Mannes today for piano performance, albeit with a relatively small scholarship. We’re shocked because he told us he completely bombed that audition. It makes us more hopeful about the two schools he hasn’t heard from.
I’ve heard only excellent things about Lawrence. If the vibe is right, that’s great!
Right? We’re not all able to just decide freestyle.
(Or, if you can, I’m sure your kid would still want to be recognized with a music scholarship!)
The USC thread is aflutter, because decisions are coming out soon. I am working on a special circumstances package, and I’m so confused about what they want. Does anyone know somebody I can consult with? I don’t know how much time to put into it, given that we won’t know about acceptances until Friday, but it looks like they want all our materials now. They’ve contacted us about a couple of pieces of our tax forms that I did not upload correctly.
I think we have to wait until end March for Berklee? 
So I have prevailed upon my son to do the cello prof the courtesy of talking with him before saying no thanks. The prof emailed after midnight on Sun night hoping to set up a meeting for yesterday! 
So they are talking in a little bit. That way my son can know what they would do even if they end up not officially offering(because my son is planning on the other two at this point)!** And the prof will know to be a bit more pro-active in the future, he’s a good teacher and seems like a good guy.
You never know…they have such a special cello music collection in the music library. But it does not have the small class sizes, smart kids, etc. once you leave the music school that his other options do.
That’s really the last one we are waiting for and I wish we would get it sooner but I know we have to be patient. We’re in the home stretch.
I have seen several students go for the honors programs at universities where they want more of this atmosphere. In some cases, the honors program almost seems like a college within the university. Combined with the music school, it could be rigorous and his peers would be the same kind of kid. There are also some nice LLCs for honors-type kids at a few schools we considered. My son did not go that route, because it’s just not him.
At UNCG, the honors program really runs separate from the SOM. There are departmental honors but that’s different. The honors program did not seem compatible with being a performance major- completely different housing, etc. When the schools segregate their student bodies this way(as some of the larger schools do), it seems it is more difficult for students who like to paint outside the lines.
I PM-ed you a few days ago with a contact of someone who could help.
Also, you can always appeal after you get your initial award. Which is not to say that you shouldn’t give them what they are asking for now – you definitely should. But if your son gets accepted and the finances don’t work, you can take more time and appeal then.
Thank you, I just remembered that! I read it at the time you sent it, and then I got hit with the reality of an actual estimate and forgot to go pull out what you sent me. I really appreciate it. This whole experience makes me want to learn to become a consultant helping people through the process.
Got it. The cello library does sound amazing! I can’t wait to hear where he ends up.
You’re welcome!
Also USC doesn’t use home equity in their calculations any more so that will be a help. I don’t know if Miami does.
You should also run the NPCs for any school where your son wants to attend or appeal to make sure that the award he is offered lines up with the NPC— although NPCs tend to not be accurate for divorced parents or small business owners. But otherwise if there is a big discrepancy then that will help you figure out what to focus on and you can ask them why.
Thank you. I ran them all way back when we started, but I didn’t know what I was looking for and now I have so much more context. I will do them again. Back then, we also naively thought that music scholarships could be of any size, when now I see that at some schools they are all of a typical size or are limited.
It’s good to run them because if your need -based award is close to the NPC amount then it is not likely you will get additional need based aid unless your data was entered incorrectly or if you have special circumstances that were not captured on the NPC or CSS profile. I also had previously sent you a link via DM to special circumstances that often apply.
In my experience, entering the special circumstances on the profile form didn’t have much effect . I had to write an appeal and explain them more and then they were considered.
Good luck!
Editing to add that you can also enter differing amounts on the NPC to try to figure out what part of your data is causing the award to be what it is. Since you have to re-apply for need-based aid each year it gives you some information that may be helpful in the future.