My S committed a school finally.
It was NOT easy, even after auditions, we visited every single school except one we sure we wouldn’t go.
I had a post about finding a teacher, and the teacher actually showed him a lot, so S goes with the teacher.
The deadline is 5/1, which is a few days from today. We already appealed the scholarship and got a small bump.
Frankly speaking, for S, finance is a big deal. He’s piano major and we made a pact that I pay his tuition and he picks up the living cost (it’s Manhanttan, so it’s not a small amount)
So obviously, he’s looking to reduce cost (it’s unlikely that he’s going to get a related job after graduation, it’s piano BTW).
We are interested in increase in scholarship even more. Anything helps, so S suggested that we asks for more scholarship.
Is this possible? Anyone who had similar experience? Thanks in advance.
Has he committed formally to the school yet? Or just in his mind…
Yep, we paid the deposit.
Why do you think he won’t get a job in music after graduation?In any case, it really depends on the school as to whether he has a chance to receive more scholarship.
Well, sorry if I have somewhat biased opinion. Just pointing out that there are so many pianists, and job can be scarce. We expect difficulties due to this.
You might be surprised at what your son can earn if he is willing to gig and not that picky about what jobs he takes. I know NYC is competitive and there are a lot of pianist out there. But then again because of it’s size there is a lot of need. Maybe he can earn money teaching piano to younger students or offering to be an accompanist for an elementary singing group. Or play at events such as Bar Mitzvahs and weddings.
But I do have one bit of advice for your son and for you. He needs to think ahead about taxes as a freelancer otherwise he might find himself stuck with a tax bill he can not pay. There are plenty of web sites for artists and freelancers that talk about this. You can pay your taxes quarterly as well, which helps. He needs to set up a spreadsheet to keep track of all expenses, such as travel expenses to and from gigs and purchase of sheet music. He can not deduct clothing or any of his school expenses.
Good Luck to your son. It is an exciting time and have faith that he will find his path in music. You might be surprised where his studies and his work lead him.
Did he pick a school that is a music conservatory? One where the huge majority of revenue comes from tuition.
Regardless of what you want to pay, what you feel you should pay …
- The conservatory needs the money
- If you won't pay, there will probably be a full pay international student who will
How much tuition are you responsible for?
In New York, you shake a tree (when you can find one) and pianists fall out. BUT: as my daughter’s teachers told her, and this seems to be true, there are three positive traits for freelancers: being a great musician; being easy to work with; being reliable. If you have two out of the three, you will have work. All three, and you will be turning away work.
Thanks all for the advice. Right now, he’s only high school senior from upstate NY, who has some understanding on how NYC works, but still not sure. So I understand he’s worried about money.
Yes, it is conservatory, ‘official’ COA is around 56k. I pick up tuition and S is responsible for the rest.
But his logic is this : after 5/1, there would be students who received scholarship turned down the school, so there may be more money available to school to offer students who accepted admission.
Frankly, me, I am against this idea. There will be other opportunity for him to tap into after a school year or some adjusting time. But at the same time, I think he’s trying to reduce it as much as possible to begin with.
I am no expert, but I would think after 5/1 they usually go to wait lists.
I would think that if you have already paid the deposit, you have lost the leverage to appeal the scholarship.
Most schools have scholarships for returning students, so once he is in school, he should look into that. It won’t help for this year, but for the next…
I’m not sure which conservatory it is, but if you want to PM me I might be able to give you some advice.