<p>Dear NY
Dr Glendenning is Dean of U of Redlands School of Music. He is a trombone player:) it’s warm in Redlands, great merit aid. Music talent would give grades a boost.</p>
<p>Hi there, new and thought I’d introduce myself. I’m a freshman studying theory/comp. I’ve been taking piano for about eight years and I hope to get vocal lessons at some point too. I’m in my university’s women’s chorus and hope to be selected for the concert choir next year. I’m pretty excited. It’s totally overwhelming, but I’m enjoying it so far.</p>
<p>My oldest son just began his senior year in Dallas metro area 4A public HS. He plans to major in Clarinet Performance. Plans to audition at the following if he can prepare for all and fit them in:
UT Austin
UNT
SMU
TCU
A & M Commerce
We just cut Rice, as we had to cut from the list of stuff he has to prepare for auditions and it seems unlikely they could offer us enough scholarship $$ to make it fit our budget. </p>
<p>Sophomore in HS son plays the Tuba. 8th grade daughter plays the French Horn. </p>
<p>Parents - we are non-musical. This is my first post. Starting to get anxious about the whole college application, audition, make sure you have a lesson with the professor process to prioritize into a senior year. </p>
<p>AND Senior in HS - his hobby - and something he wants to participate in for the next several summers is DCI. Those of you familiar with DCI will know exactly what I am talking about!</p>
<p>My feeling is, as a music major applicant, you should never cut a school based on the assumption of what kind of merit or financial aid will be offered - as there is no way to know in advance. If there are other reasons to cut Rice - then that makes sense - but not for financial reasons.</p>
<p>So we did an initial college tour of NE SLACs and my son’s only comment about the places we visited was the quality of the practice rooms. One of the colleges had windowless practice rooms and mousetraps, and the quality of the pianos was not that great. The other college had old Steinways and windows. A comment was made though that some of the conservatories do not have great practice rooms. Are there any schools out there which have great piano practice rooms? Maybe I should start a new thread…</p>
<p>Last year there was a thread about practice rooms. You might want to search it. I admit the practice rooms at my son’s conservatory have much to be desired. But at least for my son…a practice room is a practice room. He is not there to focus on his environment.</p>
<p>I do know that he thought the facilities at Eastman were gorgeous.</p>
<p>Thanks lamom!!!</p>
<p>MindfulMum…DS2 just started as one of the two sax freshman at Frost so ask me anything you need to know…probably better in a PM!!</p>
<p>Fair enough. My son looked at the audition material from his list of schools in a state of overwhelm and once he had made some cuts, he felt less overwhelmed. Rice also has only a single audition date - in the middle of a week if I remember correctly. We are already using up the days the school will excuse absences for lesson visits. Rice is the most difficult of all the schools on this list to get into. We see it as more of a long shot, and if he did get in, the cost would most likely be at a different level than public universities. Professor there is probably amazing, although I have no idea how he is able to split his time between Rice and the other school he teaches at.</p>
<p>SpiritManager, </p>
<p>I concede I am new to this process. You and the others on this board have been thru it. I have to address this cost issue, because for most people - it is a big one. When I go to buy a car or a home, I have a budget. Thus, I don’t go to the Mercedes dealership. My real estate agent does not take me to the multimillion dollar homes. </p>
<p>HOW can shopping for college - even as a music major - be different?
So you on this board think I should bring my son to audition at places where we cannot afford the sticker price, just to see if maybe, once he has fallen in love with it, they might give him enough merit $ to fit our budget? </p>
<p>Is there a formula or a track record for this somewhere? What % of students at the Rice School of Music get merit scholarships (not financial aid) that bring their annual cost from $50K to $20K? Where is this information available?</p>
<p>Lots2do - If Rice wants your son, it’s possible it will be your cheapest option - but, unfortunately, there’s no way to know until after he is admitted. In addition, one can use a merit offer from a comparable program to encourage another program to meet the same costs. This is completely different from buying a car! </p>
<p>However, if you feel your son is not competitive for Rice that is another matter. Usually the most money goes to those at the top of the applicant pool. On the other hand, it’s often hard for a parent to figure that out in advance, and sometimes it makes no sense at all.</p>
<p>So, my feeling is that if he would like to attend Rice, and he can meet the audition requirements, there’s no financial reason not to apply. As for missing school, often music performance majors miss a few weeks of school for the audition season! And it’s worth it in the end, to have the sample lessons, visit the schools, and get the most possible merit money - which is significantly more than for most students, except athletes.</p>
<p>One thing to stress is not to fall in love with any one school. He needs to know going in that money will be a factor in the final decision. Lay out your numbers for him and let him be part of the discussion. We told DD how much we would pay. She knew some of the schools she applied to were financial maybes and would be out if the scholarships did not come through. When her number one choice came in at too high a price she moved on to others and one of those was Rice, where she ended up. It is almost impossible to figure out the family’s contribution to the cost of attendance in advance of acceptance for music. When you buy a car they don’t keep the rebate a secret :)</p>
<p>Dear lots2do
Non-musical parents here. Stumbled through the process. I often felt I had done disservice to son because of what we didn’t know. Son survived because i found this site early senior year HS. Until CC, I thought HS faculty and local performance group knew what was going on. Academically, financially we were on top through my research which also brought me here. This is a great place for information and support. Deep breath and just continue. I used calendar/spread sheets to keep deadlines etc straight. Didn’t know about professor lessons in time to do anythng about them. Did get recommendation from a music store and found band director who helped prepare son for auditions. Once a week for 2-3 months we drove 2 hrs in traffic each way-was a great unbiased help-Son did end up at University where one prof at audition had helped instruct music group son was in. It isn’t too late to start</p>
<p>Hi lots2do,
I haven’t read through every thread, but regarding applying to schools based upon your budget, in my case (as a parent who has just made it through this process), if I’d done that, I would probably have allowed my daughter to apply to one school – CUNY Queens College (I’m a NYC resident for whom money was a huge concern). If I’d listened to the various academic advisors (well meaning), my daughter wouldn’t have applied to certain out-of-state state schools (no money, I was told, for out of staters). If I’d listened to the various musical folks advising us regarding financial safeties, we would only have applied to state schools. As it turned out, my daughter just applied to the schools she wanted to attend, public and private, regardless of tuition (they were pretty much all too much for us), although with the understanding that money would be the major, perhaps only, deciding factor in the end. The results were all over the place – both in terms of merit and need-based aid. UT-Austin – which we were told would likely provide little to no aid for a New Yorker – provided an out-of-state waiver and scholarship money. Northwestern, which I had basically written off because they provide no merit aid came up with a remarkably generous need-based aid package. The most expensive school on the list came up with the most award money of all, making it the cheapest to attend, and the list goes on. Utterly unpredictable.</p>
<p>lots2do
I heartily second what stringpop says. DS2 just started as a freshman music major and he applied to 10 schools. With 4 children, finances were a huge concern and my son knew that the ultimate choice would come down to money. I too am from NY and while my son would not consider a CUNY school (despite telling him they had the same profs as the big NY schools at a bargain price) he did apply to the SUNY music schools as well as the schools he really wanted to go to. Every school offered him plenty of money. But ironically, his number one pick, the most expensive and a reach both musically and academically, and who only admitted two of his instrument this year gave him full tuition. There are days I still think I’m dreaming. YOU NEVER KNOW!!! The lesson I have learned from this is to let them reach for the stars. As long as they know that the star is only possible if they do come up with $$$$. But they might!!</p>
<p>Oh, lots2do, I should add that the process – as I’m sure you’re discovering – is incredibly stressful, and April is the cruelest month – or potentially most grueling, since initial award offers are not necessarily final offers. Phone calls, emails and formal appeals (in which some schools ask what other schools have offered) can sometimes move things around considerably, though sometimes not an inch, and often, unfortunately, in the final days leading up to May 1. </p>
<p>It all worked out for my eldest daughter, but my youngest is a junior this year, and I’ll be gearing up to do it all again next year.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your input! Sorry if I hi-jacked the “Introduce Yourself” thread to discuss cost. This is very enlightening and amazing information. I’ll discuss with my S - working on the Rice audition music and finding time for a visit. We have two visits lined up soon. I imagine the professors there may be able to give an honest opinion as to his level and ability to compete for merit dollars. </p>
<p>Two unique things about my S - that I have to consider in the equation -
he has only played the bflat clarinet since spring of sophomore year - so a little over a year - having switched from the bass clarinet. (This seems impossible to me, but perhaps in the Clarinet world, this is an easy switch.) </p>
<p>Secondly - he enjoys all kinds of instruments - having picked up the saxophone (again another woodwind - no big deal?) to play in his school Jazz Band. And - the really scary point is that he is currently fitting in regular practice on a euphonium, because he is a Drom Corp International (DCI) junkie and he wants to march his summers with a Corp (brass, percussion and color guard only “professional” marching bands - although he would pay to participate and does not get paid.) Age out of DCI at 22. If he pursues this passion, he most likely will want to march a brass instrument in his University marching band. </p>
<p>So he is not going to want to pursue a music performance program that will discourage this “hobby”. I know clarinet teachers cringe when their students want to play outside the woodwind family. </p>
<p>Thanks for the cost perspective - completely clear as mud!</p>
<p>lotstodo, I recommend looking for a school/clarient teacher who will at least tolerate this range of instruments. My daughter just went through the audition process earlier this year, and her multiple instrument playing was certainly a factor in her decision where to study.</p>
<p>Lots2do I am smiling…clarinet teachers are picky!!! DS2 just started as a sax major but in the Miami marching band he decided to play trombone!!! When speaking to the dean of music he asked if his professor had a problem with that (he didn’t!!) because a clarinet player was going to switch to brass for MB but her professor flipped out!!!
And I don’t envy you this year…went through it last year. But we all survive and your child will end up where they need to be</p>
<p>Can any of you veterans give us some more insights into the timeline of how things might play out this year? I work full time and was just looking at presenting at an academic conference that takes place in late April and wondering if that would be impossible? Also how much time would you recommend I think about taking off for taking the kiddo to auditions – if he gets them – in February?</p>