@MomStudent2017 I agree, 2k even if only for one year is helpful and since we certainly aren’t at full tuition or full ride status it will go towards tuition and room and board lol.
My S did not want to do MB in college. His preference is to play jazz so it will be interesting to see what the requirements are. The audition was classical.
@MomStudent2017 , TacoSon attends a small public that has no marching band. Had it been something offered at his school he likely would have participated and enjoyed it. His school does require the music kids to do pep band in the stands, and he barely tolerates that. He likes orchestra-type environments and will definitely look for playing opportunities for non-majors wherever he goes. He put solo playing clips on his ZeeMee supplement on CommonApp, and submitted the pieces plus a music resume to his one big reach school, but has not sought out separate music scholarships like @eandesmom 's S17.
@eandesmom congrats on the extra money. Every bit helps.
I feel like we’ve been in a holding pattern forever. Wishing we had final financial info from all schools and son felt ready to commit. I know that day will come soon though.
Am I the only one who feels nostalgic (for lack of better word) when we receive mailings inviting him to accepted days, etc from schools that have fallen to the bottom of the list? He doesn’t want to even consider attending these events.
I agree, @smakl70 - I don’t wish away any time with S but it’s hard to be in a holding pattern for week after week. I don’t remember having to wait so long for merit decisions with D15.
Also, CC is both a blessing (great info, fun peeps) and a curse (I know when scholarship notification emails have gone out but our mailbox is empty). Second guessing school choices, likelihood for merit, etc. Just a case of the winter blues, I guess!
@snoozn We want SWAG!!
@mackatarinasmom we were just discussing that on the main thread, apparently some schools allow you to deposit, more likely the public ones.
@klinska we are in a waiting pattern as well.
Waiting here too…and waiting…
Yep, waiting… At least S has his job shadow scheduled for this week to give him something cool to do. It’s an annual sr project for our school, set up for each kid through the career counseling office. S will spend his time with a legal aide society–Good exposure if he really does want to go to law school…
@eandesmom Congrats on S music scholarship-awesome news!
@tacocat333 Congrats on UMW!
@snoozn Very cool swag from Michigan Tech!
Yup… waiting… probably won’t hear anything for a while yet.
@MomStudent2017 @twoinanddone Thanks for the comments about MB. I do know they are different I have a nephew at UNR who is in band. It takes up a fair amount of his time in the fall but they only travel to ~ two games a year. But its not what DS’s marching band was… They did fairly serious field competition. With 4-5 shows per fall season. Very intense.
What I do know is the top contender MB school is UofO, they are in the PAC12 & they travel to at least a few of the games. My S & I did stop in the music department when we visited he he got to talk with some of the MB kids. One whom he was from our city. It sounded like at UofO he could just walked on, since he has H.S. MB experience. Not sure that’s true about Boulder though…
I think we just have to wait another 5 weeks till we hear from the rest of his schools and see what happens…
@curiositycat333 I suspect Boulder has try outs but he’d make it with no issue
Husky (UW) MB does not go to all away games. In fact they had to raise funds for the PAC 12 championship game this year so the full band could go (I think they had funds for 100?).
I donated. I have husky MB friends from my era and younger and know current band members. At UW MB is tryout based.
They sent me a lovely autographed picture of the band 
I do wish that TacoSon’s school had MB because I think it’s a great activity and an experience like no other. While it’s possible he could start fresh in college and attempt to march – and he’d have to learn from square 1 – he’s a rather inactive guy and MUCH prefers sitting while he plays, plus inherited every bit of my grace and coordination (i.e., none). The fact that he plays the biggest and most unwieldy instrument doesn’t help matters!
I’m breathing a huge sigh of relief this morning as midterm grades are finally all entered and he rallied with all A’s and B’s – even in Spanish, which was such a marginal B that he could have toppled easily. All the B’s are IB/AP level and therefore weighted to A’s, so the colleges will see a rather nice midterm GPA. He has only 3 decisions forthcoming, but one is the reach school that I’d love to see take (and love!) him.
We received the FA package from Iowa State and were pleasantly surprised to receive a small need-based grant along with the automatic scholarships my son previously received. Even as an OOS student, it will be less expensive for him to attend ISU than his in-state options and he was a direct admit for engineering. One interesting thing to note–ISU took the total COA, subtracted our EFC, and the remaining need was satisfied to the dollar with scholarships, grants, work study and a small subsidized loan. My son has not officially settled on ISU, but it’s definitely a front-runner!
@eandesmom I honestly don’t know the details. I know @ UNR when they get into a Bowl game, depending on how far they have to travel depends on how many band members they take. They usually take some, but it might just be the upperclassman.
@iamgriffinsmom That is fantastic! It is such a relief when the money works out and it is a school high on the list.
@klinska and @Fishnlines29 Thanks for the advice! Housing opens on the 15th so hopefully some FA comes through at least. I emailed and they are processing now and we should get word mid to late Feb.
Got another financial aid packet today. It was what I feared - nothing besides the small merit scholarship and the $5,500 loan. All of his other schools are about $10,000/year cheaper so this one’s definitely off the list. Just sad because I know it was one of his favorite schools.
I think mine is afraid to fall in love with any school until all the packages are in…still waiting.
Do most of these FA packages come in by mail? Or viewable on the portal. Haven’t seen anything yet by mail but they are large state schools. So maybe I have to bug the kids to check his portal for FA info. I don’t expect much… but my D did get things like work study, and the ‘loan’s’ for each of the schools she was accepted at.
My son’s FA package was available on the portal about a week before we received it in the mail (large state school).
Our FA packages have been a mix. The vast majority have come by mail but one was available on the portal about a week before we received the letter, the others don’t show up on the portal at all.
We’ve only gotten 3 packages so far and they’ve all come by mail.
What a surprise to see we’re not the only ones in waiting mode! D got an email that she’s invited to the interview round for Clarkson’s honors program. Luckily they’re fine with phone/skype. She’s going to sign up for the last day since merit info hasn’t come yet. No sense doing an interview if she won’t be going there. And they’d have to make a better than expected offer now that they’re lower on the list thanks to their not-great location.
I’m so impressed by all the musical kids here! My parents used to say my sister and I could earn some good money with our singing ability – the suggestion was we stand and sing in a crowded area and agree to quit singing and go away if people paid us. I like marching bands, but the downfall is that you usually have to sit through a long football game to see the relatively brief music performance!
@mackatarinasmom, we’ve been thinking about housing as well. I actually put down the enrollment and housing deposit for CSU because they have a particular room type that D really likes. Plus I want her to have the best dorm if she goes to her safety. Most of her schools only offer the good ol’ cinder block cube, although most have engineering dorms and I’m wondering how fast they fill up. So much to think about.
@klinska, I know what you mean about Mom getting attached to unlikely schools. I really like Clarkson and it’s still technically on the table. But as I said above, Potsdam may be their downfall. I guess Clarkson is our Wooster!
@MSU88CHEng, that job shadowing program sounds very cool. D is lucky to have an engineering program at her school and they go on outings and have speakers and such. But I’m sure most kids don’t get an opportunity to see their potential career in action.
@iamgriffinsmom, congrats on Iowa State. An affordable front-runner is great to have! My H’s sis and her husband met at Iowa State and they really enjoyed their time there (many moons ago, admittedly).
@smakl70, sorry to hear about the disappointing merit. It would be so nice if schools were affordable and being accepted meant being able to attend. I hope future decisions will include showers of money.
@curiositycat333, most of D’s merit offers have come by mail before showing up on the portal. Two actually came with the acceptance letters which is how I think they should all be!