<p>We did not do the visits and sample lessons with the intent of a bigger offer, but in D case, schools where she had lessons offered more. I would visit the schools and get a sample lesson at the schools I was serious about. I can’t hurt :)</p>
<p>We’ve yet to visit indiana university, university of illinois and fsu. I was thinking of requesting a trial lesson by Skype if it isn’t possible for us to visit a campus. </p>
<p>Our intent for visits is to see if the teacher and campus are a good fit. Although, so far, my son likes everyone. Not very helpful. Maybe once he has to decide between 2 or 3, those visits will help.</p>
<p>It’s good that your son likes everyone because his choices may be limited by where he gets in and what the financial situation is. If there are several places where he feels he can be happy, he is in a good position. Kids who have a “dream school” are on thinner ice because, even if accepted, the school may not be possible financially.</p>
<p>IU does stack music and academic awards; the Jacobs admissions/aid office determines the academic award as well as the music merit. I believe they look at a combination of weighted GPA and test scores for the academic award. </p>
<p>I know! And they accept act scores from december. So if he can get over 30, it may help.</p>
<p>I am going to state something that for some people may sound radical, but it is the philosophy I had with my kids. The ACT and the SAT are not exactly the best tools for measuring intelligence or ability and although colleges do use them and on some level I appreciate their importance, I feel that taking time away from actual hard work that will improve your child’s skills and cognition (such as practicing and working on something they are passionate about such as music) for a test that has absolutely nothing concrete to offer the student is silly and is caving to a dysfunctional system. More importantly what I have learned (as the parent of three kids with LDs who do not test well) is that if you show schools that you are passionate about something and prove to the that you can work hard and succeed and have talent they often prefer that to a high ACT or SAT score. I admit that is not always true. But to be honest for many kids who do struggle with standardized tests it is better to go to a school that is not screening kids based on those tests because then they are more likely to have peers like themselves who are slightly creative thinkers. </p>
<p>My son’s private music teacher emphasized with me that for most Juniors in HS there is still a steep learning curve when it comes to music. Time put in makes a HUGE difference in their ability to perform and play. If you take that time away attempting to get an improved ACT score your child will not progress as much musically and as others have pointed out auditions matter a lot when it comes to merit aid for performance programs.</p>
<p>We’re much earlier in this process, since my daughter is only in 7th grade, but I am reading this thread with interest. There are definitely issues of balance facing music families that don’t make sense to other parents. </p>
<p>I’m with StacJip on this one. The parents who point to the importance of scoring high in tests most often have kids who test very well. (I have four kids, some of whom test well, some of whom do not, so I’ve seen it from both sides. If I’d stopped after my oldest, who is a great test-taker, I’d probably be in the camp of those who say “up your test score.”) But I’ve also seen the amount of effort it takes to increase an ACT score by a couple of points, and I’d not advise taking that time away from audition prep.</p>
<p>If you are going a straight academic route, by all means put great effort into improving the test score if you need to. But if you’re applying to serious, conservatory-level schools you need to put most of your effort into practicing. Kids who get great test scores without much effort will absolutely benefit from that yummy stacked merit aid <em>if</em> they are accepted into the relatively few schools who offer it. But if you don’t do very well in your audition, it can be a moot point. </p>
<p>One more ACT caveat. Some schools “super score”. which means they take the highest subject scores form multiple tests. Check to see if your schools do this and send them all the scores. </p>
<p>My son is a very good test taker. And i was thinking 15 to 30 minutes a nite with a tutor would increase his math and science for december. I’ll be honest. We do not qualify for any financial aid, so any money that gets left on the table could mean he doesn’t get to go to a certain school. Only a few schools require a prescreen for his instrument even if doesn’t require prescreens for music school. I’m nervous about spending the money on auditions for conservatories not known for good merit aid. I’m focusing on schools I know they offer good aid for or in state tuition at one school because his dad lives there. Our budget is 20k max out of pocket per year not including books or travel. That seriously limits our options.</p>
<p>As has been said often, you can’t really predict what kind of scholarship you be offered. If you are truly not going to spend more than $20/year max on your son’s education and do not want to risk spending money on auditions where he is not going to definitely get a scholarship leaving you only $20K to pay per year, then you should stick to in-state, state-supported schools. That’s the only way you will get such a guarantee. </p>
<p>I know. It’s hard. I’m having him apply for a few more reach schools and then sticking to schools we might get reasonable aid from. </p>
<p>But, how do you know whether or not you’ll get reasonable aid from any school unless you apply? No one can predict what your financial aid package will look like in the end. We were very surprised at packages we got–sometimes very pleasantly (the expensive ‘reach’ school turned out to offer the most financial aid) and sometimes not so much (thinking of school whose ‘aid’ package consisted of all loans). I really don’t think you should discount any school according to what you think you may or may not get in aid. Our state school where we thought we would get the best scholarships turned out to not offer as much aid as the reach schools in the end.</p>
<p>That’s been said a lot, and I agree with you Clarimom, but the OP seems to have made up her mind on the route she wants to take. Also, unless her son is quite exceptional she will likely need to pay more than $20K including room & board at any private school. Even if he gets a substantial talent grant, say $10 or $15K, it won’t be nearly enough with a COA of around $60K. So in her case, a state university seems the best bet. It’s not what I would recommend. </p>
<p>@cellomom6 , I would recommend you look into the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University. It’s run by Robert McDuffie. Excellent faculty last time I checked and tuition-free. They also give stacked academic merit awards.</p>
<p>Thanks for the tip glassharmonica. I’ll look into that school. My d’s is still applying at iu, ccm and maybe oberlin. But I still think unt and fsu have very good cello faculty. And St olaf and university of minnesota have good faculty too that may work financially for us. It’s not like his whole future career is completely ruined. My husband makes too much and with our health scare this past summer, our retirement was drained. But I don’t think the school choices are that bad. </p>
<p>Also, where my son is applying is not set in stone. I am open to suggestions. </p>
<p>Those all sound like great schools. I don’t know much about St. Olaf, but the others should be fine.</p>
<p>Since you’re looking at UNT, and focusing on state universities, I’ll throw in a suggestion to take a peak at UT Austin (Butler) if you haven’t already. I only know its violin profs (Brian Lewis, Sandy Yamamoto, etc.) but one of the cello faculty is in the Miro Quartet. It’s really far (from where I am), but I really like the place (great practice rooms), and out-of-state tuition wavers are possible, which brings the cost down dramatically. And Austin is pretty cool. </p>
<p>Oh, and re costs, living off campus (lots of places very college dormlike right next to campus), which many opt for, would make costs even lower. </p>
<p>Have you considered McGill/Schulich School of Music? I don’t know how that works for you geographically. They don’t give financial aid to international (U.S.) students, but they can be generous with merit aid.</p>