<p>This may sound like a conspiracy theorist question, but here goes. </p>
<p>Lets say a you're already accepted after auditions and now waiting for word on a music scholarship from a university which, like all schools, has a certain pool of money to offer. </p>
<p>Is that school less likely to offer scholarship dollars to a student if they know he/she is in the bag? Is it better to stay undecided until scholarship offers have been made?</p>
<p>Or will stating your firm commitment encourage them to offer you perhaps a little more? </p>
<p>Not sure what to do...</p>
<p>Depends on the school, but my older D did not make a final decision until May 1 and a couple of her accepted schools “sweetened the pot” late in the game (mid-April). I feel that there is rarely anything to be gained from confirming acceptance early. But that’s just my opinion.</p>
<p>I don’t really have an answer to your question, because it could go either way and it’s difficult to second-guess. Perhaps calling the Financial Aid department and speaking with a rep at the first choice institution might give you an idea of what schools they consider to be competition. An offer from a college/university/conservatory that isn’t considered equal to or greater than their institution probably won’t prompt them to make a higher scholarship offer, even if they want your child-there’s really no incentive. However, if your child has his/her heart really set on a particular school and the scholarship is good enough and you can swing it, I’ll tell you one thing that can be gained from accepting now…peace of mind. If not, and everyone can wait it out…why not? It won’t hurt to try!</p>
<p>It does not hurt to communicate to the music admission folks that this is his/her first choice school providing the financial situation is satisfactory and you look forward to receiving their information as soon as possible. When we were negotiating, letting a school know they were her first choice helped them make the decision. Also if there is a professor that really wants him/her it does not hurt to give the same info to them. Often a professor can help.</p>
<p>Conventional wisdom among my small group of contacts, parents who have been through the process, is to wait until all the offers are on the table before deciding. Some schools once they have made an offer don’t seem to budge much, others might be more willing, but you should wait until all the offers come in (according to them), if for anything, to figure out where it financially makes sense to go. If the package at the school you want to go to is lower then other schools, then you could always call them, say you really want to go there, but that financially, based on the current package, it will be hard to swing it (or some such)…you don’t want in their (and my opinion) to get into “well, school X is offering me a lot more merit aid”, that is implied in saying you really want to go there, but as stands it would be difficult to swing it (and take that simply as an opinion from a small group of people, I haven’t gone through this yet so I can’t vouch for it personally)</p>
<p>In our experience, the window for “pot-sweetening” was in mid-April. By then the school has received notice from some students to whom they may have offered scholarships that they are not going to attend, which may free up some otherwise committed funds. </p>
<p>Then, it makes sense to go to the school you really want, and tell them they are the first choice, but you have an attractive financial aid package form another school, and is there anything they can do for you.</p>