<p>Drumdad,</p>
<p>Welcome. I am glad to hear that your son enjoyed Tanglewood.</p>
<p>The number of schools to which he applies is probably going to be limited by the number of auditions he is prepared to perform. Most people find that anything over six or so auditions gets pretty exhausting, although I have heard of some students doing more than twice that. There are a few factors that can come into play that mean that he may apply to some additional schools at which he does not audition. For one, he may be able to audition via recording for some schools (be sure to check with the school, because some require live auditions for those living less than a certain distance to the school or to a regional audition site.) For another, he may want to apply to a few more schools than he will actually audition for. The results of the earlier auditions then inform the decision of which of the rest to pursue. For yet another, some schools may require a pre-screening recording and he may not even be invited to audition at all of the schools to which he applies.</p>
<p>My daughter initially applied to ten, and that was whittled down to nine by a pre-screen. She had an early audition on the first weekend of December at Oberlin. When that acceptance came through later that month, she withdrew applications to four of the schools that were clearly lower on her list and wound up doing live auditions at five schools, three of which accepted her and two of which offered talent scholarships.</p>
<p>You are correct in that it is difficult to eliminate schools on the basis of cost because you do not know the actual cost until near the end of the process. What that means in practical terms is that you need to have the talk about finances with him up front in hopes that he does not fall in love with a college that accepts him but does not offer sufficient aid for him to attend. That is less likely to happen if you communicate up front the limits of what you can afford to contribute toward the cost of his education.</p>
<p>As musictwins points out, there is no such thing as a safety for a program that requires an audition. So many things can happen to contribute to an unexpected result. That is why you need to play the percentages, apply to a lot of schools and try to be flexible for as long as possible. </p>
<p>University of North Texas is a great program and the price is certainly right, but the competition can be pretty tough, it doesn’t have quite the reputation for academics as some of your other choices and it is quite large.</p>
<p>I can offer the following information about Oberlin to address your concerns:</p>
<p>1) There are enough outlets on campus to allow him to follow pretty much any current musical interest that he has, and to pick up a few new ones. Beside the conservatory groups, there are college/community groups led by conservatory faculty, clubs, ExCo classes involving music taught by anyone who wishes to organize one, and ad-hoc student-run ensembles constantly forming. If he wants to play Jazz piano and is not good enough to get into one of the permanent conservatory groups, he would have ample opportunity to find others with similar interests and ability levels to form a group of his own. There are lots of pianos available on campus - Oberlin has over 200 Steinways alone and permanent staff dedicated to keeping them in tune and in good repair.</p>
<p>2) Oberlin meets 100% of financial need for all accepted students. The catch is that the amount that the family is expected to pay is determined by the FAFSA and CSS Profile forms and that amount is usually surprisingly high. The good news is that substantial scholarships are available and that Oberlin is very good about providing their need-based aid mostly in the form of grants rather than loans. The Co-op system also makes it possible to save a fair amount on room and board if your son is willing to do a few hours of work each week. The equivalent rate of pay (savings divided by hours) comes out better than most other student jobs, and he learns some valuable skills to boot.</p>
<p>3) Oberlin offers its conservatory students a lot of opportunity to study other fields. The double degree program usually takes five years, but there are opportunities for both academic and talent-based scholarships so the cost of five years will not necessarily be all that much more than the cost of four years in the conservatory alone, where only talent scholarships are offered. Even within the four year BM curriculum, the student is required to take about one course per semester through the college division and has the opportunity to use electives to take even more than that.</p>
<p>I do not have much first-hand experience with the other colleges on your list, so will let others chime in with details there.</p>