Just asking anyone’s experience with this was and how you handled it. I’ve gotten good advice via pm and was asked to bring it here.
Also. my son would like to ask for sample lessons from other faculty other than the teacher he knows at one school. Any way it can be done without offending anyone?
Re: the first choice question: The way our D handled it for undergrad and grad: " I only applied to schools I could see myself in. Now ,we have to weigh all the(financial) offers". It was the truth. . It was a good response since at least two schools sweetened the pot a bit.
The only time she worked with two different potential teachers was for grad school. And it ended up being extraordinarily awkward. A few hackles were raised since she was offered a place by both teachers . (not that this always happens…we found out later that these two were not what you would call “best friends”) So no advice here. :-/
I like how you worded that “I only applied to schools I could see myself in. Now, we have to weigh all the financial offers.” I think we will use it.
That is akward. Did your daughter attend there?
No she didn’t , but not because of that weirdness. It was for grad school and after all her auditions and discussions with various faculty she had a pretty good fix on where her best opportunities were. Good luck, it seems like your S has some great opportunities in the works!!
My daughter applied for grad school this year. The teacher at one school called her a week after her audition, telling her that she is at the top of his list and he would like to know whether she will attend.My daughter replied that she still has 1 more audition and is waiting for the result of another school as well; so at this moment, she would like to keep all the options open and cannot give him an answer.The teacher then told her to email him when she is ready.
This phone call happened last week but today my daughter received the official email saying that she is on the waiting list and she actually hasn’t sent her reply to the teacher yet!
So if the school is your top choice, I do believe don’t take too long to give your answer to the teacher!
Hmm. I bet that was a surprise to see she was on the waitlist. Wow. Whatever happened to the may 1 deadline? If I’d known my son would be asked to make a decision sooner, I’d have made him process things differently. Luckily he knows who his favorite teacher is, but still not know if we can afford it.
@Cellomom6 - deadlines are different (and sooner) for Grad school. May 1 is still the deadline for your son. And if he’s already received his acceptance they won’t rescind it and put him on a wait list!
This is sort of a cart before the horse kind of situation. You need to know the financial side before your son can decide which school he will go to. But often the teacher who contacts you needs to know the school is the top choice so that he or she can advocate strongly for scholarship money. Then again, it is also true that a school may offer more if they know there is another school with a good offer.
At the grad level, my daughter did not play any games, but at the time she was asked if a school was her top choice, the teacher gave her an idea of the funding he was going to offer.
Does your son now have two top choices? Perhaps the thing to do is to say exactly that, that he is visiting in the next couple of weeks (is that true? make that true?), and that finances are a big factor so any advance information on scholarship will help with the decision. Or if he has a true top choice at the moment, tell the top choice they are number one and tell the next one on the list that there are two top choices.
Also if you already know the price of one school w/scholarship, perhaps the other school might want to match it. I don’t know how you bring that up- never have been able to be that aggressive, but perhaps they would like to know-?
I do not remember being in this position for undergrad. I believe both colleges and conservatories sent scholarship info with the admission letter- but that was in April. Your son is getting in early. They must really want him! They have not yet given out much scholarship money and are probably trying to figure out who gets what.
You are in a position of strength but as someone hinted at, possibly only for a short time. Of course admission won’t be rescinded and I imagine he will still be in the same studio, but now may be a golden time to get scholarship money. I don’t really know though. For undergrad you do have until May1st.
Bottom line: none of us could make such a choice without financial info. The school/teacher will respect that, but they do need to know how serious your son is about their school.
@musicmum1993’s tale is a chilling example of the politics in these admissions.
There are numerous reasons a teacher could be calling to ask if the school is his first choice. One, is the allotment of scholarship money (this may not be the reason, but it could be.) Another is simply that the teacher is trying to put together his or her studio for next year and would like this info for his/her own purposes.
I can tell you that my D’s top choice changed considerably after the audtion process for undergrad and grad. Visits to assess lessons, the location, the facilities and finally the financial aid offers all changed her choices. So answering a question honestly (as in we were waiting for the financial offers) was not political or cagey in any way.It was the truth. And though she got nice input like “I hope to see you in my studio,” she was never pressured by any faculty to commit until AFTER the actual letters of acceptance arrived, If I remember correctly, none of her financial aid letters came along with her acceptance letters. YMMV
Right: everyone’s experience is different. Customs also vary according to institution, and even teachers within institutions. And, of course, the experience of vocalists can be different from the experience of instrumentalists because departments have different kinds of needs in terms of their student bodies.
I think we just kind of panicked. I now realize that teachers don’t have much control over scholarships and can try to get more to get your child there and to just wait things out till may 1st. We are new to the whole process and I don’t recall reading about any of this before. Thanks for input guys and if anyone else wants to share their experiences it might help others who are new to all of this.
In some institutions teachers do have input into scholarship decisions. In others they don’t.
We had a bad experience with this type of call. Son was asked if a school was his first choice by a prof going to scholarship meeting. He said yes. They met gave him nothing and did not call. So I would not read much into it as many people have to be on the same page for scholarships to be awarded