Congrats, @vistajay. D got her first rejection from a USC today. No shock at all, but it would be helpful to know if your denied based on academics, audition or perhaps both.
Sorry to hear that @Melodyminor .
I think the bottom line is, everyone has to decide the way to handle the audition process that works for them and their child. After going through this process with 4 kids the only predictable thing that I have seen is that it is unpredictable!!! @vistajay is a great example. Got into USC and other awesome schools but didnât pass some prescreening. My own experience this time was equally puzzling⊠didnât pass prescreening for UT Austin, rejected by Oberlin (which she felt was an excellent audition) but to date so far, two full rides, one of which was a video submission!!! Makes no sense. Unless you take the position that it depends on what the school needs and what features they are looking for. And sadly we have no control over that, and have no way of knowing what they are!!!
As we wait for the final weeks of decisions to come and go, for me I have found that over the last 11 years, these things have helped and although they may not help everyone, I am laying it out, before my last childâs journey is complete
- Visits. These have been so helpful in several ways: ruling a school in or out (ruling them out freed up spaces in those jam packed conflicting few audition) weekends, they helped form a connection between my child and the prof (which can literally pay dividends at scholarship time) and (for me) it was a nice way to spend one on one time with each child. Plus for each child, the cost of the visit was way more than made up for by the financial offers they produced.
- Research, research, research: through the amazing college confidential and all the experienced people on here, plus Dr. Google. And as each child has played a different instrument and had different attitudes to school work (and hence grades!!) so it has been a different set of research each time!
- Casting a wide net: I know my buddy @SpartanDrew (I think partially in jest :)) ) wished sheâd picked fewer schools, but picking as long of a list that we could handle worked for us. Even though there have been in theory safety, reach and âjust rightâ schools, because of the unpredictable nature, that isnât necessarily the way they played out (no pun intended!). With each, at least one âreachâ school has come up with the goods, whilst safeties may have not!! And to me an added advantage is, if we need to negotiate for a preferred school, we have more acceptances and scholarships to use as ammunition. And againâŠthe unpredictability!!!
- In the end, even though we go through the heartache and joy that this rollercoaster ride produces, I truly believe that they all end up where ther are supposed to, even if it takes years to see that. @Melodyminor it would be nice to know what it was that made someone say no to our child, but the truth is, itâs because they were meant to!!
I have to say, itâs been a blast taking this journey with you all. In another week or so we should have all the information, and pretty soon we will know where our kids will ge. Exciting timesâŠ
Of course my D and I will be away when the last few pieces of the puzzle come in (allegedly, March 28th, March 30th and April 1st)
Happy decision making everyone!!!
@tripletmama I would encourage you to lower expectations on end of 5 week scholarships at Berklee. While D was offered one then, she was one of a handful of US based vocalists to get one and it was only for 10K. They encouraged her to come back and audition again in the fall to increase it but she had already ruled Berklee out at that point. They donât throw those scholarships around. And very very few of the big offers were given at the end of the 5 week. A few got 20k and even fewer got 30 or higher which for us, would have been the lowest amount to make Berklee happen had D wanted to attend. The vast majority of those scholarships went to international students for whatever reason. So just be aware of the realities. I think of your D does the 5 week it will be a good taste of what Berklee is about and what her life there will be like. So a good experience either way.
Just finished up a conference in New Orleans and Iâm about to go hit the French Quarter for some walking around fun. I had really hoped that D could come with me for a revisit of Loyola but the airfare was $1100 so not happening. I just caught up on @NYsaxmomâs post which was excellent. And you are right of course, maybe we should have kept the list of applications long but adding in schools like William Paterson which, while an excellent and known music program didnât offer D even a dent in tuition scholarship wise, was not worth the application fee. I could list a couple of others that she has totally ruled out as well for that very same reason.
@Melodyminor put together an excellent spreadsheet on college costs that she shared with me as well as @diglass. It was very eye-opening. Iâm not a spreadsheet girl so having this done for me was great. It has the colleges all side by side showing tuition, room and board, fees, books, health center fees and other costs to attend. Then a total COA. Below that is a place for scholarship amount and below that final cost. Then she added a new line below that which calculates out the scholarship as % of COA and Family contribution as % of COA. Her rationale behind this is to get a feel for how much a school really wants your kid. I think itâs excellent. For us at the moment, Loyola wins by a tiny margin with Frost neck and neck. Once we have all of the decisions in I think it will help narrow that list down a lot.
Finally, we are still waiting on decisions from NEC, New School, and even Western Michigan. We know that the head of JV at WMU has already reached out to 2 kids and offered spots so D is unlikely to get one, which we think is likely because her vocal coach who is adjunct faculty there spilled the beans that D doesnât want to attend there so no loss whatsoever. Honestly, we shouldnât have even had her apply but itâs close to home (which is why she doesnât want to go) and it was good audition experience. Itâs a top in the country jazz program so no disrespect to WMU at all. Next, we had heard that kids who are accepted to NEC typically in the past have gotten an email the week before decisions go out that they are in and to watch for the mail. We know of one such kid this year that has already gotten that email. Nothing for D so Iâm thinking she will be either rejected or waitlisted. That will be a bummer, she loved NEC. BUT, she has an amazing attitude. She feels that if a school doesnât want her then her style is not a fit for them and vice versa. Not a place where she would thrive either. Iâm glad she has the maturity to have that perspective.
So really we are pretty much waiting on New School now since I think we already know that NEC will be a bust. She has some great options already in the bag but wants all of the decisions before making hers. She was accepted to CCPA but with a video audition and we think their offer is worthy of a visit so we plan to go over her spring break next week. Funny enough, CCPA was a last minute addition that was recommended to us and Iâm glad she submitted an app there.
Bottom line, knowing what we know now I would easily eliminate 3 of the 8 schools where D applied. Itâs what @GoForth recommended from the get go. But also we were relatively confident of acceptances to most of them. I think if your kid doesnât know what they want or where they want to be then more is better. And Iâll end this post by saying that after I set my Dâs expectations low on an acceptance to NEC when we talked yesterday, she texted me later and said âIâm MAD that I didnât apply to Cal Artsâ. UGHHHHH!!! I had thought we eliminated California schools but after hanging out in LA with her Grammy Camp guitarist and all of his musician friends at a jazz jam she wishes she had applied out there now. Sigh. So at the end of the day, we are still dealing with young 17 year old brains. It will all work out and if sheâs not happy at her final choice, she can always transfer.
Keep us posted everyone on last acceptances and final decisions! I am so happy to have traveled this journey with you all and have made some wonderful friends in the process!!
HahaâŠI have a much simpler form of a spreadsheetâŠ, no percentages of anything, but itâs a guide!! Hereâs to April 2nd!!! (which also happens to be my husbandâs 60th birthday so hopefully double celebration!!
Son has heard back from the last of the three schools he applied to and is now choosing between Frost MADE, Thornton Popular Music and Berklee- all guitar performance. He understands that he is in a great position and that there is no âwrongâ choice here. Have been going through pros and cons of each opportunity and wonder if anyone has any thoughts/suggestions/questions that we may not have considered. Thanks!
My son was denied at USC Thornton- composition. He is however taking it well, since he has options of Berklee, Univ of Michigan. Still waiting on NYU and Peabody, but he seems to be very excited about composition program at University of Michigan! Again he may double major in jazz studies as well, but definitely composition will be his main focus.
Appreciate everyoneâs input !
@daisymom have been wondering the same thing. We are all going to be trying to help our kids make the right choice by next week
@Beto884 peabody will email us on March 30th!!
@daisym09 I think NYSaxMom directed that comment to you. Also does your son have significant scholarship from Berklee, Frost and Thornton? I think based on what the school invests in you is a good indicator of value. In my opinion anyway.
This past Tuesday I was driving our dog to her boarding place and I listened to an interesting radio interview of two guys who wrote a book about catastrophes and the decision making processes that preceded them (Iâll get back to picking a music school soon, I promise). They outlined a number of steps individuals and organizations can take in their processes to avoid having small bad decisions of habits turn into big catastrophes.
The part that resonated to me regarding making these big decisions was when they said itâs a good idea to reach out to an outsider who has not been any part of the process so far and get their perspective before pulling the trigger on a major decision. We all have networks of family, teachers, acquaintances going through the same process or who went through it recently, and weâve likely internalized their inputs already, so weâre just turning over a lot of the same points weve been likely turning over for more than a year. A fresh set of ears can offer a jolt to engrained assumptions that might be useful.
A big caveat, of course, that the outsider have some legitimate knowledge/expertise in the field, and not just be what Uncle Harryâs impressions of USC were when he went there in the 60âs.
The guys in the radio interview pointed out that banks that had more bankers on their boards did worse in the financial crisis than banks with diverse boards- doctors, lawyers, etc.
Iâd also push back a bit on the money=love proposition. Money sometimes chases perceived talent, true, but there isnât always as much money as there is talent, and Iâd bet anything the kids getting love and attention from the faculty are the ones who throw themselves into their studies with vigor and openness and demonstrate theyâre there to learn, which may be the ones who had a stellar audition, or may not. Also, merit aid is often âneed-informed.â
While everyone of course needs baseline affordability, I wouldnât assume a bigger scholarship is good for any greater intangible âloveâ from the institution going forward at all. That part is about what happens when they get there.
So Iâm asking for suggestions from all of you wonderful people, on how my daughter should word what will probably be the most important email sheâs ever sent!!l. She got an email today from the prof at her #1 choice (who she has been accepted to and are supposed to release scholarship info on Wednesday) telling her that they would âLOVE to haveâ her with them next year and if there is âanything that I can do please let me knowâ.
Obviously there is one big thing he can do!!!
I think she should reply and be very honestâŠthat it is by far her #1 choice, and with so many great choices including 2 full rides, the main thing she needs help with is the financial end. Would that be tacky? I think not, but we have to be very careful how she words it. Plus there is 3 days to go before scholarships are offered, so there is time for things to be tweaked at their end if they truly do want her
So please, any help with this wording would be so amazing (and no doubt more of us will need the right words before this is over!)
@NYsaxmom I would want to reply to them. No idea of the best wording etc. However, I would include any new accomplishment/awards she may have received since her application or audition. I hope someone else chimes in to help you with wording. I donât know if its best to reply now or after you see their offer. Tricky one.
Thank you @NYCMusicDad. I absolutely agree that the size of a merit scholarship is not necessarily an indicator of the the degree of attention a student will receive. At this point, Iâve suggested that my son consider where he thinks he will be most inspired. While every program has its pros and cons, My big question is would he be better off in a larger pool of musicians at Berklee with opportunities to collaborate with and learn from a variety of musicians, or would he get more attention and opportunities in a smaller program like Thornton or Frost? Again, there is no wrong choice here, and what he gains from the experience will largely depend on what he puts into it regardless of the school he chooses.
@NYsaxmom Have you calculated what number you need for the school to be affordable for you?
@NYsaxmom I think it is absolutely fine to ask for more money IF she is willing to commit to that school should they meet her request. Be completely honest - âYour instituion is my first choice, but financial considerations must play a part in my decision. I have received Package A from Institution 1 and Package B from Institution 2. If your school can Offer Package C, I will immediately accept admission and be thrilled to be able to attend my first choice school for music training.â
A couple of things - 1. Mean it when you say you will commit, and donât play schools against eachother (meaning donât get the offer you asked for and turn around to try to get even more from someone else). The music world is small and you donât want to burn bridges. 2. Share packages from peer institutions only. If the full rides are from inferior programs, it wonât mean as much as, say, a 75% scholarship at a peer institution. 3. Even if they donât meet your request, you can still choose to go there. But it never hurts to ask.
I donât think itâs tacky at all. Good luck!
@BassTheatreMom thank you!!! Awesome suggestions. We donât actually know what #1 is offering yet as the scholarships are released on Wednesday. So it may be great already, but it may not!!
And she would mean it âŠshe would commit to her #1 if its close
@NYsaxmom I think itâs fair to see what comes on Wednesday and then approach them if you need more. They will love it if you can commit early April vs. dragging it out over the whole month!
I could be wrong, but Iâm interpreting the profâs email as the equivalent of a car salesmanâs âwhat do I have to do to put you in this Hyundai todayâ pitch.
You could wait and see what they offer her Wednesday, or you can give them the number now. My understanding is that aid awards can be appealed, so waiting doesnât necessarily mean the offer she gets Wednesday will be the best sheâll ever get from #1. Or it could be more than your minimum requirement, so telling them your minimum might end up reducing the offer a bit.
Then again, if the award theyâre going to send Wednesday is insufficient, maybe there is more flexibility before the whole set of offers gets sent to all students.
I donât know enough about the inside mechanics to tell you which way is better, sorry.
@NYCMusicDad you are echoing all my thoughts. Its amazing how painful it is even when its all good options!!