After getting into five top tier undergraduate piano programs and one state piano performance program, I think S is going to take the no debt state choice. The faculty is wonderful and the piano department is warm and caring towards the students. Even though there is a longing by S to be in a large city in the middle of the action, S has the maturity to see that debt is no way to begin your adult life. He is saving his “big purchase” for grad school.
I’m very proud of him for being so understanding of our being in the middle class and not being able to afford the $62,000-38,000 price tags for the top tier.
For future parents shopping for the right fit financially, I recommend researching great profs in state institutions. Attend a summer program with those profs to get on the radar and see if the student gels with the prof. Or take private lessons with the prof. Be sure to have at least one school that the student’s family can afford with a good connection to the profs going into the applications/auditions. Or be prepared to pay $$$.
S got into the top tiers with $5,000-25,000 off of sticker price unappealed value. He has an appeal in at one of them but no breath holding on that coming through. I think we all realize they just keep bumping down the wait list until a family can afford the bill. Some families want the name and the institutions know someone will most likely pay for it. The only thing that may sway the norm is a prof that might see a diamond in the student.
So we continue to wait in the April Angst, with a plan of patience, persistence and hard work for the future masters auditions. Knowing that S will get to his goal without a crushing debt is number one.
Who knows...maybe the top tier appeal will be productive...
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