See my reply to jok1:). But to your specific questions… a car is not necessary. I would say even a pain to have freshman year. Freshmen usually have to park at the stadium and move their cars every time there is a game. Campus is very walkable–especially the music buildings–and if your son requests a dorm in the southeast neighborhood, the walk to class/practice building is easy. There is a bus system too for campus and town. Parking is better as an upperclassman but I would say that a car is optional unless needed to travel back and forth between home and campus or if living in an apartment that is farther away from campus. And personally, I don’t know how any kid could be bored on that campus. So. Much. To. Do.
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It looks like I cannot message you privately because your profile is private - I don’t know if you can message me and I will give you my daughter’s contact info?
@delynnel hit the nail on the head. It’s a great time to encourage your kid to use their “gut instinct” on the best fit school (of course assuming it’s affordable). A pro/con list is great. Just be sure that they have a category for “fun” or outside interests. And, in the end, they can certainly pick a school bc it just feels right to them.
And yes, for IU, a car Freshman year is not necessary or advantageous. Parking is not easy there. My D had quite a few friends with cars Sophomore year (to her chagrin since I thought Uber was fine for her). She was older in the class so Junior year, she had a zip car account for runs to the grocery store or Target…but honestly she could have ridden the bus. It was a straight shot and a short distance.
Also, I can back up the comment…there is little chance of getting bored…I think at any music school. It reminded me of the thread below so I attached it. A bit dated but I still think relevant.
Two other quick comments based on comments above:
People do come off waitlists for music if that is your situation. And,
My D’s most expensive year was Freshman year. After she got off the meal program and got in a shared home, her costs went down (she did sublet the summer). Then IU froze tuition for Jr and Sr year if you had a high GPA and were on target to graduate in 4 years. So, Sophomore, Jr and Sr year were flat. Of course, the “savings” in our budget got eaten up by European summer program…another item to budget for…
I hope that this helps.
EDIT: And once you decide on a school, look into booking a hotel room NOW for welcome week in Aug! Hotels at many schools fill up incredibly fast!!
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The hotel situation at IU is my biggest fear as we weigh decisions! Prices are already so high for all important weekends!
And for those who have been through this - how did your student go about declining an offer? Email professor and admissions? Just decline in the portal? It all feels so personal, we sent one kind email to decline interest and didn’t get a response from the professor. While we didn’t necessarily expect one, we are worried about burning bridges in what is a very small music world. I know the professors expect it as a part of the process but still seems hard to do.
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This is why we don’t even have a professor assigned. We are waiting to see if they offer any scholarship(have not heard back for both my kids !!), and then compare it with what we might get…
Haven’t heard back on financials from
IU yet either… which is concerning because my first-choice professor indicated I got the highest audition score and that he’d advocate for a substantial scholarship. Tempted to reach out but don’t want to seem pushy either.
We are waiting until tomorrow evening and if nothing, we will contact them. This is the part I don’t like about IU. If I am not wrong, they are the only school where the studnets need to contact the professor.
My opinion…but in this scenario it would not be too pushy to contact the professor. Although he may not have control of the timeline for funding decisions. Especially as IU may combine music merit, academia merit and/or financial aid dollars to optimize your offer. But certainly good for the professor to hear that his studio is a top interest for you.
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But we clearly stated our priority when we submitted the application… So they know. At this point I am leaning toward schools that showed more interest and reached out. (Although IU is definitiely still an option)
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Sorry, maybe my post was confusing. I was replying to @eddythenerd who seems to have received very specific input from a professor.
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Don’t lose hope! My daughter is still waiting too. I know some kids didn’t hear about merit money from Jacobs until well into the first week of April the past couple of years.
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My problem here is that we didn’t ask for a teacher beacuse we are not sure if we go there, it really depends on the money they give us.
Neither of my daughters reached out for lessons at Jacobs until after they were admitted. They didn’t want to get their hopes up too soon;).
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We heard back from them in February but no scholarship so far.
Awesome!!
We definitely don’t want him having a car! Most of the other schools he applied to were in close proximity to a city or in a city so I think he was just concerned about it being more “remote” than the others on his list!
But with 40,000 students, I can’t imagine there would ever be a shortage of things to do!
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Pro tip for IU hotels! If you get in a jam, rooms at the surrounding state park inns are generally reasonable and can be available when hotels in town are not. Or, if you are into camping and it’s the right season that is an option too. We did that parents weekend once in order to see my daughter in an opera and the campground was full of IU parents. Super fun. Here are the 3 closest. Two of the parks are 20-30 minutes out. One is 45.
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Glad to know it is not just my kid.
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Same thing happened with my other D, they gave her a ridiculous scholarship but she ended up at NEC anyway.
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This is good to know, thanks!
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This was a concern for my son as well, especially with a couple profs he really connected with. One seemed a little annoyed that my son had chosen another school but in the end said he’d be in good hands, the other profs all responded very well. I think they all understand that there are many things to weigh, especially financial considerations! Don’t worry about burning bridges; and if your student sends an email thanking them for their time, it goes a long way! The prof from NU remembered my son 3 years later at a masterclass!
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