Cost, teacher, location. Though for some, location a bit away from a city can mean an opportunity to focus on development and growth, so it depends.
Public transportation was a factor for my kid. Though they were pretty resourceful in finding it and making it work.
Curious if you’ve heard from Jacobs re: merit yet? We haven’t heard yet.
A prospective grad student who had a sample lesson with the head of the Jacobs Voice Department last week was told financials would drop 4/1.
My son got his scholarship email 3/27 from Jacob’s SOM, but he is applying as a graduate student for trumpet performance.
Still nothing from Jacobs here (vocal performance). I’ve read in several places that they are expected tomorrow, 4/1.
We are also still waiting on Juilliard decision and then financials, which will be 24-48 hours later.
It is excruciating 
For me:
1)Cost. Obviously if family finances allow paying full freight then this isn’t a consideration, but it should be a big factor. Is it worth going to the school that has the big name and the big teacher if it is going to leave the kid with huge debt? No. I have heard people say it is, because in going to the prestige school/teacher, the likelyhood of getting a well paid gig is higher, that could allow paying off the debt,and that is simply not true. Kids coming out of the premiere schools don’t routinely jump out of there and get into a high level orchestra or into well paying positions. Yes there are exceptions, you hear about the kid at Northwestern who jumped into the Chicago symphony before they graduated , kid from Curtis going into the Philly, but that is a rarity. I just can’t see a kid graduating from music school with the intent of pursuing music as a career with a load of debt.
2)If cost is no concern, then teacher would be next. People have debated this but music teaching is a very personal relationship, if the student and teacher don’t click, it can be rough, and if the teacher, who may be great with some kids isn’t a match, it will be tough. Obviously going to an affordable school where the teaching on the instrument isn’t good is not going to work well either.
3)Prestige (though I wouldn’t use that term). Strength of student body and networking opportunities are very real, but the name of the school is not magic in music in of itself. If you come out of Juilliard or Curtis or NEC, that name isn’t going to get you jobs by itself. However, being around other high level students can drive a music student forward, and there is networking among music students and in a higher level program you can make friends or play with other students and end up forming a group for example, or find out about opportunities.
4)Location. That is a tricky one, is that being located so kids can see high level music events like let’s say living in NYC and seeing the NY Phil? Is it for the idea of being able to do gigs while in school, for example a jazz student who might be able to find gigs in the local area, or become known to groups or bookers in the area? I would have to say this really depends on what the location can do for the student. Obviously there is the environment itself, being in a city like New York or Boston is very different than being at a school in a more rural area, it all depends on the kids and what motivates them. I know someone who went to U Mich for music because they wanted the college experience with Saturday going to the football game and being in a university setting.
5)Campus, safety and weather I would put at the bottom personally. Lot of great music schools are in areas that can have bad weather. Lot of great schools have been located in areas that some consider safety risks (when my brother went to Columbia U many decades ago, the areas bordering the school were not great). Most of the time with safety to be honest the dangers are overstated because the school is in a city area.
Beautiful Campus/Buildings is nice to have, but for example when my son went to NEC the buildings were nothing to write home about and there really wasn’t a campus (though of course being in the area it is in, Back Bay, it it was a nice area).
No! My daughter called and they said they hope to get it out by April 1st
Agree with this 100%. My S felt that the choice of teacher outweighed being in a city vs being in rural Ohio and it was absolutely the right choice for him.
He spends a lot of time in Cleveland ‘gigging’ (which for singers is Church choirs, of course, lol) and being 40 mins from the city has not hampered that at all.
sigh… yes, still waiting on Juilliard… what the heck? Why wait soooo long to announce? I don’t get it… it’s holding back other decisions.
We’re making this choice right now. It’s great to hear your kid is able to get to Cleveland for gigs. Does he have a car? We’re worried that the community and the school are going to feel too small compared to UMich (the other likely option). But we’re also concerned UMich will be too big!
Thank you!!! I was worried because we were hearing about others getting emails…glad to hear not everyone heard yet…Phew!
OOOOH- very tough choice. They are very different schools!
He does not have a car but many friends and colleagues do. He will have his car for his senior year next year though. He made friends pretty quickly with those who have cars, LOL.
Oberlin is small- don’t get me wrong! But it has been such a great environment for our son- the instruction is top notch and the talent is too. I think socially it can feel too small at times, which certainly wouldn’t be the case at UMich, but I do think kids often tend to stick with their cohort even at a larger school.
Hope this helps! Happy to answer questions anytime.
DS just heard from Juilliard. Accepted to MM in Vocal Performance. Check your emails!
Accepted to Juilliard (MM)
The email hasn’t arrived yet, but it’s already available on the portal.
We just heard from Juilliard as well! Accepted for BM Vocal Performance!
we got accepted too… no Kovner though 
They won’t release financial info for another day or two, at least according to the info they gave at the parent meeting when we were there for auditions.
yes, but the Kovner typically comes with the first acceptance letter (lots of examples of this online where kids know on March 31 whether or not they got Kovner)
My son (jazz piano) got his merit package on 3/29
My son is a freshman at the SMTD at UMich. The thing about SMTD, you can have the best of both worlds. SMTD is on north campus which is about a fifteen minute bus ride from central campus. They have a phenomenal bus system. North is gorgeous, more of a nature like setting whereas Central is more city-like.
Each semester my son has had one class on central several days a week and everything else is on North, where he lives. It actually has a small conservatory feel. Some of his paid gigs have been on central and he hangs out on central for a game club he participates in. He absolutely loves it and has had an awesome freshman year.
Let me know if you have any questions and I can ask my son.