<p>Daughter is a junior in high school and has been looking at several different schools for music education. She plays saxophone and has done sample lessons with the sax professors at all of the schools she is considering. At one school, she absolutely LOVES the professor and the others she met in the music education department, but was somewhat underwhelmed by the campus and is rather concerned about the fact that her stats (3.9 gpa and 31 ACT) are so far above the average accepted students stats. The professor at this school felt very strongly that she could be offered a full ride in academic merit and/or music scholarship, which is extremely attractive to her (and her parents). However, the question comes to mind about whether it is a good idea to matriculate at a school where you dont match academically. She is teetering on the idea of even applying and auditioning there because of this. Any thoughts, advice, or lessons learned from others in this regard?</p>
<p>Not in the music field, but my daughter is a sophomore at a school that you describe (she went there for a particular top rated program)…in her case, she has only found this an issue in social terms, not purely academic…</p>
<p>sometimes (not always) she is studying or doing work while others are not…but I think that would be anywhere; she attributes it to the “lack of motivation” of the kids at her school…but again, I think you can find that anywhere…</p>
<p>She has found someone (or many) in all of her classes, both in and outside of her major, that has the same work ethic and academic orientation that she does…</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it too much. About half of all students are above their schools average stats.</p>
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<p>lol, agreed. I don’t see what the worry is.</p>
<p>Peer group makes or breaks a college experience IMO. That said, there are many who take the full ride and survive.</p>
<p>Some people need to constantly be surrounded by motivated peers to motivate themselves; others will work hard regardless of the environment. It depends on how your daughter operates, but personally I think this could be a great opportunity for your D. A great program and a free ride? What could be better?</p>
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but perhaps not as significantly.</p>
<p>It’s less whether she is an academic match or not for the school and more an issue of where she would best develop.</p>
<p>Depends on whether she thrives when she is
- the smartest kid in the class
- in the mix with others like her
- motivated to do well by being around lots of people that are smarter than her</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, schools offer much merit aid to get the best and the brightest (compared to their student body) to attend: it helps their stats, strengthens the school’s academics and helps lift the other students.</p>
<p>One example: friend’s kid is at Quinnipiac now, got close to a free ride, is one of the smartest kids at the school, is LOVING the experience. Because she is one of the brightest kids the school’s opportunities flow to her: research; internships, etc. She would not be having that same experience at, for example Wesleyan U.</p>
<p>But my own kid would not flourish there . . . needs the stimulation of “genuises” (as ze calls them) around to help bring out ze’s best.</p>
<p>So . . . in which situation do you think your child would best thrive?</p>
<p>There is a pretty elitist attitude in this thread. Taking the full ride and “surviving”? You’re not going to be Mozart compared to the rest of the students just because you have above average stats. But if you go in with that kind of attitude, you won’t make any friends. It is likely to matter even less for music education because factors like the ACT/SAT are designed to measure skills in traditional academic fields like math, science and the humanities instead of music education. </p>
<p>And for the record, I took a full tuition scholarship at a school where my stats would be considered way above the 75% percentile, and I’ve been enjoying it rather than trying to “survive”.</p>