I learned more.
Currently, S is accepted to Purchase music, but is pending academic approvsl.
I mentioned earlier that UNT does not stack scholarships. I got clarification that they don’t stack university scholarships, buy S’ university and music department scholarship will stack.
William Paterson scholarship offers came in the mail today. We believe they care. This is the second (after UNT) of five colleges to provide a completed offer. We are grateful for affordable options.
Affordable options is good! Congrats!
We now have the cost and feature spreadsheet in the college war room (it is bad enough to see a conference room taken over at work and called the war room, but then when you need a room and walk by it, and it is empty (but off limits), egads!) Anyway, All 5 colleges had their NPCs run with fake numbers to get thru them quickly with no financial aid - we just wanted the starting numbers. Then known scholarships and discount are computed, and a total 4-year cost is computed. An annual cost might have sufficed, but the 2-year-only scholarship from UNT influenced that choice. A summary of various attributes (I like to gather attributes before rigidly calling them “pros” and “cons”) also goes into each school’s column. Right now, we have UNT at 80,832 and WP at 72,472.
So happy you have all these options @GoForth. But don’t forget to factor in that undefinable quality of pure emotional response! i’ll never forget the phone call from my son when he got that one email telling him he was in. Such joy.
@goforth, I love the idea of thinking about cost in terms of all 4 year and not year by year. And @drummergirl, yes emotional response is also a factor. @GoForth, I am wondering if you will factor in travel costs to and from schools if your S were to attend. For example. I don’t know where you live, but if you live close to WP, but quite far from Frost, will you factor in plane fare to and from the school 5+ times each school year or is that getting too much into the minutiae of it all?
@elise303 - The four years could be handy to add in start-up costs (like a special computer/software) or final cost (recitals) if you want to bring it to that level of detail. Right now, I am being partially lazy - I just took the standard expense categories that each college provides. We are looking for outliers at this point. We also haven’t assigned any “quality points” as far as “this college we would pay $20,000 more for.” We also have not computed anticipated gigging revenue based on location. I am not sure if we will need to get to a fine level of detail - there is probably some degree of pricing where intangibles can kick in.
I thought we were finally done receiving “unsolicited” email from colleges via having signed up for the ACT, but they still trickle in. I think the pace is way down, but it would be nice to see them end. As each deadline passes, there is always a batch the next day with a 1-day extension.
I hadn’t thought about some of these categories, like start up costs and recitals. In our head, we have an amount we are able to pay and anything over that amount will be paid for by summer jobs and loans from our S. But it is true that some investments are better ones than others, which I guess is part of what you consider when you consider “quality points”.
I had a spread sheet with each semester’s costs and totals for the upcoming year (I would update it each summer). Then I brought the total over for year 1 and then added 2, 3 and 4 as estimates. I did a percentage increase yearly on tuition and fees and then subtracted out scholarships. So I could look at it year by year and see where I was right or wrong. That was the easy part. AND her undergrad program froze tuition for jr and sr year so the 4% (I think) increase I had built in…was “found” money - that easily got spent on a summer program in Europe (meaning you rarely find money for yourself).
Then I did room and board. I had heard it would be cheaper to live off campus (and looking at the meal plan made me believe it). So I did room & board in a second section and held the cost even. As it turned out room and board was the highest the first year. So holding it steady worked and did inform my D on what she could afford for living.
The above 2 categories came out of college savings. Then I did miscellaneous. We gave our D an allowance plus I put costs of books and travel in this area. We decided we could pay these expenses out of pocket. I was surprised to have money freed up when she left. Our Target bill went down notably. My H and I could manage the grocery bill better with just 2 of us and not such a hectic schedule. And no more voice lesson costs and extra curriculum fees etc. My D worked each summer too and saved money for personal expenses. But yes buying her airline tickets at Thanksgiving, Xmas and spring break added up. Not all kids like to spend time with their parents but if yours might it is a cost to consider. And thankfully book costs for music majors are more manageable than other majors. Only the first 2 years with some gen ed classes did she have costly books. And students can check used books or amazon to help with that expense.
I’m an ex-CPA so I love a good spreadsheet (and I don’t think anyone would describe you as “partially lazy” @GoForth !). My experience might not be useful, but I’d encourage your kids to stay on campus as long as they can stand it. Our least expensive and most positive experience was my eldest - Vassar, where they move to furnished townhouses on campus. My youngest moved off his city campus for sophomore year with all the associated expense - realtor fees, rental insurance, parking, T pass, utilities, furniture, summer rent, etc. It still might be cheaper than the dorm and he sure is eating better. But I’m currently paying utilities for 3 separate places, which requires another whole spreadsheet!
@drummergirl, off campus always sounds cheaper at first, but not sure it is.
We were surprised at the differences in airfare from our home airport to the various schools, as well as how infrequent some flights were offered. It definitely figured into our thought process, since most of the choices were not drivable and D definitely wanted to be able to come home for holidays and breaks.
@GoForth, I am wondering how you figured anticipating gigging revenue. I didn’t even think about this. But I assume you just guessed or maybe asked some current students ?
@elise303 So true! I think gigging opportunities, not revenue, should possibly be explored!
I didn’t really compute anything, but of all the 5 places we know, of which we have visited 3, I got the feeling that Miami is the easiest place to travel a mile or two and have gigs. The others, as far as I know might require a 45-minute travel to get to the major center of gigging of that area.
Right now, we have UNT at 80,832, WP at 72,472, and Miami-Frost at 137,224. Waiting on scholarship info from Michigan, and waiting on academic admission and scholarship info from SUNY Purchase. I can feel that things will start clarifying themselves in the near future, but as of right now its still fluid.
Holy shite @GoForth, those numbers are terrifying! We are desperately waiting for full aid packages from two programs that gave maximum talent merit awards to my D ( one of which " meets need")! Also, we should hear from last tippy-toppy, meets need school tomorrow. Fingers crossed for all of us!
Good luck @dramasopranomom I am sure the numbers look better if you divide them by 4. OTOH, would I rather know I am buying a vacuum cleaner for $99.99 or for 3 easy payments of $33.33.
Also, the numbers aren’t as bad as they seem - some of it includes food and sundries and private lessons we would have been buying anyway.
@dramasopranomom what does “meets need” mean? I am heading to visit Frost next week with D. We will be exactly in all of your shoes this time next year. It seems nerve wracking…not looking forward to it! yikes
@SpartanDrew - you will feel naturally relaxed when you walk on the University of Miami campus.