S26 (sorry S25 was a typo. My brain is still in 2024) attends a private school which sends a lot of kids to top schools. They don’t rank but he’s somewhere around the middle of the class as far as both rigor and stats. He has a GPA around 3.75 but with a lot of music classes. Without those it’s more like 3.6. School doesn’t weight or offer AP’s. PSAT in junior year 1210. Hasn’t taken SAT or ACT yet. EC’s are 2 varsity sports, teaching swim lessons, coaching special Olympics in multiple sports, and a lot of music.
His ideal school would be small, Eastern US, with a combined BS/grad degree program in occupational therapy, strong music, and merit aid. There seems to be a whole list of private schools that fit that criteria: Duquesne, Elizabethtown, Ithaca, Nazareth, Sacred Heart, Shenandoah, St Joe’s . . . (There are more but that’s the general type he likes) All of them seem as though he would likely get in for general admissions and has a decent shot for the combined degree program except maybe Sacred Heart. He’s seen 6 of them, loved 2, liked 3 well enough to apply and ruled out Messiah as not a good fit religiously.
Our question is how many schools is enough? Also, did you visit every school or is it OK to apply and then only visit if he’s considering the school after all offers are in?
He is also planning to apply to a few state schools that are safeties but don’t have the combined degree program. They do have OT grad degrees and good music.
If he loves one, it’s sure fire and affordable, then it’s enough especially if they respond quickly. Of course two assured and affordable admits will be better.
Some have budgets and chase merit and will apply to 20. Or they only want reaches so they apply to many.
It’s really family specific as to your needs. Budget drives a lot. Music , if auditions required, can too.
Are the 5 he likes affordable and are you easily admissible ? Then good. If music is a major, that might complicate due to auditions. You are supplementing with safe and affordable state schools so you are fine.
Yes you can visit after acceptance. But many want demonstrated interest so get on their info lists, and attend an online session. Also open emails and if they have videos, play them even if you walk away.
It’s totally fine to visit after one is admitted (and then there are kids like my son who committed early decision to a college sight unseen, lol). There are some colleges that weigh “demonstrated interest” more than others in their considerations for admissions (you should be able to find out that information by looking at the Common Data Sets for schools your kid is considering), and if they are borderline/reach it might be worth visiting. But there are also other ways to demonstrate interest (follow the Instragram, virtual tour, Zoom interview, etc).
In our case, we toured a bunch of colleges before the application season, in part to check out some colleges of interest, but mostly so S25 could see the different “types” of campuses there are and thus to get a sense of what vibe appeals to him. We ended up not applying broadly because of the Early Decision thing, but if we had, we would have waited for the results and then only visited top contenders for admitted students’ days in the spring. It wasn’t really feasible for us to go tour all the colleges he was thinking of applying to, and it also sounded like an exhausting prospect.
I don’t know the answer to your question since we’re trying to figure that out for our 11th grader, too. But with D24, there was 1 school on her list that we didn’t go to visit until after she got accepted. The timing of the visit just didn’t work out ahead of time because of the distance from home, demands of other outside-of-school stuff she was involved with, and cost.
I always value Thumper’s opinions, but he has decided he wants OT, not music therapy. He still wants a school with a lot going on musically, and opportunities for private lessons and ensembles, and at some schools there are scholarships specific to music and he’ll audition for those, but unless he doesn’t get into a combined program, he won’t go as a music or music therapy or music ed major.
At the state schools, where there aren’t combined programs, he’ll apply for music.
I understand. Have you checked out Quinnipiac. That might be an option. But it’s expensive.
Duquesne was a college our son looked at years ago. We all loved the location within walking distance of downtown Pittsburgh…and that’s a great town. I don’t know a thing about their OT program…but Pittsburgh is a major medical hub and there should be opportunities to shadow, one would think.
Start with budget - have you run the NPCs on these - are all affordable?
Or are you full pay?
That’s always step 1.
Step 2 is are you a sure bet admission wise.
If you were doing this program at Elizabethtown and it was affordable, in theory, you could apply only there and be fine. I recommend at least two - but if you only wanted this program, then you’d be ok. They don’t have a CDS so all I know is a 77% acceptance - but I don’t know if you med the pre reqs. Shenandoah doesn’t have a CDS either.
So I’ll change it to St. Joes. Their overall acceptance rate is 86%+. 20% of students are in the bottom half of the class. 46% have below a 3.75. Only 40% submit an SAT and based on his PSAT, he’s at the 50th percentile.
Assuming it’s affordable full pay (in case there was no merit), you could in theory, assuming he’s got all the pre reqs done in HS and at a private school he likely does - it’s an almost assured in and if you applied only there - you’d be fine.
If budget is an issue, than it’s different.
Assuming budget isn’t an issue, the 5 you like is enough. You can do the two state safeties for fun.
If you applied to less than 5, it’d be ok too.
Shenandoah - 58% have a 3.75 (likely weighted). 25% submitted test scores - at 1160 SAT and 24 ACT. So unless you are missing required classes, that’s another easy in.
So you don’t have to overcomplicate - assuming budget is open and pre-reqs are met - and you want to ensure music opportunities for non majors.
To clarify- he will apply to direct admit OT programs, and if a school does not have that option he will apply as a music major?
If he has at least 2 safeties that he likes, then the number of schools to apply to is up to him/you (essays, app costs). One of my kids applied to 7, and the other applied to 12.
For auditioned music programs, he might want to limit the number of colleges he applies to that require auditions. My kid did 7 in person auditions, and really that was all he was able to reasonably schedule and do. However, now with virtual auditions, that landscape has changed.
My kids both vetted the colleges they applied to before sending applications. Both wanted to apply to colleges where they had a decent chance if acceptance. Of course, with the music major, that was impossible to predict.
Is he considering BA music degrees…that don’t require an audition, or only audition programs. We have a great music majors forum here, and the folks there have good and recent experiences. You might want to post there about the music major questions.
I have heard many great things about Marquette. I think it’s too far for him. He is my homebody. My other kid will probably pick Australia for college.
Might Seton Hall be another? They have a 5 year with MS (not sure if you are seeking a doctorate) and say “All students, regardless of program of study, also have the option of participating in various music ensembles including Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, Pep Band, Concert Band, University Choir, Chamber Choir.”
I don’t think you need more and not sure where you live as you have Penn and CT - but just another to throw out.
But again, you realistically could apply to only one but it won’t hurt to do a few more.
You haven’t shared budget so I assume money is not a concern - so I preface my statement with that. The Hall is another relatively easy admit.
If a school has a direct admit OT program he will apply to it. Usually the majors for those are restricted, and he likes the idea of psychology which is a pretty common choice. Some schools allow you to apply for OT and audition for music scholarships.
At two of the state schools there is no OT undergraduate program, and for those two he’d apply for music ed or music therapy. He knows the auditioned program isn’t a safety, but all of these programs seem to consider you for an undecided major if you don’t get into OT or music.
We aren’t full pay unless it’s an instate public, although he’s not looking at any schools that meet full need. Our financial situation is complicated, to say the least, but most of the schools in this category seem to offer a lot of merit, and even when I run the NPC’s with ridiculously high numbers (e.g. I ran it with a million dollars income), they come out with a manageable number. We will probably want to compare offers and budget will come into play.
Those are stats for the school as a whole right? Not for the guaranteed admissions program? I feel like he has a lot of schools on his list that are likelies for admission, although not neccessarily for cost.
