How do you afford all those college visits?

operamom
Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:54:33 +0000

With DS, auditions required that we visit several places during the application process. We sent CDs to as many as we could to reduce the travel time. Upon acceptance, he visited every school to meet voice teachers and have trial lessons. He visited one school several times because it was relatively close and it emerged, after being unlikely, as his first choice. He is a junior there now.

DD is not a music major, but she is committed to intense study with a private teacher during her undergraduate years. She has seen 4 of her schools and will see 2 more in December, but we are reserving the travel dollars for post acceptance time so she can interview teachers. I know students who visited before applications, went to auditions, and visited to take trial lessons after they were accepted. Three trips to each school. We can’t do this.

In distinct contrast, I applied to 5 schools total, was accepted with scholarships to 3 of them and attended my first choice, a LAC (2000 miles away from home) which I saw the first time when I arrived as a freshman. I loved the school I attended and I believe that I would have loved any of the others.