Why would I lose it? I ‘ve resided in NY my whole life.
That is the school I was looking at. I’ve bad things about their administration office and how it is hard to reach them. Is this true?
But for in state tuition your parents need to be taxpayers in that state.
OK. I plan on working summer and during college. Will that hinder my chances of going to a cheaper in-state college?
If you want to know how difficult they are to reach, email or call them. You missed the pt, though. Housing is almost $19000 alone without tuition, books, fees, or food.
In terms of whether or not you’ll lose in state status, you need to contact them. We moved out of state when one of our kids was in college (not in NY, so this isn’t a given for you), but before we moved we confirmed that as long as he was a continuous full time student during the academic calendar yr not summers), they would continue to grant him in state status. It matters bc if parents move during a child’s sr of high school, you can end up with no instate option bc in state requires 12 months residency.
Unfortunately I don’t know. If you are interested in the level of their vocal performance students you could probably find studio concerts on line or fine programs of concerts and go from there
I am sorry but since this thread has gone in a lot of directions I don’t remember if Binghamton was mentioned. They have a performance degree and would your parents help pay if you went to a program that wasn’t purely music?
No they would not. The claim they can’t afford to pay, even though they make 120,000 a year.
I have looked at this, but will look at it again. Surprisingly no one is recommending any specific schools for their affordability. They are only talking about top music schools, which is not what I am looking for.
This wasn’t the point of the reply I was replying to. They were talking about in-state tuition. The less I have to pay for tuition the better. What do you mean by reach? That was not what I was asking. I was asking, how much more difficult would it to pay for it when my parent’s are out-of-state. If I am living in NY, wouldn’t I still get the in-state tuition?
Lots of lower cost non top schools and full rides were mentioned. And tuition at SUNY isn’t the bulk of expense. Housing/food are.
Per SUNY published rules and AI if your parents move their domicile, you would lose in state.
But it also says to call each school independently. In other states, you’d retain in-state if you start but each state and sometimes campus have their own rules.
Here are campus contacts for you to ask.
https://www.suny.edu/smarttrack/campus-financial-aid-offices/
You are failing to either accept or comprehend what is being shared. YOU are not the basis for any financial aid or residency (except maybe in Utah where they do let students earn residency after 1 yr out of state). All classifications are based on your PARENTS. That is how it works. There is no way around it unless you are over the age of 24 or married or the provider for a minor child. It doesn’t matter how hard it makes things for students. It is how it works in this country.
Do a google searches for universities that offer large merit scholarships, automatic scholarships, low cost, etc. UofAL, UofNorth TX (if you earn $1000 in scholarship, they give in state tuition), etc.
Are your parents willing to fill out FAFSA? You might qualify for need based aid if you can get accepted to some schools, but only if your parents fill out all of the necessary paperwork.
Bing is not a top music school but an excellent school that offers a performance degree and may be affordable.
Have you looked at Gettysburg/sunderman. They are a lac and conservatory that is very generous with merit aid.
Oberlin was on your list right? If you are not able to get into their performance track they have a non audition based program and are very generous with both need and merit aid
I really wish you so much luck. It is very hard to do this process without the guidance of a private teacher and guessing what level you are at. If you could figure out a way to have a few lessons with a private teacher who knows about music performance admissions that may be very helpful (even if it is over zoom)
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Oberlin was not on my list. I know Bing is not a top music school. I was referencing other people’s recommendations. Isn’t Oberlin a top music school? Then again I am contradicting myself as Crane and Ithaca are top music schools as well.
Oberlin has a ba in music that allows for performance but is not audition based. The school is need aware but does meet 100% of demonstrated need of admitted students. Definitely worth looking at and maybe applying for academic admission
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OP can ask her family to fill out the net price calculator to see if it’s worth applying.
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@sybbie719 is our NY expert…but I don’t know if she will see this tag. If she does, she can certainly give great advice on affordable options for a student with zero parent financial assistance…who also cannot continue to live at home after high school.
But getting back to the music question…
@ariannabug2027 you need someone to help you with the process of actually getting accepted into a vocal music program. It sounds like you love to sing, and are good at it. I’m a strong supporter of the arts and encouraging students to follow an arts degree if that is what they want to do. BUT, I need to qualify that by saying what others have said…you need to find an affordable option for undergrad school.
One of my kids is a professional musician, and the other played first chair on her instrument for four years of high school and four years of college (that kid was not a music major). They were both very accomplished musicians before they went to college…and both found out that there were lots of others who were also in college.
You need someone in person who can help you with this process. Our kids found that their music teachers at school were extremely helpful. Our kids also had the advantage of private teachers who could guide them, make recommendations, and prepare them for auditions.
If you can’t be in your school choir, could you possibly be in a church choir? Are there other opportunities in your area to sing? Some places have Precollege programs and some do offer financial assistance for students who need it.
Just about every college has music ensembles for students who are not music majors. When you start researching affordable options, look for opportunities to sing at these colleges.
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The net price calculators are currently set for students starting college in fall 2026. That is NOT this student. Any numbers they get should be viewed as an estimate only.
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@thumper1 weve been through this a million times. You use what you have. This is what exists today. If Oberlin changes the formula or the family income changes, they can look again but when you are trying to see if a school is even worth considering, it’s what you have and should be used.
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Others have explained this, but prior residency in NY matters only if the particular school has a policy of “grandfathering” in-state students after their family moves out of state. It is not a default; it is an exemption that you may or may not be able to get. You need to investigate this; you don’t want to be left with a choice between dropping out because your SUNY school has become unaffordable, or trying to conceal that you no longer have a home address in NY with your family, which could end badly.
Your family’s prospective move makes me feel even more that a two-year college may be your best path. If the family move does happen and you therefore become a Florida resident, you can transfer to a Florida university - there are excellent and relatively-affordable music programs. (You’d probably have to take a single gap year while establishing the new residency, but if you already have your AA at this point, you’ll have more employment prospects and momentum in terms of your musical training.)
My kids went to an arts-magnet high school in California, and they had a lot of friends who studied performing arts at the nearby community college with the strongest arts programs, and then transferred to top-notch programs like New England Conservatory, SJSU, and CSU Northridge. They got terrific mentoring and performance opportunities at the CC, built their resume and repertoire, and went on from there, having saved a ton of money.
An example of a NY CC that’s excellent for music is Monroe Community College in Rochester:
Music program: Music Performance Associate Degree | Academics | Monroe Community College
Their Honors Institute, for which you’d be eligible: Honors Institute | Monroe Community College | Rochester, NY
On-campus housing, with a 12-month option if going home at all is undesirable: Housing & Residence Life | Life at MCC | Monroe Community College
How would your yearly costs here compare your current best-case option of Potsdam?
Finger Lakes also has a music program, honors, and housing.
Of course, go ahead and apply to four-year schools where sufficient scholarships are a possibility. But the CC option offers a more predictably-priced fallback, as well as the chance to become more seasoned, musically, before applying to more rejective audition-based programs.
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This is excellent advice.
Also, you need to confirm with your parents that they are willing to fill out all of the financial aid forms (FAFSA at minimum; additionally, the CSS Profile for schools like Oberlin). If they refuse to fill out the forms, schools like Oberlin are not going to be an option and the advice to attend a CC first becomes paramount.
Your first step priority should be to ask your parents if they will fill out the forms for financial aid even if they won’t pay bc grant money (not paid back), some merit scholarships, and the $5500 student loan will require their filling out the forms for you.
Second, you need to ask them if they will support you traveling to auditions if you pass prescreens. Prescreens are recordings, so you should be fine there. But, flights, long distance drives, hotel rooms, Ubers or car rentals from airports…..that you will not be able to coordinate or pay for on your own.
Your hurdles for schools like Oberlin will require parental cooperation. A CC you might be able to manage independently. (In our state, high performing students can get scholarships to cover the full cost of attendance at a CC, so then you only need to focus on living expenses. If any of the CCs have dorms, that would be something to definitely investigate.)
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