<p>So I’m starting my senior year in high school and have to start applying to colleges soon. My top choice is James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA (and I’m from central NY). I’m gonna be a clarinet performance major, and JMU has literally got everything I want in a school. Things relating to my major-they have an amazing music program, their clarinet teacher is phenomenal and has a highly impressive r</p>
<p>James Madison University is a fine school but I can not imagine that it is “the only school that truly feels like a best fit”. - It may be just family dynamics, but something sounds off to me. Anything missing from your story?</p>
<p>No. My parents are just overprotective and want me close to home. I did find other schools I liked but they were either too expensive or in a big city (my parents won’t let me go to a school in a big city like nyc, Philly, dc, etc) so I’ve had to take all those schools off my list. JMU seems like the only realistic school that I would be happy at. We could afford it, it’s in a small, safe city, it has a great music program, my gpa and sat score meet their average, etc. Just everything feels right about JMU, to me.</p>
<p>If it helps, heres some info on my academics:
I have a 3.9 gpa, an act score of 24, sat score of 1650 (1110 not including writing), I take ap and honors classes, Im taking college classes at the suny school in my town, and ive made the top 25 of my class the past 5 years.</p>
<p>If your parents are paying, then you have to listen to them. If not, you are an adult and what college you go to is your choice.</p>
<p>You don’t need your parents’ permission to apply to a school, and once you are 18 you don’t need their permission to attend. You also don’t need their consent to have a job at 18.</p>
<p>I think perhaps what you mean is that they won’t spend their money to pay for your dream school?</p>
<p>Well they haven’t said that. What they said was that JMU is not an option for me because of the distance and that I’m not allowed to apply there so I should stop getting my hopes up. But I honestly would rather get a job during school, take loans, and pay for college on my own to go there, but they just won’t let me, even if I will be an adult by then.</p>
<p>I don’t know how to get them to listen to me. Ill be an adult, and college is supposed to be my decision, but it feels like they’re so controlling.</p>
<p>If you truly feel passionate about it, do that then, but understand the fact that you will be dealing with loans for a long time. You may have to put up with your parents being mad at you until you go to college as well. And no, the cannot “jut won’t let [you]”</p>
<p>You can’t borrow the kind of money you need for tuition by yourself, but you may be able to come up with what you need for the application. Maybe one or both of you will feel differently in the spring. .</p>
<p>My parents would never let me pay for college myself. They’re already worried about me trying to find a job after college since I’m gonna be a music major, so that on top of college debt is something they don’t want for me. We could afford JMU, I just wouldn’t be able to come home for every little holiday or weekend off because of the cost of travel, which I’m fine with, but my parents say ill be begging to come home all the time and I won’t be able to.</p>
<p>Where have they suggested you to attend, that meets the basic parameters of having your major, being affordable, etc.?</p>
<p>And I understand that I might not be able to go there, but I would feel awful if I don’t at least apply there. I’ve been dreaming of going to JMU since my freshman year of high school when my marching band traveled there and competed. Ever since then I’ve dreamed of going there and marching for them, and with all the research I’ve done after the trip, I just love so many things about the school. I just want to be able to at least apply.</p>
<p>They want me to go to either OCC (Onondaga community college) or suny fredonia. I really don’t want to go to a community college, I feel like I’d miss out on the whole freshman experience and just the whole college experience in general, and like I wouldn’t really get to grow up since occ is 40 minutes away. I also will have a years worth of credits by the time I graduate so community college isn’t really necessary. And then I don’t like suny fredonia because of the size, the campus feel, surrounding area, etc. There’s also a lot of people from my high school attending fredonia and I want to have a fresh beginning in a new area, and I’ve been to the area surrounding fredonia quite often since my mom is from that region of New York.</p>
<p>What do you plan to do with a degree in clarinet performance? What kind of money do you expect to earn?</p>
<p>How sure are you that you can get into James Madison as an out-of-state applicant with good grades but just so-so test scores?</p>
<p>How much does Greyhound cost? Do Boltbus or Megabus go anywhere nearby?</p>
<p>You visited the school as a member of your band. Presumably you looked young and were wearing a uniform and carrying a clarinet. If you were identifiable as a visitor, people may have been especially friendly. It may not be the norm in everyday life.</p>
<p>You always have an option for a gap year. Investigate Americorps City Year, which pays modestly but has a bonus that can be used for school after your year is up. That would get you away from home and able to support yourself for a year. Your parents would be able to start to realize that you simply are gone.</p>
<p>Well I plan to move to NYC, join the musicians union, and try to get different jobs there. What I really want to do someday is play for a broadway pit orchestra. If someday I do get a gig playing in a broadway pit orchestra, they make $1500+ a week and they get a bonus for each additional instrument they play (I play 2 other instruments so far). In addition they receive a full benefits package including health, pension, and vacation pay. </p>
<p>I think I have a pretty good shot of getting into JMU. I have solid grades, and yes my test grades aren’t amazing but they’re not bad. And ive looked at the admissions trend charts on different college sites, such as cappex, and im in the acceptance range for all of them. I mean hey i might not be accepted, but i think I have a better chance of getting accepted to JMU than to, lets say Boston university, which was another school I had looked at.</p>
<p>I haven’t looked into buses, but there are several airports near JMU and the prices of flights home were about $390-410. Carpooling could also be an option. </p>
<p>As for your last point, could you please explain what a gap year is. I’ve heard my friend mention it before but I still don’t really know what it is.</p>
<p>Are you sure that the real reason is not financial, in that OCC and SUNY-F are probably seen as being the lower cost options? That they are concerned about travel costs hints that the real reason may be financial.</p>
<p>In any case, try not to get too attached to the idea that only one school is a reasonable fit for you.</p>
<p>Well of course it helps that occ and fredonia are cheaper, but we looked at schools closer to home that cost the same amount as JMU for an oos student, and they were fine with me applying there. I ended up taking those schools off the list though after I did some research and visited the schools and couldn’t picture myself there. And if I could find a school just like JMU, but in state, I would definitely be happy with going to that school, I just can’t find any.</p>
<p>Your SAT and ACT put you just about at the 25th percentile for entering freshmen. What some typically say is that you have to realize some of the botton quartile can be recruited athletes, legacies and faculty/staff kids or VA kids they especially want to have at the school. Please be wise in how you pick schools to apply to.</p>
<p>ps. You understand the hiring process for pit, right? What it takes to get to the union minimum pay-?</p>
<p>Also about costs, I keep saying I can get a job to help pay for travel costs, but my parents won’t let me get a job, so if it were financial, they would let me get a job to help pay. </p>
<p>I am actually taking the sat again this Saturday, so hopefully ill get a higher score. And do you have any advice on how to be wise when choosing schools to apply to? I’d appreciate the advice since I only have 3 schools on my list, 2 I don’t want to attend, and the 3rd my parents don’t want me to attend.</p>