<p>headoflife,
Last year I remember feeling a bit nauseated as my son zeroed in on his decision to attend NEC. It was not his most expensive option but it also was not his cheapest. And interestingly expense was not necessarily correlated with the size of the merit scholarship. Some schools that gave quite large scholarships also had bigger tuitions or would require us to budget some money for travel. The only option that stood out in terms of cost was a state school with a well known Jazz Double Bass Instructor. But I doubt my son would have been happy at that school given that he is a lot like your son and wanted to be in a competitive environment with other top players.</p>
<p>Jazz performance is not the same as classical performance, but they both involve the need to work collaboratively with other musicians and they both require that the musician gain a certain amount of proficiency with their instrument. For our son the benefit of attending NEC has been his peer group. He has met amazing musicians and has had the privilege of working and collaborating with them. That more than anything has pushed our son to new levels of playing. I think your son is going to find that at Juilliard. </p>
<p>And so far all that playing with graduate students and undergraduates who are better musicians than him, has paid off for our son financially. He gigs quite a bit around Boston. And he got a full scholarship to attend a workshop in Europe this summer, which means he can travel. And he got a summer RA position at a Jazz camp. So his hard work and improvement is already paying off.</p>
<p>I think the telling thing is that your son was able to construct a sound argument for why he made his choice. It is my experience that our children are often wise about what their needs are. It is an exciting time. As I watch prom gatherings around my town, I can’t believe that my youngest child just completed his freshman year.</p>