<p>Headoflife-</p>
<p>Hopefully he didn’t take all his validation from me, cause it was just my thoughts. Unfortunately with music the top programs can be very, very expensive and their aid is mostly need based and you can be faced with the cost versus benefit thing. We went through that with my S, and it isn’t easy, the financially sound package is very, very tempting when you are talking about college costs that are close to what the average worker makes in this country as a total cost…the problem being music is not like learning other things, learning calculus doesn’t vary much, nor does standard curricula in technical or other areas, but with music, it is such a weird beast, it is very, very hard to figure out what to do.With us it was much the same as your S, the combination of program and teacher made the more expensive option the real choice…plus with us, music has already involved so many sacrifices that it isn’t anything new…fortunately I think getting rid of a car with less then 250,000 miles is a waste (the older they get, the more vintage they are <em>lol</em>), vacations are some esoteric concept and since I don’t golf or have a boat or or a model railroad layout, and retirement is for sissies, wouldn’t know what to do with the extra money:)</p>
<p>Musicprnt,</p>
<p>He hasn’t even read this, so he has not, but I found in interesting to see so much of what he said echoed in your post. I was impressed with his argument, and while I was far from sure, I thought he had made the case well. At his age, I would have simply wanted to go for the prestige, and the location. He would have been happy at almost any of the choices, and in some ways it might have been simpler to have fewer! I am hoping he has chosen wisely, and if this is not the right fit, I know that transferring is always an option, and the experience will help him grow.</p>
<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>