<p>Tonight’s the night for this year’s Tisch Gala. Although I’ve attended several of these events through the years, I have a commitment here in Toronto today so can’t be there. It looks like it will be yet another fun evening and will raise lots of money for its wonderful causes. </p>
<p>It does look wonderful, but I have to say that I have been pretty turned off by the numerous sollcitations to parents, both from Tisch and NYU, for money! Sorry, folks, but I am already paying a bundle for this school and my D hasn’t even been there a full semester and they’re already asking me to pay more. I think they might have been more inclined to get money out of me eventually if they had done more of a slow build.</p>
<p>SDonCC, as a parent of two kids who have now attended different colleges, I see this as not particular at all to NYU. For example, my other kid went to Brown and we were called frequently during her four years there (and since) to give money to the Parent Fund to help with scholarships for students. As my own kid was on Fin. Aid, which we’ll be paying for ten more years, I was not able to give. But just saying, such solicitations are common from day one, and not just at NYU. </p>
<p>By the way, as a parent at that university, where my kid was on a varsity team funded by the school, we were required to pay some of the fees for that sport, not to mention being asked to also donate money to the team and to Brown athletics.</p>
<p>At NYU, it was just the invitation to attend this expensive fundraising event, and I did not go as I could not afford to go but I didn’t see a problem with the invitation as it was optional and for fundraising purposes. I didn’t mind it as I am grateful for those who can afford to be benefactors. In fact, as a Tisch student, my kid benefitted by those donations.</p>
<p>In any case, the NYU thing is optional and it is truly not unique to NYU (not sure if you have other kids in college).</p>
<p>I have a son at a well-endowed LAC. They do a great job of keeping parents informed and involved, but not one solicitation yet for money. For NYU, it was not just this one event; I have gotten repeated mailings from the NYU parents council, too.</p>
<p>It’s good to know NYU is not the only school hitting up the parents so much.</p>
<p>I do understand the gut reaction, as I have also thought to myself, “Oh geez, they are asking for money from me as a parent (in some cases to help fund scholarships) when I can’t even afford the school and am not done paying for it yet and won’t be for a very long time! (and my own kids are recipients of aid)” but…I have to remember that there are those who have the means to give beyond their own kids’ tuitions and I am glad for the fundraising efforts of these private institutions as the school and students benefit from them.</p>
<p>The invitation I received for this event, even as someone who has attended it on several occasions and who has donated, was just that , an invitation. Did current parents receive a solicitation for a donation and not simply an invitation? I guess I can understand being annoyed by repeated requests for donations but I don’t understand it for an invitation to an event. </p>
<p>Like Susan, we’ve had experience with more than just NYU and all of them have requested donations from us, as well as from our Ds who are now alumni. This isn’t at all unusual. All colleges seek donations. Some may not solicit from parents while the student is still attending but I’ve never heard of one that never solicits. Each family must decide when, if, and how they want to donate. If the colleges never asked, the students would be the ones suffering. There’s a simple solution if you don’t want to donate, ask them to remove your name from the contact list and the solicitations will stop! My H and I recently made the decision to no longer support one of our alma maters, for a couple of reasons, after many years of donations. We called and asked that our names be removed from the list, and haven’t heard from or received anything since.</p>
<p>AlwaysAMom, my recollection is the Tisch Gala is just an invitation and of course, very optional! It does cost a lot to attend. But then it is a fundraiser after all!</p>
<p>Re: “every college”… Mt D’s college called me as a parent to donate in the winter of her sophomore, junior, and senior years (once each year). I didn’t receive any fundraising solicitations her freshman year, or after she was out of school. (I think she has received a couple on her own - but none to our house.)</p>
<p>My own college solicits me for donations, but to my knowledge never asked my parents for a donation – and I was on a full ride (it might have been because it was so long ago!)</p>
<p>I would see an invitation to a fundraising event as separate, and wouldn’t feel at all obliged to attend – I’m sure that there are parents who want to see every single thing their child performs in, and possibly Tisch just wanted to make sure the parents were informed, in case they did want to see them perform.</p>
<p>I thought I clearly said that I was getting letters not just for one fundraising gala, but also the university parent’s council asking for money!</p>
<p>I am sorry, but NYU has really gotten off on the wrong foot with me by being so pushy right from the start. Like I said, IMO they should have let parents build up a relationship with the school first. </p>
<p>I don’t have complaints about my D’s experience with the school per se, other than this!</p>
<p>btw, i am familiar with the concept of parents as donors. I recall the incredible fondness my parents had for my alma mater and how they were loyal donors for many years. I can’t imagine, though, that the school hit them over the head like this and not right off the bat. Again, though, maybe it’s the difference between an LAC and a university. (and well-endowed colleges at that).</p>
<p>SDonCC, like I said, we got such solicitations from Brown the entire time my kid attended and since. I do see the feeling as I had it myself of “geez, how can I donate for future scholarships for students when I can’t even pay for my own kid, am still paying and will be paying this off for years to come?” but while that was odd for ME, I understand the need to fundraise and it obviously works as some parents have the mulah to do so. </p>
<p>Even for my D’s college athletic team, no way could I afford to donate but some kids on her team came from milionnare families and one was from a multi-millionaire family many times over and I’m thankful for the donations I know these families made while their kids were enrolled.</p>
<p>LOL, I turned on the tv and there was Billy Crystal and Whoopie talking about the gala and Tisch! Sounds like it was a wonderful evening, a beautiful tribute to Billy (and his jazz producer father), and Billy raved about Tisch on the show (The View).</p>
<p>SDonCC, have you been called on the phone, personally, and asked for money, or are we talking about things that come in the mail? I personally don’t contribute money to NYU (my D is a junior there and is on financial aid and scholarships, so covering tuition and fees and room and board is all we can do) but I don’t ever feel offended by a school sending me materials in the mail and requesting I consider donating. In fact, I sort of expect it. People have the right to ask and I have the right to say no. I don’t consider that “pushy.” I consider it part of the school’s mission, because if the school is going to be able to give needy students like my own kid scholarships, the school needs to raise money. Simple as that.</p>
<p>Sometimes I think NYU has a special deal with the United States Post Office…the huge number of pieces of promotional literature they send to students who have officially expressed an interest and/or applied is mind-boggling.</p>
<p>NJTheatreMom, I well remember that, only I honestly don’t remember my kid getting more material from NYU than she did from, say, Carnegie Mellon or University of the Arts or Fordham or Muhlenberg. (She got a lot from Muhlenberg, as I recall.) Whatever it is that NYU is doing, it works: the school is consistently one of the “most applied to” and most popular schools. Last February, the school announced that more than 38,000 men and woman applied for admission, which was up by at least 1,000 from the year before.</p>
<p>Of the other schools you mentioned, NMR, my son applied only to CMU. We received little or no promotional stuff from them…and relatively little from any school except for NYU. Your kid may have been seen as a more potentially desirable candidate than mine by CMU! At any rate, he was accepted at Tisch but not CMU.</p>
<p>Another thing that was different about NYU was that they didn’t want the PROFILE, just the FAFSA, at least when my son was applying. I always wondered if that had something to do with the huge number of applications.</p>
<p>The colleges are of all sizes. Typically, some of the most selective universities are ones that require it. You will notice that very few of the MT schools talked about on this forum require it. I advise many applicants to BFA programs and they have very few schools that need a CSS Profile. In contrast, however, my D who wasn’t a BFA applicant and was applying to highly competitive regular colleges, had many schools that required the CSS Profile.</p>