This may be obvious and something you have already done, but I mention it because when mine moved off to school, I completely neglected to factor in the money we saved by no longer having him home.
Consider the current expenses you will not be paying for food, music lessons, other music expenses such as recording/accompaniment, food, car insurance (mine does not have a car while away) even utilities at home.
So yes, expense for school goes up but expenses at home will decrease.
Interesting perspective!! I definitely never thought of it like that!
But for us we have 2 more coming up the ranks- so I feel like things are only going to get more expensive 
But I will definitely remember this when my youngest finally moves off campus!!! Only 7 years to go… 
The whole tuition increase for junior and senior year is definitely frustrating!!
But I wonder if that is offset a little bit by not paying room and board anymore? Even though of campus housing isn’t super cheap, you’re no longer paying for a meal plan, so I feel like that would have to lower the living cost a little bit…
We are also debating a second appeal at Michigan! We were pleasantly surprised by the results of our first appeal, but still not making it close enough to COA at Jacobs… I also can’t believe that Michigan‘s deadline is still May 1! So many other schools have pushed ahead. Just found out that Indiana moved to June 1! I definitely can’t wait that long to have my kid commit though. I need this all to be done!
Thank you, yes, we have factored that in! And it’s very helpful!
I know, I can’t believe they are sticking to May 1 either. But they can! It’s such a great school their seats will be filled no matter what!
There’s a button to request a deposit waiver or extension in Enrollment Connect. We haven’t tried it to see what happens, but it sounds like maybe there is an option to request an extension past May 1 if one needs to.
Guesssssssss whattttttttt? Finally, we have a decision! My son just clicked accept to his SMTD offer!!! Now it’s time to get excited! He will be studying viola performance with Yizhak Schotten. We are so excited 
So freaking excited for you!!!
Some of the other schools that use CSS are upping their offers, now that FAFSA seems to finally be making it’s way through the process, only 6 months later than usual!
Although son already committed to UMich, we’ll see about appealing since out of state is quite expensive for us.
Son will be studying violin performance with Professor Belen, so I’m sure they’ll be playing in ensembles and orchestra together for the next few years. He also liked the viola and cello professors who taught at CSS last summer.
We met a couple of them and they were friendly, and we loved how invested they were in their student’s performances at the concerts we got to attend, as we studied the professor’s body language and comments out of the corners of our eyes during the performance.
Yes, we were evaluating the professors as much as they evaluated our children.
Help needed. How did you all submit scholarship/grant appeals? We were just chatting with Financial Aid Office and they told us no appeals would be considered until a Final FA notice was sent out. They also told us they don’t match or consider awards from other schools. So, we are confused. Do we need to contact someone in SMTD side instead? I know we are late to this process, but S24 may be changing his mind at last minute.
We contacted SMTD and they put a link on his portal to appeal
However, he emailed about a second appeal late last week and he heard back yesterday that they were no longer giving out scholarships because they had run out of funds.
Might be worth calling them!
Thanks so much!
My son appealed his decision directly with SMTD and they do ask for you to provide proof of your other offers. Your child’s professor might be able to point you in the right direction.
At first, my son was not offered a scholarship, but the email stated he’d been highly recommended for one and asked for him to submit extra info for an appeal. A button that led to the appeal page was included in the email from the school. The appeal was successful. Then, we appealed a second time and used this address:
smtd-scholarships@umich.edu
The second appeal was also successful, but we sent the second appeal last Monday and heard back on Friday. I wonder if more money might become available if people don’t end up commiting. Today’s the day! I think it’s worth a try to ask. Everyone we communicated with was very kind.
One more thing- the initial appeal DID ask for attachments of all scholarship offers from other schools. Good luck, we are rooting for you!
We decided to submit an SMTD enrollment deposit tonight. Not sure if it will stick, so we really can’t celebrate yet, but at least all of his other options are not due until May 15. So much was thrown at us today. He also got off Oberlin waitlist. Oh well, in 2 weeks it will be over. 
Just a final update. SMTD came through with a merit offer ($12k) very quickly - less than a day later. In the end, S24 decided to withdraw his spot in the SMTD class of '28 and go with another option. However, he says he is seriously considering reapplying there for a Grad program - but I am sure those plans will change over the next 4 years! This was a really tough one and he was very sad to have to write those emails withdrawing his spot. 
Good luck all!
Miss you all, just sayin, lol! It’s been such a hectic year and this forum was instrumental is getting through it!
Yes. Now all the fun starts of scheduling our Orientation meeting, and all of that. At least our (now adult) child is handling the online piano test, applying for housing things, and all the other stuff without us having to do more than mentioning it.