I remember it well...it was driving my daughter crazy that all of her friends knew where they were going and she hadn't even auditioned anywhere yet! The school she ended up at said they email decisions by April 1st. They weren't kidding, just after midnight they pushed out their decision and scholarship letters. It was a very stressful time for her and a huge relief when it was finally over.

I like this, we can tie the science course into physical/mental preparation for esports. He's already signed up for Intro to Psych at school next year, but I can work the the anatomy and physiology and cell bio and maybe some brain studies (optimizing mental performance) in there as well. The professional players have sports psychologists, nutritionists, wellness coaches, and fitness trainers to prepare them for competitive matches, so it definitely ties in. Thank you for the great ideas!

That's on the table as an option as well, although some classes have prerequisites. Bio is listed as a 9th grade course at his school unless you were on the honors track where they do Physics and Chem first and then Bio. Not sure if we could get an exception to that or not since he will be a junior next year. But he could do Earth Science, US History and a few other social/science courses that don't have prerequisites.

Thanks everyone. He really doesn't want to leave the high school he is at since he has lots of friends and he really loves the activities that he is in. I am going to see if he wants to take a college course online and see how that goes. It would be nearly impossible with his schedule to take anything live at any of the local community colleges. They run a block schedule at the high school, so right now he is there every other day. Some days its MWF, some its T, Th, and weeks where there is a holiday, well, forget about having a regular schedule week to week. So far we have only done ansychronous classes (like Oak Meadow, Bravewriter) because of the inconsistency of his availability. He has started an esports program at the high school, but is finding out how difficult it can be to work with administration on something that requires equipment and money to enter competitions. By the end of his time there he wants them to have a team that competes at high school events, but right now they just aren't there yet. Our neighbor is also a coach for a local college team, so we are hoping he can shadow him either once a week next year or perhaps do a gap year internship after he finishes HS. The difficulty lies in that it is still a very new field. Many people get into the role of coach and manager because they were a really good player. We are starting to see schools start bachelor degree programs in esports management, so I feel like in the next two years there will be more opportunities to go to college and work toward an esports degree of some sort. Even more colleges have competitive teams, not sure his playing is at that level yet, but it could be. That's a whole other issue, playing takes time and time is something he doesn't have much of with his work and extra curricular activities. I think the possibility of moving within the field is fairly open right now, again because it is so new. All North American teams are located in LA at the moment, and most are owned by owners of current NBA, NFL, MLB teams, people with lots of $$. The highest paid professional players make hundreds of thousands of dollars, and get even more with sponsorships and prize money. The revenue esports makes is comparable to the NFL or NBA. It's crazy to me. The leadership course he is doing now consists of reading books written about and by successful coaches, leaders, speakers, etc...like Coach K, John Wooden, 7 Habits books, Dale Carnegie, and others. There's no getting around just doing math, I agree. Prep for the ACT/SAT begins this summer and I could probably turn that into an English credit with grammar, vocab and reading comprehension. I can work esports in there as well, perhaps he can start a fan e-zine or something like that. It's really the science and social studies that has me baffled. I think for social studies he'd be ok with either a world religion class (he's atheist but interested in the history of how religion started) and economics in addition to the one semester of Civics he will take at school. I just feel like he needs to do bio or chem to prepare him for college science. Both DH and I have chemistry degrees, how we raised two kids that don't like science is beyond me. 🙄 Any other suggestions are welcome, I have a feeling this will be a fluid situation until right before school starts in the fall. Thanks!

Sooooo...my dear son, 16 and currently at the public high school part time as a sophomore, is truly miserable in the work he does at home. Basically he is at the high school for "fun" classes like band, drama, choir, sports management (next year psychology, civics, band, choir and sports broadcasting), and is at home for the hard stuff like english, math, science and social studies. He enjoys going to school, mostly for the extra curriculars he partakes in (marching band, speech team, theatre productions, esports club) and the social aspects of school, so he does not want to give that up. However he hates anything that doesn't help him pursue his dream of being an esports coach (think League of Legends or Overwatch, online computer games that have high school, college and professional level teams) or working in the esports field in some capacity. We fully support him in his desire to get into esports, but it is extremely hard to get him motivated to do anything he deems "unnecessary" like science, writing, etc... He is extremely good at public speaking and performance and is a very good writer, so I'm not worried about sending him into the real world, as he would have no problem communicating with people in a school or job setting. In many ways he is mature beyond his years, somewhat of an "old soul". He will most likely need to go to college, but if he could find a way into the esports world without college he would absolutely do that. He is just not interested in anything else. I've tried to let him pick subjects that interest him, for example last year he did a year-long study of Korea for history. It wasn't great but not terrible either. He did it begrudgingly, even though he picked the subject and books/movies to work thru. But in his mind it didn't get him any closer to his goal of getting into esports. It has come to a point where it's really affecting his mental health. He is so unhappy doing his schoolwork. I thought perhaps he might enjoy a year-long interest led project for next year, but I just don't know how to turn that into science, math, history, etc...when it will probably have something to do with esports. Do I need to turn it into a conventional type transcript? Why do I feel like he needs to take biology, chemistry, US history, I feel so lost... It was so much easier with my daughter, who wanted to pursue music performance (bassoon). She managed to get herself thru the conventional high school classes (part-time at public, home for the rest just like her brother) but I knew that her audition would be 95% of what got her into college. The rest was just checking the boxes. Because esports is such a new thing, there isn't really a particular path needed to get into the industry. Some colleges are starting to offer esports management programs. So I have to set my sights on preparing him for college, where he will have to buckle down and take classes he's not interested in. I do have a couple of Blake Boles books on interest led learning, I am going to re-read them and have him read them as well. In the meantime, if anyone has any suggestions or ideas on what I could do for him over the next two years that would not involve traditional school type learning or school-at-home, I'd love to hear it. Attending the public high school part-time kind of prevents him from doing anything away from home. His schedule is usually every other day at the high school, but often he can have a practice or performance after school on his off-days. That doesn't leave many big chunks of time for him to work, intern, etc... I was thinking maybe of a huge project covering a few subject areas. I just can't wrap my head around not making a transcript that says 3 years of science, 4 years of english, etc...Help 😥

I think 9th grade might be a little young for a lesson with a conservatory professor. Also keep in mind that not all college professors give free lessons to perspective students. When my daughter was visiting schools (public, private, and conservatories) she had to pay for at least two lessons with professors at well over $150 for an hour.

My daughter has a friend who is a freshman at BoCo and also one at Tufts and they both said that there are so many schools within a few square miles of each other that they often fraternize at each other's schools on the weekends. My dd does not like to "party" and has no interest in drinking or smoking so I think she's a little worried that she will be the only one in the dorms on a Saturday night, but I find it hard to believe that there won't be others (especially at BoCo) that don't party. I don't think BoCo has sororities or fraternities, but I'm sure there will be no shortage of social events at other schools should the students wish to partake. I'll PM you my info and if your son ever needs anything, let me know!

Yes, what Klmama said! Most professors will do a trial lesson for applicants so the student can get to know the professor and vice versa. This prof made it clear that he would not be helping her out in any way other than to listen to her play and determine whether she was good enough to be in his studio. Not the kind of attitude she wanted in a professor she would have to work closely with for four years. Professors at other schools gave her well thought out critique and help that she was able to use when practicing for auditions. Some of them even commented on how much growth she showed over just a couple of months between their lesson and the audition. She is very good but knew that she wouldn't do well in a super competitive environment where people aren't willing to help you unless it helps them as well.

Our kids will be a mile from each other, MIT is just across the Charles River from BoCo! I don't know if you have family in the US, but if there is ever anything you need (or really that your son needs) that I can help with, please let me know. We will probably visit at least three or four times a year to see her perform in concerts and musicals and visit friends in Connecticut, where we lived prior to moving to Chicago. I know we don't know each other, but I have been on these boards for 5+ years and have gotten much wisdom and insight from you over the years. Would love to help in any way I can while your son is so far away from home! We are pretty familiar with Boston, visiting often during the 19 years we lived in CT. My husband also goes there a few times a year for business.

I'll chime in to say that their first "offer" of a scholarship may not be set in stone, as many people I know go back and ask (some more than once) if there is any more scholarship money to be allocated. My dd has a friend who was accepted to a school with a $20K scholarship (school is $58K to attend) and when she talked to the music professor again they asked her how much more she needed to go there. She said $10K and that's what they gave her. So you can always go back and ask if there is any more scholarship money for your student.

That's so cool! She loves playing the bassoon, I think she'd marry it if she could :) Her plan is to get a doctoral degree as well. My hubby and I both have chemistry degrees so we're not sure where all this musical talent came from, certainly not us!

I know you've gotten lots of answers but thought I'd chime in since I think every experience is different. My daughter plays bassoon, so her experience might be different than someone who plays a different instrument, since there are fewer students that play her instrument. A flute professor may not be able to give lessons to everyone that inquires since so many more kids play the flute, and there may be less scholarship money for that instrument as well. 1) Did your student sit-in on ANY classes at that school they applied to? IF so, did they sit in on a music class, or a gen ed class? Yes, dd sat in on several music classes (teacher studio, music theory, aural skills). She didn't sit in on any gen ed classes at the non-conservatory schools. I also don't recall her sitting in on any classes at the conservatories. 2) Did your student meet ANYONE (a student) within the program itself when they had their audition/interview? IF so, did they just "happen upon" this person, or did a professor set someone up to walk them around a bit? At several schools, she was paired up with a current student or she already knew someone who went there. They took her on a tour and she was able to attend class with them. 3) Was your student able to watch any of the concerts, recitals, master classes happening at the time of their visit? IF so, did anyone interact with them at these events? We did not attend any performances, but if your visit coincides with a concert or recital they are usually free to the public. Many schools stream their performances online or there may be a YouTube video of a recital or concert if your student wants to hear the ensembles. 4) Did your student take a private lesson with a professor(s) at all of the schools they auditioned for previous to their scheduled audition? I imagine this is not normal since the distance between programs is quite great. So, sometimes the audition is the FIRST time the student meets the professor? (and sometimes, I understand, the main professor isn't even always there for auditions, but instead, they video the auditions to watch later) Yes, dd set up lessons with the professors at all the schools where she auditioned. She only paid for one lesson ($160) and walked out of that one and called the admissions department and canceled her audition, she disliked the professor that much. The professor at another conservatory responded to her request for a lesson with something like 'you come here and play for me and I'll tell you whether or not I think you'd be a good fit'. She politiely declined the offer and withdrew her application. Anyone who did not respond to her request for a lesson was also taken off the audition list. She figured if they don't even have time to respond to her then she wouldn't want to be in their studio. So, in the end, she applied to 10 schools and auditioned at 4. Once she vistited a particular conservatory in December and that became her #1 school (where she got VERY positive feedback from the professor) her list became much shorter. Note about auditions and weather: We decided to fly to the east coast auditions. We live in the midwest and figured even with a snowstorm here or there the chance of us getting there would be better flying than driving. Also, the two east coast auditions were not scheduled for the same weekend so we would have had to make two trips. We took our chances with flying. There was one audition we weren't sure she would make it to because of weather on our end, and the professor was more than happy to reschedule if needed. Most schools have several audition dates during Jan/Feb but none of ours overlapped so we thought we were going to have to take two trips to NY and one to Boston. Luckily one NY trip was dropped after she narrowed down her list and decided not to audition at the NY school. 5) Was your student "cut off' during their audition? I keep reading that a student might be cut off once a professor has "heard enough to make a decision" and that this "has nothing to do with the likelihood of acceptance." But we've not yet met anyone who was cut off... so... how common IS this? (I know it probably varies wildly from instrument-to-instrument, but I'm still curious) She was cut off in two auditions since the professor had already heard her play previously and they didn't need to hear her play the whole piece. Both schools offered admission and scholarships (one full tuition) so being cut off is not a good way to determine what they thought of your playing. If you've had a lesson or played for the professor previously they will usually give you lots of feedback so you will have an idea of what they think of your ability. IMO the visit and lesson had the most impact on whether dd wanted to go to the school or not. In the end she decided that reputation was not enough to keep a school on the list if she didn't feel like she would fit in at that school. A school she thought looked great on paper was removed from the audition list because of a rude professor and students that did not interact with her at all during her visit. During the same trip, she vistited a school where the professor went out of their way to give her a positive experience and the students there were stopping to talk to her when she was just standing in the hallway waiting for her lesson. So I highly suggest a visit prior to the audition if you can make that happen. A side note about cost: many of the schools dd applied to state that they don't give need-based aid, they only give scholarships based on your audition. One non-conservatory school gave her academic scholarship and also a talent scholarship. The others based her scholarship solely on her audition. So not only will you probably not find out about acceptance into a program until mid-March, you also won't know about scholarships until then and will have just a few weeks to make a decision. So there may be little time for another visit after you've been accepted before you make a decision. In the end she was accepted at 3/4 schools and given nice scholarships (from $20K-full tuition) and will be going to a conservatory for music performance with a full-tuition scholarship. SO thankful that is all over with!!!

DD will be attending Boston Conservatory at Berklee Why: She loved the professor, students, feel of the school, and they gave her a full-tuition scholarship Major: Music Performance (bassoon) She just loved this school from the first time she visited. The close second choice was Ithaca College, but she preferred the location of BoCo and they gave her more money.

Can I ask how you work on study skills like overcoming your mind wandering off? Memorization? All of the above? This is exactly what I want to do this year, ds is in 9th grade and we've decided that other than math and literature/grammar/writing, he will follow his passions and we'll figure out how to turn it into a transcript. But I still feel these skills will be important in the future for college and life in general. The mind wandering off is a huge one here, hopefully if he gets sufficient time to work on his passions it won't be as big of an issue. I'd love to know how you're approaching these topics.

Yes, and I am stressed! Mostly because we have a combination of public school (part-time), online (PAHS, Spanish Homeschool Academy) and home school classes to combine into one transcript. She will have a counselor letter from her public school counselor, letters of recommendation from teachers (music mostly) at the high school, course descriptions from us, a GPA combined from all those institutions, and THEN she will have to schedule music auditions in January and February. She wants to apply to 8-9 schools, half of which we have already visited, the other half we will have to do this fall. Then return trips for auditions. If I don't have a full head of grey hair by the end of it all I will be surprised :willy_nilly: