Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Excuses, so many, many excuses . .. . .

Does this apply to out of state students as well? The free tuition?

Out of state tuition is 20K per year. The top 5% (plus 3.5 GPA) automatically receive 10K per year toward tuition. So the scholarship covers 50% of out of state tuition.

The out of state requirements are a little higher than for in-state, but the top 5% get the scholarship. For in state, the top 5% qualify plus those with scores that are nearly there...and GPA can be a little lower.

So, what you're saying is you have one chance in twenty at receiving a scholarship. Lost Wages offers better odds than that!

I am just happy to see that there may be as much scholarship money going to good scholars as to good athletes. Imagine that!

I don't see it as a chance of 1 in 20, although that's one way to look at it. That would be like saying each student has an equal chance to win a sports scholarship. Which obviously isn't true. Some kids are "in the running" for certain scholarships, and others are not. Those who are best in sports or academics appear to have the best chances of scholarships. It's not just about who has tried the hardest. It's about ability and effort and adequate preparation.

The last minute hiring of a tutor has limited value for most IMO. They may as well just attend their piano lessons as scheduled. Yet I don't blame the parents for trying.

Edit: I see that even a good (but not great) ACT score of 26 will earn a $1,500 per year scholarship ($6,000 total value). So perhaps 4 out of 20 get some monetary award.

Well, we're way off topic, but what the heck.

If 5% get the award, 95% don't get the award. That's 1 in 20. Now, if schools didn't encourage the 19 to participate in the exam and the numerous prep tests, and tutoring, etc., etc., then I wouldn't be simmering about these tests. But say that 20,000 of your native Kentuckians take the test, and only 1,000 receive the scholarship. Why should the remaining 19,000 even be encouraged. Wouldn't their time be better spent learning the classroom material? Enjoying their high school experience, etc.?

BTW, just read an article that the welders are earning $150,000/yr. Shouldn't more of your students be taking shop than trying to ace a test which is obviously little use to them?

My son did zero tutoring or test prep, and received a very high score on his one time SAT, and received 5's on every AP exam he took, again, with no extra prep.
Some of his classmates did summer course work, tutoring, books, etc...lots of money spent.
Some scored around his level.
What is he getting out of testing so well?

Not much. AP exams with 5's will get him some college credit, but the SAT high score, simply got him into a competitive tier one college. no money tossed at him, because all the kids there are top of their class.

What gave him an edge, I assume, is that he is an All State musician, and active in several service groups.

Just grades do not get a student into college. Colleges want well-rounded kids with "stick-to-it-ness."

years of music lessons can be an edge.

Point that out to the parents!

But he probably didn't even apply to those Kentucky schools that Ann was talking about.

nope, bluegrass ain't his style!

(ducks and runs)

To continue off topic: I know a professor who was sued for telling a student he is "not college material". In other words it may not be safe to suggest to a student that they go to welding training instead of university.

I have not seen schools encourage tutoring. There is a single mandatory prep test in sophomore year. And a single mandatory ACT in Junior year. The sh-t would hit the fan if the the test were only mandatory for certain students...say those with a certain GPA.

I wouldn't go as far as advocating suing, but otherwise, I'm glad they didn't take his word for what the student "was".

There are days I feel like I'd rather be welding. I won't say what!

Since when did the ACT and SAT become mandatory? If the schools are paying for it, perhaps, but not if I'm paying the freight.

I've never seen a school where it was mandatory. But if you're college bound you need to take one of the two to have a chance of getting in.

Not all colleges require test scores to get in. Bowdoin College, for one.

Two of my high school students just asked for a week off piano "to study for finals."

Somebody has been procrastinating...



Let the cram sessions begin!

I'm going to have to eat my words. Turns out the scholarship I mentioned is only for students who were selected as "Governor's Scholars". The UK website describes automatic scholarships for incoming freshmen. They said a certain GPA and ACT score gives tuition free scholarship. They failed to mention that this offer only applies to "Governors's Scholars" or those who were in "Governor's School for the Arts" (a select few).

(BTW, I changed my screen name from Ann in Kentucky.)

Edit: I know this is an old thread. But I wanted clear up this misinformation, even though it's unlikely anyone is counting on a scholarship due to something I wrote.

it seems excuses is something all teachers (piano or not) have to deal with

Hello John -

A pertinent issue to this discussion is: what cancellation policies do we have, and do we enforce them?

I have had various students cancel lessons in the past and I was not the least perturbed because I already made them pay at the beginning of the month in advance - so I lost nothing. If they want to forfeit their money, fine.

But it is not always so cut & dried. I would say that there is an issue with student-teacher relationships in all of this: some students become like friends, or will regard the piano teacher like an uncle or aunt - a sort of extended family member, and that is nice enough, except that they may try to take the liberties common to such relationships, such as bailing out of agreed upon meetings at the last minute. That may be OK with aunt Ethel, but it does not go over well with teachers...

So then one must enforce the cancelation policy. This in turn can be regarded by the student or their parent as a kind of punitive hostility by the teacher who is now suddenly regarded as a tyrant even though they know quite well what the cancelation policy is from Day One. Or they will try to beg out paying it with various pathetic excuses in tones of victimhood. Does the teacher relent, or stand firm? The implicit threat is that to stand firm may result in a student quitting altogether in spite.

Every teacher will make his own call on how to handle these matters. But as one friend once told me, "We teach people how to treat us." If a student has so little respect for my time and my profession, then it really is time for them to leave.

It has just occurred to me that with each new season I will send out a newsletter to all students with an UPDATED CANCELATION POLICY that they should sign and return - all quite cheerfully, of course, but the point will be made. Yes. I will get to work on that tomorrow morning.