Because it wouldn't be my money and who knows if I'll actually be able to get a job afterwards? I might be able to get a TA or a part time job, but I might still need financial help and I feel bad still using my parents' money. It's not that they don't have money (they're not rich either, mind you), but it's the principal of the thing. Almost everyone else has to pay for their education/living expenses. It just seems horribly unfair that I don't.

I'm just confused about the whole thing…since I'm applying to the same school just a year later, where am I going to get three references and not use at least one of the professors there? Isn't that a conflict of interest? And how am I going to build a full portfolio of music none of the professors have seen before? I've still been writing, but I don't have 4 strong pieces that no one there has seen or heard and I don't know if it's a conflict of interest to use pieces they have heard or not. I don't know who to ask either as again, it could be a conflict of interest.