<p>Hi All.</p>
<p>I was under the impression that my son had to be admitted to a school before he could ask for/apply for scholarship money. I'm now figuring out that is not always the case! </p>
<p>For CCPA, does anyone know the approximate date and way they let people know they've been admitted or not and if there is something I can do about scholarship/fin aid now? We have done the FAFSA, but had no idea that we needed to be doing other stuff for individual schools. </p>
<p>We are hearing that it's a pretty good program and the more we investigate ( Ok, ok... at this point it's me, the more I investigate) the better it gets. </p>
<p>thanks in advance! </p>
<p>We heard by email to my S’s address last year right at the end of March. The acceptance letter had scholarship information. They just use the FAFSA, not the institutional financial aid form, and honestly, they give out money based mostly on the audition. (There’s no academic aid and need seems to be a very secondary factor.) </p>
<p>I would also not pay much attention to the “additional” costs they list on their website in addition to tuition, room and board. We are not spending anywhere near as much as they projected on books and incidentals. My S is covering most of his extra costs with work/study money. </p>
<p>It is a really great program, with fantastic teachers and it takes full advantage of its location in one of America’s best theater cities. It’s expensive, though, no question. </p>
<p>Thanks J! I was going to just PM you my question but then thought others might lurk and search with the same questions so… posted here instead.</p>
<p>That’s a load off my mind knowing I didn’t miss some deadline for scholarship. Their webpage doesn’t list a deadline but does say: “the deadline has passed for scholarship rebuttals” or something like that. </p>
<p>Did the email have a specific offer in it, or just information on how to move forward and apply for scholarship?</p>
<p>Thanks!<br>
~Oct</p>
<p>No, it had a dollar amount. We got more from two other schools but went with CCPA because of the location and connections with Chicago theaters. </p>
<p>CCPA doesn’t offer merit aid to their students, just talent scholarships which tend to be lower amounts–much lower than my D was offered at other schools. The philosophy of Roosevelt as a whole (the non-performing arts part) is to provide opportunities for students who may not have the traditional college option b/c of grades and finances, so the bulk of the scholarship money is reserved for these students. However, once the acceptance and scholarship offer was made to D, I spoke personally with an asst. dean of CCPA admissions and asked for more money. (that sounds blunt, but essentially that’s what I did, siting the offers she had from the other schools) They increased her award.</p>
<p>This happened to us, too, but you can’t count on it. </p>
<p>Funny thing… my son got a call from them today reminding him to upload his gpa… ironic given that they don’t do merit awards for BFA kids. </p>
<p>interesting too that drama kids have to get in on talent and get less help but other kids can have less “talent” and get more support? Seems paradoxical. </p>
<p>What if a kid is talented AND lacking in finances and family support? </p>
<p>Maybe they take that in to account in the talent award? They seem to be run as separate entities. </p>
<p>I think you’re right austinmt. When I tried to use the calculator, it had a question about half way though asking if the program of choice was CCPA, and then booted me from the process telling me aid would be offered directly from CCPA and was talent based. </p>
<p>I don’t think they consider need all that much at the conservatory. If you’re in a position where you could get a lot of need-based aid you’d probably be better off at a school with a bigger endowment. We ended up paying several multiples of EFC even after we got more aid.</p>
<p>I don’t want to sound negative about this. We’re absolutely grateful for what we’re getting and it sounds like it’s not unusual for conservatories to award aid solely based on talent. There’s no need’ based aid at Jullloard either.</p>
<p><em>gulp</em> Well… I sure hope they think he’s talented enough. We are not even sure how to cover the EFC as it stands, there is no way in hell we could cover triple that. I’m getting a lot of practice in letting go of the outcome of things with this! </p>
<p>MORE WINE! </p>
<p>You can look back at last year’s threads and watch me freaking out over the exact same thing. We’re doing it, thanks to a really good stock market, my work picking up (I’m self-employed and having a better year this year than last) and my parents helping some (they’re not rich either), but it’s not easy. I’m really glad I only have one kid. </p>
<p>You should also talk to your HS guidance counselor about local and arts-focused scholarships. We got a couple thousand that way. </p>
<p>@Jekllynh17, about Juilliard, their aid is a combo of need-based and merit, but they do not guarantee meeting full need. They do consider your financial situation.</p>
<p>Really? My husband and son took a tour there, and someone asked about need-based aid, and they basically said, no, they didn’t do that. (Maybe they consider loans to be aid?) </p>
<p>I have a kid at Juilliard… and I know that the aid is closely connected with the family FASFAs, at least for undergrad. I think all grads have need, so the aid for them may be more tied to merit. They do not meet “full need”. Another thing about Juilliard is that their tuition is slightly lower than other conservatories. Still quite expensive, though.</p>
<p>Okay, that’s interesting. Thanks. </p>