@lkbux64 thanks so much for the complement!!! although I doubt CMU would agree haha :)!
@lkbux64 - so very true about @Lyoder2051 ! 
@YertleTurtle - good to know about appeals at Berklee. Our daughter knows a guy who got awarded a full tuition scholarship. He couldn’t afford the room/board so he emailed the President (no lie) and got room/board covered as well. I doubt I can get my daughter to do that - but you never know! Good to know that it’s possible to increase the blow out concert number - our daughter’s Admissions Counselor said it’s rare so your son must have worked very hard that year! Do you happen to know if it’s possible to get additional scholarships/grants at Berklee in Year 2, 3 and 4? Just a little worried about $18k x 4 = $72k.
@akapiratequeen @drummergirl and @DrummerDad18 thanks to all of you for chiming in and sharing your thoughts/ comments. I will let my S see them.
@DrummerDad18 Extra thanks on the helpful thorough post re. Berklee & Frost. It seems like your D has really digged more and I appreciate you sharing her findings with us. So, is it definitely Frost for her??
@“Meryem Ouhirra” She’s pretty sold on Frost at this point and I suspect she’ll end up there.
The only dark horse/variable in the mix is the 4th school that I didn’t mention.
She applied to the Popular Music program at USC and was accepted.
It was a long shot because it’s a super small program (total of 25 students) and it’s super expensive (they don’t give merit for pop).
While she is obviously a jazz drummer and sees that as a great path to build her skills going forward, she also has lots of experience and interest in other forms of contemporary music.
So if she sticks with jazz, it will surely be Frost.
@tripletmama I’d ask current students (mine decided to attend elsewhere), but my (couple years’ old) understanding is that while most schools just require a minimum GPA to maintain scholarships year to year, Berklee requires a yearly renewal process (in the spring, I believe) to maintain scholarship (it might include listing performances, demonstrating progress, etc.). At that time, I believe you can request, justify, and feasibly be granted more.
@tripletmama- in response to your question, My son’s award was increased after year two and, I believe, after year three. Whether that continues to be a possibility is unknown to me as he graduated in 2015.
@coloraturadad, actually CMU does not meet need (though it’s close at 97%) and they are notorious for gapping students and giving a lot of aid in loans. Maybe they have changed their tune this year!
Has anyone following this thread had experience with Michigan SMTD music merit awards? Amount? When they are sent out? I just found a thread from 2 years ago, and there were people in the 3rd(!) week of April wondering when they would receive music merit information from Michigan! Were they waiting for appeals or the original awards?
D is trying to decide among USC, Michigan, and Frost. She is sitting on a good offer from USC but wants to see the complete offers before she makes a final decision. On top of that if she decides she needs to make an appeal, she needs to have the financial info sooner rather than later.
Also, regarding the size and renown of a program: I reached out to a young man I know who’s now a symphony player and getting his DMA at USC after going to Julliard for his master’s.
He went to a small, private Christian school that probably all of you have never heard of. He actually said attending a small school worked in his favor because he got such personal attention. He went to the school on a full ride so he was much more willing to take debt for Julliard. He felt that the scholarship was the most important thing as well as having a quality instrument.
His words of advice and his story were so helpful as my son decides among his top 3 choices, none of which have name recognition.
All that to say, if a program is small, it could, in fact, be a very good thing. Just something else to consider.
I just found this thread, and appreciate all the good information and advice given, thanks! My S auditioned for 5 conservatories and was admitted to all with scholarship: Cleveland Institute of Music, NEC, Oberlin, Hartt and Baldwin Wallace, leaning toward CIM. He only decided less than 2 years ago that he wanted to pursue music in college, so we inexperienced and a bit out of our depth. He never did anything other than private lessons; no camps, intensives, anything that would help us along. Would anyone have any helpful advice about or insight regarding CIM or any other thoughts about what to look for as we make this decision? Thank you!
@sbjdorlo Absolutely agree with your point. The single most important thing to consider is the fit of the student to the professor. Being at XYZ conservatory and paying big $$$ is a total waste of money if they spend 4 years with a professor that they don’t gel with and work well with. In the end auditions (at least for orchestral positions) are blind and they could really care less who you studied with and what your educational pedigree is. Can you play and do you play better than all the other people that auditioned? That is what they care about. Save your money for graduate school…
@DrummerDad18 Thanks so much for your insight into Frost. My son is a jazz trumpeter and he’s got a number of choices because he applied to 11 (!) schools. He made it into UNT, UOP, Frost, Peabody, Jacobs, Oberlin, Berklee, New School. We just had no idea where he would get in, so we spread out the applications:) At this moment, it is between Frost and Peabody. He has been really focused on the trumpet teachers in making his choice. Frost has Daversa and Lynch and Peabody has Sean Jones. If there is anyone out there who has thoughts on the jazz trumpet programs at these schools, we would LOVE to hear from you. Or on any of the other schools on his list where we might have missed the awesomeness of their jazz trumpet program. Many thanks in advance!
@JazzMomLisa congratulations to your S - all such great programs! Peabody has not been historically included in the strongest jazz programs although the addition of Sean Jones as chairman is very exciting. Did your S get a sense of the other jazz students there? I think your peers are especially important in jazz.
JazzMomLisa——— PEABODY!!! It’s a brand new jazz program by Mr. Sean Jones. There will be great peers from fall 2019! Mr. Jones will teach students more than trumpet / jazz, about life, too. A great mentor for all young musicians.
@3bobosmom which instrument?
@PercussionMama My son received an email from Michigan last Thursday. He was awarded $30,000 renewable music scholarship. This would bring his tuition down to in state level.
A piece of advice for those still on the fence (which we still are!). See if there is a recent alumni from your kid’s high school at the program(s) you are considering. Have your kid talk to them and get the ‘real story’. My kid just did that for both of his top choices and found it very, very illuminating.
These are students who know exactly where he’s coming from (academically and musically) and were very candid - even more so than the students he met on tours/auditions. I think it’s helping him solidify his choice - he now just needs to clarify something with the professor re: genre of music…(and I personally would like to see if there’s any music $$ coming in addition to the academic scholarship)
Maybe some of you are way ahead of me on this one…if not, hopefully this can help those who are deciding.
The thing is - about every three years the conversation on this board is that Peabody’s reinventing the jazz program.
@PercussionMama , I can give you my D experience regarding Michigan SMTD from two years ago. On April 4th we received this letter:
“Thank you so much for your interest in the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and congratulations once again on your admission. While you have been very highly recommended by our faculty for a merit-based scholarship, we are not able to make you an offer at this time.
There is still a possibility, as additional decisions are being made, that funds could become available for you over the next few weeks, so we ask you to please be patient and stay in touch. We continue to stretch the resources as far as possible, and you could very well benefit.
If you have applied for need-based financial aid, you should have already received an email with information from the Office of Financial Aid. If you have not heard from them, please follow up through your Wolverine Access Friend Account, which will provide you real-time information and updates. If you have not yet created a Friend Account, please do so by visiting friend.weblogin.umich.edu/friend.
Be assured that your application will continue to receive full consideration. We were very pleased to offer you admission and would be delighted to have you join us next fall!
We will be in touch with you as soon as we have any further scholarship information.”
After receiving the email, a member of the faculty and the recruiting coordinator contacted us to submit a formal appeal (they have a standard format), inform all the merit scholarships received from other peer institutions and to request the amount of scholarship needed to accept the award in our behalf and to commit to the university. We proceeded accordingly. We finally received notification on April 30th confirming no merit award. On May 1st, my D committed to Oberlin and payed the deposit. I hope this helps.
Drummergirl——— But this time is with Mr. Sean Jones on top of Michael Bloomberg’s historical donation for undergrad students financial aids. I personally like and believe in “come back” stories!