While we are waiting, does anyone have any insight or experience regarding talent awards for wait listers? Do schools automatically deny talent scholarships to those on the wait list (as is my previous experience with Vocal Performance major)? Do they make awards out of the funds previously assigned to kids who chose other schools? Has all the talent money already run out by the time schools go digging into their wait lists? I’m trying to get a fix on the bigger picture, but it’s hard to do without knowing how money plays into decisions. My kiddo loves his two wait list options, but I want a realistic picture of potential cost before building them up too much in his eyes or spending time/money making visits. Any thoughts?
I can only speak for Point Park. My daughter was waitlisted last year and I didn’t expect talent money but she did receive a decent talent award. She was also a transfer and the award amount was about the same as it was at her previous school. It was a nice surprise.
@GSOMTMom, Well, that is good news. I’m sending you a pm about Point Park.
Yes they do. A lot of merit awards are also partially based on need, so if you have a low EFC you may be even more fortunate.
Not the same as a talent award, but my D received her financial aid award letter (including scholarship money) from CMU when put on the Priority Waitlist and so we had all the cards in hand before there was any wait list movement…in other words, we had all this information at the start of April.
@soozievt, that’s interesting. The Vocal Performance dept at CMU must work differently. My daughter took herself off the CMU Priority Waitlist when she was told there would be no scholarship and no financial assistance other than loans. This was three years ago. I also seem to remember that we were told the “need-blind” rules did not apply to wait list candidates.
CMU’s public stance is that they do not give talent money or academic scholarships and only give need based aid that is re-evaluated every year. HOWEVER, you can appeal and get talent/merit scholarships/grants that are for 4 years. However, with the cost of the school it is likely that there will still need to be quite a bit of loans taken out.
Just to clarify, my D applied for need based aid. Need based aid to CMU and others involved grants (not paid back) and loans.
Actually, CMU awards Presidential Scholarships to academically and artistically talented students who qualify for little to no financial aid. Some of these scholarships can be very significant since CMU’s recent drive to fund their endowment. There are definitely some drama/MT students that did not qualify for need that received these scholarships solely on the basis of merit/talent.