<p>I am new to this website...</p>
<p>My son is looking to get a sax scholarship (or any scholarship) for college. He has a great musical resume of music camps attended, school band, etc. I really want to get him into a 4 yr college but we need financial aid. He has a 3.84 GPA. Should we attend open houses NOW to start the college/scholarship process?</p>
<p>Thanks for your input. This is my 1st child to go to college.</p>
<p>If he (not you, but he) is ready to follow-up with thank you letters and letters of interest to the people he meets (and to the music departments after he goes to open houses) then it is time. If not, it wouldn’t hurt to wait.</p>
<p>Two things that can bring merit aid from some colleges–being a National Merit semifinalist (just do super on the PSAT, a test given in Oct of senior year) or auditioning as part of getting into a music program (you can be getting your repertoire together).</p>
<p>One of the best musicians from our high school got a wonderful scholarship from University of Redlands. You might want to give the school a look.</p>
<p>Thanks for your response. My son hasn’t decided yet on a major, but he would like to play in the college band. Anyone out there get a scholarship for band but had a major outside of music? Any other advice?</p>
<p>We’ve had two friends whose sons got a leg up in admissions because the band needed brass players. But not scholarship money.</p>
<p>Are you talking about the marching band in college? Because the marching band in college is not where the serious musicians are–I have another friend whose son is in the marching band at a big college and he says that the music and marching is a lot easier than it was in high school. The band has been a great way for him to make friends and make a big university seem smaller, though.</p>
<p>You say you need financial aid. Have you run some preliminary numbers through a financial aid calculator to see how much aid you might get from schools? If you fall in the quagmire of “middle class”, you may find that you make too much money for need based aid, but don’t have enough to pay for college. That means that you may need to pursue colleges that are more generous with merit based scholarships.</p>
<p>By the way, the PSAT is taken in October of Junior year for National Merit consideration.</p>
<p>There are some school where music scholarship money is available for non-majors; some require participation in a performance group, some require a music minor, some have no requirements. </p>
<p>But each school will have their own formulas; contact the departments directly.</p>
<p>Junior year–right!! What was I thinking?!!</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/52133-schools-known-good-merit-aid.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/52133-schools-known-good-merit-aid.html</a></p>
<p>You can start researching some of the schools found in the thread above.</p>
<p>OP,
USC has one of the most generous FA programs in the country, AND if you son has Nation Merit Qualifying scores [ I believe the cut off for Calif is 219?] he is guaranteed a 1/2 Tuition scholarship. USC has the very reputable Thorton school of Music, and you of course know about the Trojan marching band. So if I were you, I would have your son start takng some sample SAT tests this summer in preparation for the Oct NM test.[ the Collegeboard book best prepares students for the test imo]. If he makes the NMF cut off, that scholarship could come in real handy a few years from now. It will also help set him apart from most other students in his applications to other colleges[ there are only 16,000 NMF each year.]
Now for specific information about music scholarships from music savvy parents, head on over to the music majors forum.</p>
<p>I think you can also take cues from your son since he’s just a sophomore. When my oldest was a senior and doing the applications, etc., my h and I would often look at S2 and ask him what he “thought” about this college or that college. He would look us straight in the eye and say “I’m just a sophomore, quit pushing it, I just want to be a sophomore, I don’t have a clue what I’ll think in another year.” Seriously. The quotes are “for real.” Some kids just seem to groove on the concept of college and the future…others not so much…they just want to enjoy their early high school years for just that…early high school years.</p>
<p>Absolutely start now. Many universities have fantastic music departments / schools and would welcome a musically talented and smart student. Look into those schools that will allow double major (music and whatever). That way, he can use his musical talent as his “hook” to get accepted to a school where he may otherwise be one of thousands (statistically). Once you find some of those schools that look appealing, contact the music school / dept and ask to speak (or email) with the sax professor who can give your S ideas on what would be expected for admittance & auditions. This would give your S the advantage of “time” so he can prepare for the auditions, etc and will have established a relationship with the school.</p>