<p>If you can find the post by NOCCA Junior, you will see that he did get financial aid through CMU. It was a diversity scholarship and was also based on his SAT or PSAT score. He only had to pay for his travel expenses and his spending money.</p>
<p>Was this for the pre-college program? If it was, this is good to know! I was told that they do not have financial aid for the summer program and to look into local foundations: This is what is printed in the summer precollege web under FAQ:
Is there financial aid and/or merit based scholarships available to students who enroll in one of the summer programs?
Unfortunately, we do not offer financial aid or merit-based scholarships for the summer programs.</p>
<p>While cmu is pricey, I was told by many professionals that this was the place to go. Our local foundations gave above and beyond what they have given before since d was attending cmu pre-college for music. We were plesantly surprised.
good luck!</p>
<p>as far as i know, cmu does not give scholarships for their pre-college program. their pre-college summer for diversity is a tuition-free program and although it has what i believe is the same exact classes and program except that the diversity program offers SAMS, the application is different. what i'm saying is, i don'tthink that you can apply to the pre-college program and then get scholarship money. you'd have to apply for the diversity program originally</p>
<p>operasinger, I believe you are correct. We also asked about scholarships for pre-college last year and were told there is none. That diversity program is something different. My daughter ended up getting local scholarships and foundation money just as notfromme mentioned which made a big dent in the tuition. Hopefully there will be some in your area Hollylove to apply for!</p>
<p>Re: the diversity program. From what I have been able to ascertain, the diversity program is actually the very same precollege program (with different areas, such as music, art, musical theater, game theory, etc.) as the "regular" precollege program, but is tuition-free and aimed to bring under-represented minority students into CMU's summer precollege program. If you go to CMU's website and seach "diversity" program, a page comes up that I believe looks very similar to the "regular" precollege program. As my D is not a member of an URM group, she was not eligible for this program, and like kaysmom's D, was able to underwrite the steep cost of the summer tuition by getting two local scholarships and the sweat of her own and her parents' brows! :)</p>
<p>Hmm, okay, I'll try to look into local scholarships. I don't know where to start looking, haha, but I'll try! Thanks!</p>
<p>Hollylove,
Try local music teachers associations, music foundations...check with your teachers and guidance teachers! My d's private teacher directed us to all of the scholarships she recieved. Our area has audition based scholarships also.<br>
Good luck!</p>
<p>My D got an email today from CMU, with a PDF copy of the drama handbook and a correction to one page of the drama handbook, which apparently had the wrong date for parent weekend. If anyone here has a kid that did not get it, you might want to contact CMU. It outlines what classes they take, where the bulletin board is for master classes, and so on. This is something separate from the Precollege Handbook. It's 11 pages.</p>
<p>If anyone wants to try to connect on Opening Day (despite the fact that it is going to be an action-packed, busy, stressful day and undoubtedly a bad hair day for me, if it's humid :)), PM me here. One wonderful thing about this list is the opportunity to interact with parents whose kids are involved in MT and drama. I also an hopeful that parents with kids at CMU summer will post here from time to time to report how their kids are doing in the program. I read upthread a bit (from a few years ago) and it was heartening to read what was going on. I don't know at this point if my kid will be a good and frequent communicator or not, so I gotta have some way to find out what's going on. ;) Over and out ...</p>
<p>I am sure I will be checking this thread daily!! I'd love to try to connect on opening day, but I have a feeling we will be moving in and running all day. I do hope our paths will cross, and we will definately be there for parents weekend. Cannot believe it is a week away...hope this week does not fly, like I think it will. Just got one d home for the summer, now younger d is leaving......:( I am so very happy for younger d and very proud. She made a wish, that turned into a dream...and now that dream is coming true. Look forward to hearing about everyone's summer.....we must keep one another informed!</p>
<p>I agree - Opening Day will probably be too crazy to try to connect with other families - but I plan to be checking/posting regularly on this thread all summer. It's been very useful reading the past years posts and hope other parents (especially voice ones) will share their thoughts this year. The whole cmu program looks so awesome - think I am just as excited as my daughter is about it!</p>
<p>Make sure you have you child sent to the UPMC Voice Center, where I work!
<a href="http://voicecenter.upmc.com/%5B/url%5D">http://voicecenter.upmc.com/</a></p>
<p>Pre-college has sent us kiddos in the past (bad allergy bouts, overuse, and other things that affect singers' voices), and also parents have individually contacted me through CC if they have had concerns about their kids' voices - but I just wanted to let all you parents know that this fabulous vocal health resource is just down the street from CMU (literally - about a 20-minute walk about maybe a 5 minute bus ride). Of course, we hope we don't see ANY pre-college kids - we don't want to wish illness and/or injury on our singers!!! BUT no one should "sing sick" - the renowned vocal fold surgeon for whom I work says that is the single biggest cause of long-term, severe vocal injury!!!! :(</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is scheduling your child for a baseline "healthy voice" exam before he or she leaves Pittsburgh, especially if there is no Voice Center in your area, as this is GREAT for all singers to have, especially young female belters - it ensures that the vocal folds are functioning well and it can be used as a reference point if vocal problems develop during the intensive voice use of college programs and summer stock work. (You can get the exam burned onto DVD, so you leave with a film of your vocal folds functioning - sooo useful and COOL!) We are perpetually very busy, so it can be hard to schedule if you just call the office; but if you contact me directly (email is best) I will make sure you get seen!</p>
<p>P.S. I hope posting this doesn't violate CC's terms of service - it's not really an ad for our Voice Center specifically, but rather a heads up for vocal health awareness!</p>
<p>Coach C, you are always the amazingly helpful voice (no pun intended!) of reason. Thanks so much for posting that. I hope my kid doesn't experience any vocal health issues during precollege (or any time, for that matter), but your tip about getting a baseline for her is something I will look into. We are fortunate to have a good voice center in our area, which I found out about when my own throat developed some problems. (Talk too much? Yeah, I do. Can't you tell by how often I post? Incurably communicative ....)
Thanks again. :)</p>
<p>CoachC that sounds amazing, I will definitely be stopping by - if only to get a DVD of my vocal chords lol My voice is just recovering from being sick so I need to be very careful.</p>
<p>I can't believe how soon CMU is!</p>
<p>Yes, it is soon!!!!! Today is the Monday before we leave on Friday to have her at Carnegie Saturday morning!!! ;) We are off to BJ's for water and Propel...and other things that will be declared necessities by d!! </p>
<p>Coach C...I think you are very thoughtful to give a heads up about the Voice Center to all the vocalists. If my MT daughter were the one going, I would have all of your info in her address book...and we would make a point to find the voice center! Hmmm....anything for an instrumentalist with allergies?? :D</p>
<p>Well, we are off an running on this rainy day................</p>
<p>This is prob a really stupid question, but as my name implies..I'm a rookie at this. What is pre-college?</p>
<p>Many colleges have summer programs for high school students. These are often referred to as "Pre-College" programs. Some colleges allow any high school aged students to enroll and some are just for those entering senior year. Many colleges have specific pre-college programs in certain disciplines.</p>
<p>Hey, we leave in four days for Pittsburgh and CMU precollege, so anyone who has trod this path before us newbies and wants to offer any last minute tips/advice on what not to forget, etc., please have at it!
We have our fans, x-tra long dorm sheets, towels, etc. etc. etc. and will buy oodles and oodles of bottled water once we arrive. I have yet to see all the clothing that my D has in mind to take, and am wondering how we are going to cram all of this stuff into our not-large car.
Pittsburgh, here we come ......</p>
<p>NMR</p>
<p>nmr-
Today I bought what may be the most ingenious invention......space bags!!! I put ALL of my d's bedding (comforter, blanket, 2 sets of sheets, mattress pad, pillow, 4 big bath towels, two hand towels, two wash clothes, two beach towels, and a fuzzy "bankie" and a small rug) in one jumbo bag, sucked all of the air out with my vaccum and now it is about 2 inches thick!!! I know of many people who travel and swear by them, so I decided to try them. I now think we just may be able to get all of d's stuff in the back of a suv afterall!! I am in the process of filling the other bag now! Just thought I would pass on this little space saving hint!<br>
(Now watch, these bags will spring a leak and the car will explode on the turnpike.....:o)</p>
<p>notfromme, where did you get these fabulous thingies? A place like Target? We have to head out tonight (AGAIN) for a few last minute things (forgot a mattress pad) and might invest in these space bags. (Reminds me of something from my childhood: anyone recall Space Food Sticks? The so-called "food of astronauts"? They came in orange and chocolate flavors and were vacuum packed in a foil-lined sleeve. Disgusting, but supposedly filled with protein.) If you are worried about getting stuff to Pittsburgh in an SUV, I don't have half a chance in our small Volvo sedan. Help .... ;)</p>