Fin. Aid, Admissions process/procedure Q

Paying for College
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<p>I am wondering how this process works though maybe it varies from school to school. Does the financial aid office review the financial aid application of everyone applying or just those that the admissions office indicates they plan to offer acceptances to? I mean logistically, there would be so many financial aid files to review and come up with offers, that I would think maybe they don't do that until the admissions office gives them a list of applicants being considered for admission. Am I correct in this assumption?</p>

<p>The reason I ask is that my daughter, a current applicant, told me this morning that she forgot to mention that the financial aid office at one of her prospective schools called yesterday to ask if she has a sister in college, which year, what spelling (that itself struck me as odd as it is on all the forms, because she does have a sister who is a freshman in college who gets aid). Anyway, I got to thinking (yes, I know, I have the "parent of applicant syndrome" where we start guessing/analyzing what each thing means!)....and this was at a college where she auditioned to get in and they said at the audition that they had a "modified rolling admissions" which they explained was that after that particular audition date, they would decide right away who they wanted to take and send those files off to the admissions office for academic review and then offers would go out shortly for those kids (even though the college has many more audition dates to go in this process). Now, getting into this college is very difficult "audition-wise" as they take about 5% of those who audition though academically I know my child would get in. So, the academic review is of little consequence in her case I think. Anyway, I am wondering if the financial aid office bothers to go over the file unless the admissions office sends them a list of who they want. Or am I just making an assumption that is based on HOPE?? ;-). Can anyone shed light on whether financial aid offices review the applicant's file for aid before or after the admissions office indicates who they want to make offers to? Thanks.
Susan</p>

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<p>Susan, from what I have been told about how the financial aid process works, is that they do not start distributing the awards until an admissions decision has been made. Many schools do "code" the kids they accept, and the awards may be distributed according to this code. For instance the "A"s are the highly desired kids who get the big goody grants, and the "C"s get what is left. However, because financial aid well knows the rush that is going to occur when the apps are processed, many of them will take an early look at some of the files for completeness, and notices are sent out for those who are missing items. In your D's case, I would say they are eyeballing the file carefully to give out an award, integrating the EFC with you other D's situation as you will have two in college. So my guess is that your D is in, unless the school is need aware, and they are assessing that element of the file. Given the rolling nature of the admissions, and that many of these schools can give an answer within two weeks, if you are coming to that point after the audition, I would say they are putting together a package for your daughter. Hopefully, it will include the MT program--some colleges like Emerson, as you found out can accept you to the college, but place you in a program other than MT even if you do not so specify. By the way, one of S's former theatre teachers who is an Emerson alum and used to audition kids was at a function this weekend. He said that to get accepted to the school but waitlisted for MT is usually a function of getting into the honors program; otherwise you get waitlisted, period. Now it 's been a few years since he was in that scene, but thought I would pass that on. S has some friends accepted at Elon but not MT, Ithaca but not MT, Emerson but not MT, OCU but not MT . So I guess this dual thing is not unusual. I had thought that if you did not get into MT at these schools, you either had to specify an alternative or there is an automatic feed to the acting program (CMU works that way), but some schools do place you where they want you. In fact, I have heard that Emerson does not want to put kids whose first choice is MT into the acting program, unless that stock is depleted which it has not been in the last couple of years. The acquaitance from Emerson said that in his day they did go to acting if they did not make MT, and he was not aware of that change in policy which my son said was told to the kids during the audition talk session. </p>

<p>I am betting you D gets into this school, Susan, and my fingers are crossed that she will get her program. Good luck, and good thoughts from here!</p>

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<p>Jamimom, thanks for your excellent pieces of knowledge and experiences. I had not thought of the getting into the college but not MT BFA in this case and that is dumb of me after the Emerson experience, lol. As an aside, with Emerson, she did apply for Honors College. This other school indicated, as I mentioned, that their decisions for the auditioners that day would be decided right away and sent to admissions. That is why I am wondering about this call from financial aid ten days after the audition. Unlike some posts, it was not a call about missing pieces to the financial aid application. I dunno. Don't wanna make much of it but it does make me curious. For some of these BFA MT programs, they have a form at the audition or on the application that asks if you don't get into the BFA for MT, would you accept BFA for acting and my D indicated NO. (She will not say that regarding studios at NYU though which is a different situation as you can switch studios after two years). But I did not think about being accepted to the college itself in this case, and not BFA. Silly me because of the Emerson decision, I should know by now. I guess I could read their brochure and see if there is any mention of this but at this point, I'll go back to the wait and see mode. By the way, this is not the school you and I have discussed that your son is on a deferred pile for BFA. Anyway, it helps to read what you wrote! And also to remind me that it could merely be another one of these accepted to the college, but deferred to the program things...not sure she could take another one of those but we'll have to see. </p>

<p>Susan</p>

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<p>If she indicated it as a "no" for the acting, and it is the college I suspect it is, she is most likely IN. An early congrats!</p>

<p>Jami</p>

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<p>Jami, I dunno because now that I think about it, you mentioned kids getting into this college but not into MT (like my D's Emerson outcome, though she is deferred for MT BFA, not out of that running but in at the college itself, not sure what for....BA in whatever?). I did not realize that could be the case at THIS college too. At first I thought maybe if they are going over her financial aid, it could mean her name went in from the admissions office but now, I am not so sure. And another "maybe" is that they are just going through kids' files at the Financial Aid office before any decisions come down. But I could maybe myself to death. It sure would be nice to have a school. I keep telling her she will get in somewhere but I hope I am not mistaken. I remind myself that every single kid I know of her "level" so to speak from a program she has gone to for seven years, has all gotten into some of these programs so maybe she will too. Others all say she will but who knows. Lots of subjective stuff involved in this process. Odds seem like a lottery. Oh, to just have one right now would help so much. Thanks for the vote of confidence, lol. While she is a confident kid and I am confident in her "ability", the process itself does not give me strokes of confidence!</p>

<p>Susan</p>

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<p>Also, doesn't it seem odd to have them ask if she has a sister in college, what year, and spelling of her name? I mean I am sure that is on the forms? That is all my D mentioned they asked about. I was not home. The only other thing she mentioned is that the person had a funny sounding voice and so at first she thought it was a friend of hers playing a joke and she asked if it was him! ;-) Then she heard them say it was financial aid folks from X College and so she did not play that any further!</p>

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<p>No. They are verifying to coordinate the EFCs between the colleges. They have to have gone pretty far into the process to do that. For your own curiousity, check the college website for admits to the school itself and what timetable they set. For the MT kids, it's usually 2 weeks if they accept or reject on the spot, and financial aid would not be calling for a reject. Also look and see what the process is---do they automatically move you to theatre studies or whatever, if they want you but do not have a spot in the program? I think this is a school where you can get in for Acting if you specify you would. I know for some of the schools they could place you into Dance, Acting, Vocal Perfromance if they feel you belong there rather than MT, but I don't think that is the case of this school. It is either Acting or MT and she did not choose the acting if the MT was out. But I wouldn't say anything to her. The Michigan thing drove my son buggy because of the iffy nature of the whole thing, and I was disquieted myself as I like things to go as they tell you, and as you know, we did not fit the pattern.He called a few times to find out what the heck was happening. My son seems to do fine with a "nyet"; he just moves on and leaves it behind him. But that gray area does bother him. I look at it positively when there is a deferment in this process as they have not yet eliminated you, but it is a source of anxiety for him.
But I really think your D is going to get some good news soon. Also given her peer placement which really in any college admissions situation is a strong indicator of placement, she is very likely to get into NYU since her academic profile is strong. The only issue I see is the CAP21 studio since I have heard that it fills quickly. But then it does have more spaces than most of these MT programs. But since she is leaving the studio choice to Strasburg or open as well, I think she will get in there. Some of these other schools where they are taking 10-15 girls or fewer; well, the reality of that small MT acceptance rate is going to kick in and it all depends on what they want and how terrific those couple of minutes were. She is very fortunate to have the grades and test scores, because from what S's PA director says, that even if it only counts 10%, as close as it gets with these auditions, with so many kids, that 10% is going to have a big impact. Some of those schools have the luxery of taking kids scoring well over 90 on the 100 point scale , so it is really helpful to get the points on the academic side. </p>

<p>Funny, on one of the threads they were saying that a tenor is a rare bird and a hook. We saw so many of them at the MT auditions. I guess that's where they all are. Just musing.</p>

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<p>Yeah, we will have to wait and see. I looked at all the written info. I had on this college and could not find anything about being admitted to the college but not the BFA. But as you know, when my D got the big envelope from Emerson that had her admitted to the college but deferred for BFA, I had no idea THAT was a possible outcome. I cannot find anything on this school about this matter. I know she put down NO to acting program but maybe they accept you into the college in general, and so don't wanna get hopes up. </p>

<p>With NYU, she truly just wants CAP, and she hopes she did not lose too much advantage by not applying ED but at the time it was the right decision for her not to. She is not going to say she would only accept CAP (would have said that in an ED round) and see what happens. She can say she strongly prefers that studio but she also is telling me that since you can switch studios after two years, it makes for some flexibility. I thought Strasburg was the common second choice for a MT student but now she is saying Stella.....friend she is staying with Sat. night is in Strasburg and doesn't love it. Dunno. She also loves writing shows and directing and Playwrights has that. But her true love is MT. BTW, her boyfriend is entering Stella in the fall as he got in ED. He is an actor, not trying for MT.</p>

<p>I don't think the academic profile matters a heck of a lot at some of the BFA programs...some have academic "bars" that are not that high. It DOES matter at UM or NYU and those are not easy schools to be admitted to. I think she is ok in that area. It just is mind boggling how so much of it comes down to several minutes in an audition, and I don't even think they consider resume and all that jazz that much until being in strong consideration from the audition. My D commented that being rejected from an audition, while it is quite disappointing, is not the same type of rejection as someone who is saying "nyet" to your body of work over the years. She said that would hurt more. It is just that one moment and not an entire commentary on your talent. Even so, it counts for so much in this process! For your son to make the maybe pile at UM is quite an accomplishment. Yes, the unsure nature of it is enough to drive ya bonkers and it is easier to just say yay or nay. But with all these audition dates, I can see why they have to hold some....but they could just do what a school like NYU or Syracuse does....wait to let everyone know until ALL auditions are over. </p>

<p>Anyway, wish I could find a way to PM or email you as I can't discuss it all on the board. </p>

<p>I agree with your last statement.....maybe this kind of talent would be a hook in a liberal arts application but not in this domain....there are tons of kids with this talent out there. </p>

<p>The way it all comes down to an audition....that part is real tough. I am starting to think that who gives a care about all the performance credits or state and national awards she has won (just won a another state award yesterday)...they ain't even gonna look at that...I doubt....it is gonna be the audition....and if you make it past that, MAYBE they look at all the paperwork....and essays and resume, and on and on. </p>

<p>Sometime, we oughta have a cup of coffee (then again, I don't drink coffee, what am I saying?? lol)...and exchange stories. </p>

<p>Be happy your senior son is done with all this...I know you went through it hot and heavy in fall but you are not going through the waiting and decisions to that big of a degree now that he is in EA at such a fine place. He done good. He might have caused you grey hairs but in the end, his fine side earned affirmation and results.
Susan</p>