Another old hindsight thread (2010-2011) with valuable insights :
@compmom asked a similar question in one of the journal threads and I’m pasting my response in this thread so it doesn’t get buried and easier to search for future applicants.
“in hindsight applying only to Oberlin and our local conservatory would have been just fine and would have ended up with the same result. Nothing is guaranteed in life so obviously we didn’t choose that risky option. Knowing what we know now, a more realistic option would have been to discard the stand alone conservatories and replace them with other academic end reach universities with fine music schools that meet 100% need such as Northwestern, Rice and USC to name a few. We are a family that qualify for grant need money based on our EFC so if accepted to these schools, she would have received a more acceptable financial package from them thus having more realistic offers.
The problem with most stand alone conservatories is that they usually only offer merit money. Based on my D’s conversations with her peers, high end sopranos candidates usually receive merit money in the 20-30K range. A merit scholarship in that range still makes the remaining balance unaffordable for the family with a mid to low end EFC. Again, applying for these universities were probably academic reaches for my D but a rejection from them would have the same end result as an acceptance from a stand alone conservatory with only merit scholarship. Needless to say acceptances to these universities had to compete with Oberlin which was still her first choice, so maybe all this is a moot point , but hopefully helpful for a parent or future student reading this.”
It’s dangerous to make generalizations about how much a certain voice type or instrumental applicant can expect to receive in merit money. Factors that can impact the amount can be but aren’t limited to:
- That year’s applicant pool in terms of number and quality
- What the department needs: If they have 16 sopranos scattered among the 4 years but are short on low mezzos, then the higher voices won’t get the bigger offers. If the department is planning some Handel operas then they’ll be looking for voices that can sing Baroque music and that move well, while they might pass on the full lyric sopranos that round.
Maybe they’re graduating the two trombone players who are comfortable on bass trombone too, so guess who is going to get the funding there?! - Overall funding in the school/department. That can swing from year to year and is dependent upon a lot of things.
- Grades and standardized test scores- These can lead to more $$ at more schools, particularly for VP majors because they take more “academic” subjects than their instrumental peers (adding in languages, diction, op shop, etc).
Some schools are known for not being forthcoming with funding but even they can loosen the purse strings if the situation is right.
One of the things that we did right, I feel, is early preparation. For the last several years, in January, she and her teacher would set my D’s repertoire for the following school year/season,preparing for all the competitions/recitals she would be giving in the fall/spring. She would still be finishing out the current school year but start to add in new works to her practice regimen. So it was natural in the beginning of 2017 to look at all the schools she was interested in and their pre-screen recording requirements and live audition requirements and make a rep list that covered everything. Then, she began working on that and by summer was able to take her pieces to her summer institute and put on final touches. By fall pre-screen recording time she had spent 10 months with the music and felt prepared (well, as prepared as one can ever feel sending a recording off). So by audition time, she had had a full year with the music and it was a very good place for her to be. This is one thing we are all glad we did.
It can definitely take much of the pressure off the kid when the audition repertoire is all well prepared before the senior year begins. Applying as a composition major, S will have all his composed pieces (scores plus live recordings) ready by the end of this month. Yet as there are many schools requiring composition applicants to audition for their primary instrument (jazz piano in S’s case), he will have a lot to catch up after finishing his summer programs. August will be a busy month for him to prepare his pre-screen piano recordings and also practice SAT.
Schools basically seem to want composition majors to be able to contribute to campus ensembles and/ or chorus in our experience. Is he going to double major in an instrument?
Double major is a possibility but S hasn’t really decided yet. Previously he told me any scale of engagement in jazz music in college would make him happy, from taking formal lessons with professors to simply gigging with friends. I suspect his thoughts are changing now as the summer jazz program he’s attending at Eastman has sparkled his thirst for digging deeper into this music genre. This is totally unexpected as when we first planned for the summer, I thought of it as purely time for fun and relaxation on the side of serious composition programs, where he has to accomplish the mission of completing his composition portfolio needed for college application! Now it seems he has jumped leaps and bounds within a week and can’t be more satisfied:)
I agree with you @“Mezzo’sMama”. My post was intended for candidates with mid to low EFC’s. As you indicated, there are many variables for merit scholarships other than talent. EFC is a constant for each specific school that claims to meet 100% need.
@coloraturadad 's post is very indicative of what we learned on our journey, and should be very helpful to other low EFC families. My D had a very balanced school list (academic safeties, matches, and reaches…there is really no such thing as a talent safety, apart from a non audition program). Although she received many exciting acceptances, truly the only two financially possible schools for us were her offers from full-meets-need programs; and we are lucky that Oberlin, her reachiest and favorite program, is such a school. She did not apply to any stand alone conservatories (due to reasons of fit and finances), but even some OOS programs came in at too high a price tag (because of caps on music merit aid). We have since learned about OOS programs that offer excellent music merit and in-state tuition (such as UNT) here on CC that we would likely have added to our list if we had known about them sooner!
We certainly, like @coloraturadad , would have added even more academically reachy, but meets-full-need programs, if we had known more. Everything worked out so well, because D was accepted at Oberlin (and one other meets-full-need program). But a “yes” from Oberlin, and similar programs, is a highly sought after and uncertain one!
coloraturadad, love this: “Again, applying for these universities were probably academic reaches for my D but a rejection from them would have the same end result as an acceptance from a stand alone conservatory with only merit scholarship.” Exactly, for many of us.