<p>Hey guys,
Im a grad student applicant to the jazz department at Rutgers. I just wanted to know where everyone stood on their status for this school. More specifically, if you are in and if you have heard anything about possible merit based scholarships. I got accepted about a week after my audition(Feb 15) but Im still waiting on if I will get any aid. I was just wondering if anyone is in the same boat as me or if you have experience with the school, is it good that they notified me on acceptance so quickly after my audition or do they do that for everyone? Anyways, anyone with experience with this subject would be of great help. Thanks a lot</p>
<p>marketgarden, the only other MM candidate at Rutgers is bratsche (viola performance), and he is an international, so the parameters may well be different. You can try sending a PM.</p>
<p>Grad fellowships and scholarship monies when available often differ from undergrad timing, and are often discipline or instrument specific from year to year. </p>
<p>As an aside, if you want to specify your degree path and instrument, we’d be happy yo add it to the master list.</p>
<p>howdy – I’m a violist myself and I’ve been accepted to MG for dma but no word yet on aid. I was expecting\hoping to hear soon\already, but trying to be patient. I’ll post on here when I find out if you will! </p>
<p>One of my other aid letters had a date of march 4 on the letter, but was only mailed on the 17th, so it’s possible that the music dept has already sent aid info to the general grad school and theyre just taking their time sending it out. These things happen. </p>
<p>My mail is very inconsistent so I’m always suspicious about whether I should have received something (bills…) already. Good to know we’re in the same boat. Good luck!</p>
<p>I got accepted to Rutgers for MM Collaborative Piano. No financial aid letter yet. Let’s be patient!</p>
<p>One reason things may be late is that Rutgers may be trying to figure out their financial picture vis a vis the state budget mess and such…given that endowments that fund financial aid a lot of the time are down, and the state budget is not fully approved yet, it could be they are having a harder time then usual figuring things out, like how much aid they can give out and so forth.</p>
<p>Hiya,</p>
<p>I also got the acceptance email very early on and it was mentioned in the same letter that I would not be receiving any aid. It’s probably different for me because I am international and would only be eligible for merit aid at any school. Rutgers was my first audition and I was surprised to even get in as my hands started shaking once I got into the room, and to be honest I thought I blew it. For you I imagine no news might be good news! because it probably means you’re still in the running.</p>
<p>violadad – I’m a she, btw =p</p>
<p>I had a 50/50 chance and I got it wrong.</p>
<p>That’s why I don’t gamble. :D</p>
<p>Apologies. I stand corrected.</p>
<p>I emailed Rutgers and received the response that I should expect financial info around april 20. This is kind of an issue for me because my other potential destination, suny stony brook, is asking to hear back from me by april 15. But that’s my problem… anyway I didn’t cross reference that date with any NJ legislative activity so I don’t know if it’s a state budget related delay or not. I’ll probably do that next, as it will give me an idea of how reliable (or…not) that april 20th date could be. I hope this info helps some of you!</p>
<p>Update update:</p>
<pre><code> Just read a speech by the Gov. of NJ that suggests some spending freezes and budget cuts are taking place. It was unclear whether those cuts affect higher-level education, but they do seem to affect public schools K-12 for sure. We’ll see how it plays out.
</code></pre>
<p>Oh by the way if anyone has an opinion otherwise on Rutgers vs Stony Brook for DMA, I’m all ears. : )</p>
<p>Dutton or Tree, or what are your other options? Been awhile since I checked the faculty lists, so there may be other options.</p>
<p>Edit: or is this for a DMA in a discipline besides performance?</p>
<p>mrofir, thank you for the information update. I was going to call Rutgers tomorrow to find out what’s going on with financial aid letters. For me, I have been accepted to Rutgers and MSM (from which I got zero scholarship), so it’s automatically decided for me that I’ll be going to Rutgers next year, since Rutgers tuition is half of MSM’s.</p>
<p>I hope SUNY can extend the response deadline for you, or for the better, hope Rutgers mails the info more quickly!!!</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses.</p>
<p>At the moment, Daniel Panner would be the principal teacher there; I had a very positive lesson with him. Emerson is in residence and I gather they’re around, so I should have some opportunities with Dutton… I’m seeking a performance DMA. I just want to get as good as I possibly can, and play it by ear from there. I currently teach adjunct at a nearby liberal arts college, and I wouldn’t mind trying to find a professor position after I’m done, but I’m open to anything… chamber music, orchestra position, etc. Don’t know if those details help, but any advice would be appreciated! </p>
<p>pianist, congrats on your results. Two great schools to choose from.</p>
<p>I did look again at Mason Gross faculty, and it appears Michael Tree is no longer there. Panner of the Mendelssohn SQ is excellent from what I have heard, as is CJ Chang, at Mason Gross. This one boils down to logistics, funding, and with whom you prefer to study. If you have a penchant for string quartet, my nod would be to Stony Brook. It’s a toss up otherwise.</p>
<p>If you hold membership in the NYVS and are fairly active, I would suggest some opinions from your contacts there as well, and/or from the viola list forum.</p>
<p>Much success. Do let us know where you end up.</p>
<p>D was accepted to Mason Gross undergrad and was offered a very nice scholarship, with a Please-Reply-By date of April 15. Perhaps unused undergrad money will be added to the grad pot after 4/15.</p>
<p>For years, D has said that she wants to leave NJ and does not want to go to college here. With encouragement from her private teacher, she auditioned at MGSA (mostly to make teacher and parents happy, I think). When the Florida State acceptance and out-of-state tuition waivers came through, we thought she was a slam-dunk for the Sunshine State. MGSA, however, has gone into recruit mode and D really likes the clarinet professor. She sat in on a MusEd class and loved it, and took in some of the Orchestra rehearsal and came away very impressed.</p>
<p>So, she’s not ready to give up the MGSA scholarship yet. A little more research and thinking to do. But she will honor the 4/15 Reply-By request.</p>
<p>I called Rutgers financial office and they said that the financial aid letters will go out next week, but will only contain federal loan amounts, no scholarships. So I emailed Mason Gross graduate program and got the reply that “As of today there is no scholarship available. I will know more after April 15.” Since the matriculation response deadline is 4/15, are they expecting me to decide before I know of any scholarship they might (not) offer me?</p>
<p>Sure sounds that way. I think a phone call to the admissions office is in order. Perhaps they will give you an extension on the response deadline until after the financial aid numbers are out.</p>
<p>pianist87-
I know that merit money for grad at any school is probably instrument specific but our son had the same experience last year for MM performance at MGSA.
Early acceptance but the EXACT same “no scholarship available as of today, will know more by April 15th”.<br>
Son accepted merit offer elsewhere and ultimately, no funding materialized for him at MGSA. Hope that things go better for you.</p>
<p>Son graduated from MGSA for music ed undergrad and loved it. But the public schools in NJ are just not going to have the funding available elsewhere. Son actually transferred into MGSA after two years at TCNJ. He was awarded a small scholarship for each of his last two years, contingent on playing with additional ensembles. So, he (we) basically paid for undergrad but he ended up earning $$$ for grad. He’s a happy camper.</p>
<p>Dadofclard- congrats of your D’s scholarship offer. She must be quite accomplished.
Our son also did not imagine undergrad in NJ but his experience here was quite good.
Your D is wise to be giving MG a chance! Best of luck.</p>
<p>I made some additional inquiries yesterday and was told that first batch of scholarship offers went out on March 1st, and I was not one of the selected students for the first batch. Second round of offers will go out after April 15th, which is the deadline to accept the scholarship award for the first batch students.</p>
<p>They also told me that there was only one scholarship award for collaborative piano major, so I wonder how likely it is that I would be offered scholarship after April 15th. I guess I’ll have to wait and see. I hope that person who was awarded decides to go elsewhere!</p>
<p>They also told me I have until June to decide if I want to attend Rutgers, but studios I desire may not be available if I wait too long.</p>
<p>Did any grad applicants receive a financial aid letter from Rutgers yet? I know it’s mostly going to be federal loans and possibly some work study, but I have not received anything from the financial aid office yet.</p>
<p>For those of you curious, I’ve made the decision to go with Stony Brook, and I couldn’t be happier. To those of you still waiting on Rutgers, I never did receive anything, and I’m not expecting to at this point because Rutgers knows of my decision. I’m very curious to see how things turn out for everyone and if this was a budget issue, or what is going on. I haven’t seen anything anywhere else on the web that suggests a grad student got funding at Rutgers. Hmm…</p>
<p>mrofir-
Congratulations!
You sound like someone who will work hard and excel wherever they land.
Best wishes to you.</p>