When we visited Bienen this summer, I got the impression that they were generous with their financial aid and that they did meet need. At the time, I didn’t ask about merit per se. However, the above info makes me question their generosity. I suppose it’s all in the calculation of “need” and not so much my perceived or actual need.
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@tripletmama - my son received the Presidential from USC - which is half tuition and represents approximately $28k this year. I assumed the award was “holistic” covering academics and music. Turned out it was just academics and the music scholarship of $20k came a couple of days later. Neither of the awards was need based.
@lkbux64 - thanks for the clarification. Are there set minimums for the Presidential Award? (e.g. above a certain gpa and SAT/ACT?). I know that some colleges publish the guidelines - just curious.
Moral of the story - those kids with both great academic and music talent/hard work reap great rewards at USC. Congrats! I truly admire kids that can do both - you must be so proud!
@cholist - congrats!!! Our daughter got good news at SFCM as well today (in fact, I called her and told her to check her mail once I saw your post).
@tripletmama , congratulations to your daughter! I was wondering if this is just scholarship and need based aids are to follow. (fafsa) It was just a letter stating “San Francisco Conservatory Scholarship”. It is a bit confusing.
@tripletmama , there are no set minimums for Presidential at USC. You have to apply by the early scholarship deadline. National Merit Finalists who are admitted will automatically receive the Presidential. Otherwise, applicants can receive the Trustee (full tuition), Presidential (half) or Dean’s (quarter). Thornton applicants who apply by the scholarship deadline do not have to interview separately for academic scholarships. Their audition is considered their interview.
Our S has received a number of awards for jazz at private schools (including NEC and Eastman). However, we still can’t afford the price tag at any of them. He can go to the local California State U, which has a great program, but he’d love to go away. Anybody know how successful appeals are? Any tips on making appeals for more money? Thanks!
@chollist - in answer to your question, turns out that SFCM posts a Music Merit letter and a separate financial aid letter. Our daughter got $$ in both letters. (much more in the Music Merit side of things). It’s confusing that they were separate - I hope this helps!
Drum roll…we have another million dollar anonymous lottery winner in our midst!!!
Juilliard “The Kovner Fellowship” classical music instrumentalist - a full tuition scholarship, room and board and additional living expenses. Congratulations! So proud of the kids on this board!!!
Wow – big congratulations to the recipient of the Julliard Kovner Fellowship winner!
Fantastic!!! Congratulations to the winner of the Juilliard “The Kovner Fellowship”.
@tripletmama Has anyone been keeping track of what instruments/voice types have received some of these prestigious and generous scholarships? Those data may be useful going forward, as people often ask whether awards are geared toward particular instruments. Could be helpful to have a spreadsheet with school, award name and type (merit or need based (or combination)), amount, and instrument. Anonymous, of course.
Songbirdmama - great idea! I don’t have the time but if anyone is willing to do that - raise your hand. I know that in some cases, anonymous folks don’t want to name instrument (e.g. the Koniver one) but you never know. I agree that instrument would be very useful information to know.
Can anyone comment on how they were, in the past, able to obtain a larger merit amount than first offered? My DS is still waiting for one more award notification, but he has heard that that school is notoriously ungenerous and he wants to be prepared IF he decides to appeal. NB: The proposed teacher has already said he “would help,” this question is specifically for the formal appeal process with admissions. Thanks!
Anonymous post: I was told by Frost that there are 3 music scholarship levels this year: $25,000 $32,000, and $50,000. And the entire scholarship amount is a mix of academic of music merit (holistic?) I also wonder if need is factored in.
Need is not factored into those Frost awards. It’s all merit and renewable for entire 4 years.
I have to admit I am confused by all these numbers. Doesn’t seem like it’s apples to apples – some merit, some combined, some loans vs. awards, some based on tuition and others on COA. I think this thread is important because it shows that people can get large awards at many places, but what if those are the unicorns? Anyway I did provide some numbers here, which I am unable to delete, but if anyone has questions about them please PM me. I don’t want to be misleading!
I have a Frost specific merit question…if S received a letter that said Presidential Music Scholarship, is that the end of the line with merit? It came on Frost letterhead so I was wondering if there is a possibility to get additional academic merit from UM itself…or would it have been included in the acceptance package?
@akapiratequeen - I agree. There are so many combinations of awards: merit, grants, financial aid, loans, etc. It can get very confusing.
I hope that this thread at least shows some guidelines. In a FB group that I belong to (Paying for College 101) they are creating a spreadsheet (I think - I haven’t looked at it). I agree that a spreadsheet with instrument, genre, and splitting out merit and financial aid would be useful - but that would take a lot of time to compile - if anyone has the time and inclination - raise your hand. I’m sure that many of us would send info - anonymously or not. I’m a bit burned out right now and need to get focused on work to pay for room (and some of them board) for our 4 kids in 4 states in the Summer/Fall (oh my!!! New York (18 year old boy), Massachusetts (18 year old girl), South Carolina (20 year old girl) and Utah (18 year old girl). 
No peeps from our Peabody and Curtis folks?
Jazz bassist, yearly awards:
SFCM: $45k total: $40k music merit and $5k for financial aid (Pell, etc).
Berklee $40k total: $20k music merit and $20k financial aid (Pell and Berklee Grant).
NEC: $24k total: $18k music merit plus $6k for financial aid (Pell, etc.)
The New School: $10k music merit and waiting for financial aid.