<p>If a school accepts two musicians who play the same instrument, one slightly better than the other, and offer the better one a scholarship, and SHE DECLINES, where does that scholarship money go? Is it offered to the next in line, or does the money just disapear?</p>
<p>It depends on the school. Often it will go to the next in line, but some will keep it for the following year (and give 2 the following year)</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>True… </p>
<p>colleges sometimes operate on the assumption that a certain percentage will decline, so they offer more scholarships than they can really afford. So, when those students decline, the offer is not made to another student.</p>
<p>However, some colleges will extend the offer to another student. Can you find out what your college does?</p>
<p>keep your chin up in April no matter what where you have applied. Waitlists move in May and June and sometimes money is reallocated. In the recession last year, I think most schools spent beyond their intentions and perhaps had less to shift around post deadline dates due to the huge extra need money required to service admitted students, but if you have a specialized talent on an instrument, stay in “dialogue” mode. They will tell you outright if there “chairs” have been filled by students who accepted admission or not.</p>
<p>Thanks for such quick responses! I am referring to music conservatories primarily, bassoon specifically. It is amazing how many excellent bassoonists are out there, and they all apply to the same schools. Thus, one or two will likely get all the $$, but as D says, “they can’t go everywhere”.</p>
<p>Perhaps you are adamant about attending a conservatory. If not, consider applying to schools with Symphonies that include non music majors in cities with a good concentration of music lovers and performers. My children are in Symphonies and there are always first chairs with special talents and featured solos who are the most gifted students and who could have attended a conservatory. in my sphere: These second tier college Symphonies also want talent. Schools with strong music programs include Furman (lots of overlap with Brevard Summer Institute), Univ of Richmond (Richmond Symphony players teach), Emory (many ASO instrument teachers), James Madison (best music studies in a public college in the state of VA with a competitive and superior music track.) If you go to college in a town with a good Symphony, you will likely have access to professional teachers.</p>
<p>Faline2, the apps are in and it’s conservatory all the way! D has never considered another path and Dad and I support her, she’s worked so hard to be where she is now!</p>
<p>*Perhaps you are adamant about attending a conservatory. If not, consider applying to schools with Symphonies that include non music majors in cities with a good concentration of music lovers and performers. *</p>
<p>Good advice! Cast a wide net. There are schools that aren’t conservatories that give music scholarships. Are you only interested in conservatories?</p>
<p>Wow…apps in early. An unknown skill in our household where apps were submitted one at a time the night they were due</p>
<p>best wishes for her dreams</p>
<p>You might want to address your question in the music forum where there are a whole lot more people who are familiar with conservatories, including admission folks [Music</a> Major - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/]Music”>Music Major - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>Music scholarship money at straight conservatories is virtually 100% audition based. Those at the top of the list get the larger awards, and the middle and below can be paltry. But it’s program specific. Some will spread it out fairly evenly. Small(ish) studios like bassoon tend to have less to spread around, and a lot will be contingent on how many slots they are looking to fill.</p>
<p>It’s possible she may be offered more at a later date. Depends on the school, where she stood in the audition pecking order, and what (and who) the yield is. In some cases, if she clicked with the instructor, it’s conceivable they may have some pull. This will range from zilch, to a heavy impact depending on the program.</p>
<p>There’s also some negotiating room potentially. As Singersmom07 said, your best source of info is the music major forum. Plenty have been there, done that.</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, what schools are all these bassoonist specifically applying to?</p>
<p>FLVADAD, in the case of a student pursuing a degree in performance, it may not boil down to a school, but an instructor as the prime mover in choosing a program. Peer quality, location, size, financial factors all play a role. As the op specifically cites conservatories, the list might include Curtis, Colburn, Juilliard, Manhattan, Mannes, Eastman, Oberlin, Peabody and NEC Other top flight programs exist at the “combined” programs, IU/Jacobs, Rice/Shepherd, UMich, UHartford/Hartt and others. Brigham Young and U Utah can be strong choices for bassoon. </p>
<p>The geographic proximity within the Philly-Boston corridor will see a number a faculty serving at more than one institution… I believe it’s Hartt’s instructor that also serves on faculty at SUNY Purchase and at least one of the big three NYC conservatories. It’s not at all unusual, and often one can find a top flight “name” instructor at a lower cost solid state program.</p>
<p>Some general bassoon info if you have the need: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/368702-what-schools-bassoon-performance-study.html?highlight=bassoon[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/368702-what-schools-bassoon-performance-study.html?highlight=bassoon</a></p>
<p>Given the nature of music based admissions, the relatively small number of openings, the op may not wish to divulge specific names. The music world can be small (some might say incestuous), and revealing too much info on a public forum during an audition/admissions cycle may not work to the student’s benefit.</p>
<p>Margecat, here’s one similar thread from the music major forum <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/448632-negotiate-better-scholarships.html?highlight=scholarships[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/448632-negotiate-better-scholarships.html?highlight=scholarships</a> . Please repost within that forum, and you’ll get a range of insights from posters with performance experience and comparing offers. It helps to know the experiences of other musicians in formulating a plan of action.</p>
<p>Thanks so much violadad! </p>
<p>I don’t want to hijack this thread, but the specific mention of bassoon caught my attention. My d plays and like others here she has a pretty strong music resume. Her current instructor is fairly renown in the bassoon world and has offered to set her up with various instructors at different schools and conservatories, etc. However, she has pretty much decided she’s only going to continue to play as an extracurricular activity. She is not particularly enamored with the narrow scope of professional possibilities relative to the level of committment. Her current instructor is brilliant, has played all over the world, plays for movies etc., and is the Principal in our city’s orchestra, but still struggles a bit. She likes to play but doesn’t want to teach and understands the competition for performance work is really insane. </p>
<p>So she’s been looking at schools where she’ll have opportunities for quality music endeavors while majoring in other things. </p>
<p>Thanks for the comments and the link - very helpful.</p>
<p>FLVADAD, just as a point of reference, if she is at the level you describe, and just wants to pursue collegiate playing on an EC or minor level, I’d urge her to contact music departments and or faculty anyway, even as a non-major. Depending on the school, it may give her a extra data point, potentially a small scholarship just for a commitment to ensemble play. A quality bassoonist may well be in demand, particularly at smaller schools.</p>
<p>Direct contact with the department is essential if she wants a quality EC or avocational pursuit. You can’t always rely on the info posted on the department’s website or undergrad catalog/bulletin for detail and options. If you need or want, there’s similar threads on the music major forum that I can direct you to.</p>
<p>Not wishing to highjack this thread…I will offer that if you want some info about what we did with DD (who is a strong oboe/English horn player) but wanted only to do music as an EC…send me a PM…and I’ll fill you in.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids…music majors sometimes can “cast a wide net”. Sometimes they cannot. Music students make their decisions (as Violadad has stated) based not only on the major, but also based on the private instructor on their instrument with whom they want to study. Most students find a handful or so of these preferred instructors…and they stick with the schools at which those folks teach. “Casting a wide net” is very different in the music performance world than it is in most other majors. The college hunt for music majors is a VERY different one than the one for other majors.</p>
<p>Re: scholarships…and what happens to them…</p>
<p>At one university we know…if the scholarship recipient does not accept the admissions offer, the money is not used at all that year. At the conservatory where DS got his masters, awards were reallocated to students who DID accept admissions offers at a later date. BUT there really was no way of knowing. DS got a letter telling him there would be a second round of scholarship awards sent after May 1. And there were.</p>
<p>Re: scholarships…and what happens to them…</p>
<p>At one university we know…if the scholarship recipient does not accept the admissions offer, the money is not used at all that year.</p>
<p>And this is why some schools really want to know if they’re your first choice.</p>