<p>There is no set number for scholarships, and how schools give out that aid varies. Juilliard on their web site and from what we were told by their admissions people pretty much do it on a need basis, both straight financial aid and the merit aid (part of the reason for that is most of the kids admitted to Juilliard are pretty high caliber, so when making merit awards they look at need because they prob have a lot of kid who could get it on talent alone). </p>
<p>Other schools will give pretty good merit aid for kids at high levels because they want to attract them to their program, so a top cellist might have to make the decision between going to the high prestige program, with less aid, or a really good one at another school. Merit aid is often a function simply of how much they want you, how good the student is compared to the program and often, how much a teacher wants the student. </p>
<p>For the music school side of things, there have been long arguments on here about awards and music competitions and whether it helps with getting into a school or getting financial aid. The answer is that depends on the school, if they see being able to say "we have students who won the tchaikovsky, queen elizabeth’ or like competitions, then they may push out the aid awards to help the student, but at the very top level of schools, that likely attract a lot of kids like that, not so much, after all, a Curtis or a Juilliard et al already have the reputation…</p>
<p>I think the best answer anyone can give you is to find the programs your child thinks they want to go to, based on teacher and so forth, apply, and then see what happens. I would hazard a guess some of the schools on your list would give better scholarships than others for merit, simply based on my understanding of the strength/reputation of the program. I have heard that if they like a student, Bard will give pretty decent scholarships, and they have formal free ride scholarships if I read their website correctly, and with Bard you have the added advantage that students have to dual major (it is a 5 year program), so that could be a strong candidate for your son, for example.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that once you get in, you can negotiate aid. One thing looking at the list, are you sure all of them have decent cello faculty? The biggest factor of all is the teacher, which is why I am asking the question. I know of some of the schools and their faculty (Bard, USC have strong strings programs, for example), but there are schools on that list that may not be good for cello (or might be, which is why I am not mentioning specific schools). Check the faculty and see if you can find people knowledgeable about the cello world, and see if they know anything about the teachers at the schools your S has picked out. </p>
<p>Barring that, if at all possible try to find ways for your S to perhaps do a sample lesson with the teachers ( I realize some of those schools are east coast, some west coast, number in th e midwest, so that may not be easy). Lacking that, do some research and try and see if you can find students who studied with the teacher who have become successful, look at the rosters of major orchestras, for example, and see where the cellists came from (most post bios online), or look and see if anyone has posted anything about them. While net postings are always kind off worthy of being skeptical, it might give you ideas. </p>
<p>Once you find the schools with teachers that your S thinks might work, apply, audition and then see what comes back. I will add that if he is really talented, the odds of getting good money from at least some of the schools is high, so I suspect if he is pretty talented he will find a place where he can study cello and be able to afford it.</p>