<p>Hi all,
I'll be a senior in a couple of weeks which means crunch time for college auditions! yay(?) I'm trying to polish up my list of schools an just wanted to hear some feedback from those of you that know anything about Ithaca, St. Olaf, or UNCG? My parents are really hoping for me to attend a school with either low out-of-state tuition or scholarship money...but before I apply, I want to make sure they still have a solid music program. If it helps, I'm hoping to be a cello performance major..with possibly a double degree? I'll also most likely be applying to UI-Bloomington, Depaul, UofI?, and possibly Oberlin, but things are still pretty up in the air at the moment. Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>UNT and ASU (Arizona State) both have good music programs and relatively low OOS tuition. UNT frequently offers in state tuition to good candidates and ASU offers nice scholarships for candidates to their well regarded Barrett Honors program.</p>
<p>The price will vary dramatically depending on the quality of your audition, and your financial need. It is possible to get up to full tuition offered at some of the most ‘expensive on paper’ schools in the country, if you are a top applicant. And, if you have financial need, there are many top music programs which will meet that need in full.</p>
<p>So then the question becomes - are you a top applicant for that school, and/or will they consider you to have financial need? If the answer is neither - then you need to apply to different schools…</p>
<p>If you qualify for financial aid Rice and Northwestern will almost always meet your need 100%.</p>
<p>Ithaca has a very strong music education program. Heidi Hoffman and Elizabeth Simkin are their cello professors. They do offer merit aid, and their rolling admissions means that if you do the December audition you will hear quite early in the cycle.</p>
<p>Ithaca is in a great college town and has a fine music school (son loved it) but it isn’t necessarily that generous with scholarships.
If you want a financial/music safety, look at Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. OOS tuition, room and board will come in around 25k plus they just received a large donation to provide scholarships to String students, another to provide travel expenses for the orchestra and yet another to bring in distinguished guest artists to work with the orchestra! I just returned from son’s orientation at Crane where they shared this information. In addition, they hired a new Orchestra professor who will start this Fall and are hoping that she will attract even more students to the program.</p>
<p>Rice is one of the best music schools for strings players and also provides fantastic financial aid. It really is worth applying to.</p>
<p>Good value schools are: Rice and Indiana. DePauw University also offers fantastic scholarships.</p>
<p>Please keep in mind that “meeting full financial need” means award packages involving loans in addition to outright scholarship money. With the economy as it is, private funding from the schools themselves is tight, especially because the private loans many had been giving aren’t being paid back as promptly as had been expected, hence less available for current students. Even with a legitimate EFC of -0- the federal government, via the FAFSA, will still expect the parent(s) and student to take out loans. Schools can only accept so many applicants so it’s very smart not to limit the list to just a couple of the top schools(there are a few being tossed at almost everyone who inquires on this board now), because although you may be an excellent candidate, if there are only 1-6 openings (arbitrary numbers, but you get my meaning), and 20 audition, some well qualified applicants obviously won’t be accepted.
Don’t be afraid to ask question of the Financial Aid folks at the schools you have an interest in, but also be very aware that a good many schools increase tuition every year( even if you have a 4.0!) and that the bulk of award money often gets passed out to the incoming freshmen- in short, a “hook” to get them in the door- and funds can get tighter each year that you’re attending.</p>
<p>There are schools which are loan free when meeting 100% of need if one qualifies (usually under a certain income level) - but they are also the most competitive. All my son’s merit aid was offered for the full time he would be at the college - either four or five years. His merit award is based on tuition, not a set dollar amount. That varied with each school’s offer. Financial aid, however, was subject to change.</p>
<p>There are still a few that will meet full need, but don’t look to the top conservatories for that. Even Oberlin, who was famous for claiming to meet full need hasn’t been able to do that this past year, due to the lack of “in-house” funding which hasn’t been paid back to them as it had been in the past. The economy has not rebounded and the misery has spread every which direction…</p>
<p>For those with low family income, This from Rice’s website: " Rice will no longer award loans to students whose family income is below $80,000. All of these students’ financial need will be met through a combination of grants, work study, merit aid (if qualified) and institutional funds."</p>
<p>Above that there is a combination of all of the above plus loans. They have not changed it for this coming year as of yet.</p>
<p>Rice is a terrific school. It is also extremely competitive for cello at the undergrad level. Not trying to discourage you from applying, but understand that they only accept a couple of freshmen cellists each year.</p>