<p>In my experience, the schools that seem to have good financial aid include Curtis (DUH), Oberlin and BU. Curtis, of course, offers free tuition to all who are accepted (but expect to pay $15 to $20K per year to live in center city Philadelphia) and that acceptance is almost entirely based on the audition. Oberlin in the past has offered $8K to $12K Conservatory Dean's merit scholarships to about the top third of accepted students, and there are full tuition scholarships available if they really want someone. They have also been pretty generus with need-based aid. Unfortunately, they are taking steps to reduce their overall discount rate in order to avoid future financial problems. Admissions there is need-aware rather than need-blind, but they still claim to meet 100% of need for accepted students. BU has quite a variety of scolarships available, but many of them have certain GPA and/or standardized test score requirements.</p>
<p>By way of contrast, NEC is notoriously stingy, frequently offering nothing more than unsubsidized loans to some very good applicants. Peabody usually does not offer much, but occasionally will surprise you with some merit money if they both liked your audition and need your instrument.</p>
<p>Anyone else have experience with these or other schools?</p>
<p>So far, everybody's assesmment on merit money has been very accurate at least at the "top tier" schools. You need to be cognizant that the lesser known schools tend to give more money to good musicians AND you're in luck since tubas tend to fall into the "not so popular" instrument category which increases your chances for merit money.</p>
<p>Like everything else in life, merit scholarships follow the laws of supply and demand. Since tubas tend to be heavy on the demand side, you're sitting much prettier than other instruments.</p>
<p>Timeline is simple. but it is VERY different than a normal LAC one:</p>
<p>If you haven't started already, NOW is the time to visit schools and arrange for lessons with teachers. You'll probably have to take a hiatus in the winter when most teachers are busy with auditions, but restart the process in the spring.</p>
<p>Start working on audition pieces as soon as the list of schools you want to apply to becomes obvious, but no later than early summer.</p>
<p>Have your S attend a summer program that will help his musicianship.</p>
<p>In the fall submit applications, both school and financial, ASAP and practice like a demon for auditions.</p>
<p>Winter - audition!</p>
<p>Late winter: Wait with baited breath!</p>
<p>Spring: make your selection and wonder how you all lived through this.</p>
<p>Dear Zep-
You make all this sound fun! Son is already working on audition pieces. Is it too soon to ask schools if they have anticipated "need" for tubas in 08? This may help us narrow down our search a bit.</p>
<p>By all means, ask how many tubas they plan to admit that year. Although tubas are usually in demand, it is possible that any one school might have all that they need that year and not admit any. Some schools will come right out and say so and others will hold auditions anyway, just in case they happen to get someone so good that they can't say no.</p>
<p>Some other things to think about:
-Your son's junior year spring break is a good time to visit schools that are in session that week. Start looking for cheap air fares now if you plan to fly to any of them.
-The last week of school in junior year is a good time to ask for letters of recommendation from people who will be busy in the fall (e.g. teachers and professional musicians). Prepare a resume or list of accomplishments before asking for a letter of recommendation so the writer will have something to work from.
-Think about plans for next summer. If you want a sample lesson with a top-list teacher, summer may be the best time to get it and this summer will be the last such opportunity your son has to do that. Consider summer music camp possibillities and, if necessary, start thinking about any audition pieces that they require.
-Summer is also a great time to get a head start on those pesky essay questions.
-Next fall, get the applications in as soon as you can, particularly for schools with early audition dates or rolling admissions. Keep on the school guidance counselor to get out the necessary transcripts and other paperwork.
-If possible, schedule that first audition at a school toward the bottom of your list.
-Have son play all of his audition pieces to a small audience in a recital situation before the first audition, even if it is only you, his teacher and a friend or two in someone's living room. Playing in front of others can be very different from practicing alone.</p>
<p>Maybe you heard wrong? Here's a quote from the Juilliard website:</p>
<p>"The Financial Aid Committee makes awards on the basis of merit and need combined. The total amount of aid provided, which can exceed tuition, depends on the student's artistic promise and school record, and on the financial circumstances of the student and his or her family. To apply for financial aid, new students should complete the Juilliard Financial Aid Application by March 1. To be eligible for the full range of financial aid available, students must reapply for financial aid each year by the specified deadline."</p>
<p>We know of a person who's a freshman there this year and she received 5 figures of merit-based aid.</p>
<p>I second the idea of determining whether top schools are even looking for tubas the year your son applies. Private teachers can usually find this info. This is something we DIDN'T do and should have. Some top schools will indeed hear applicants even with no openings in their programs, just 'in case'. As a HS senior, our son was granted auditions at two 'big' schools in NYC but was rejected from both. Two years later, older and maybe muscially wiser, he reapplied to one and was admitted with a 25% tuition award.<br>
Still too steep for our family. He is a junior at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University here in NJ. He enjoys the proximity to NYC if he can't be IN the city!</p>
<p>The Hartt School in connecticut is generous with merit $$$. Son was offered a 50% award out of high school but decided against it. Might be a good choice for your son to investigate??</p>
<p>DSs private teacher is also a professor at local university. He has already offered DS half-tuition as a junior in hs (says that's all he can offer him at this point) and has said to me that he would "love to land him." Is he the one to ask about other schools? Will that be insulting. Good grief this sounds pretetious.</p>
<p>CIM publishes a list of the number of students for each instrument they're seeking for the next year. That's really helpful and also makes you consider what that list might look like for the other schools on your list.</p>
<p>We have a high EFC (according to FAFSA!), and S receives a nice scholarship at Juilliard, so clearly it's not only need-based. (I think it was to make the Juilliard/Curtis comparison equal.) It surprised us, too. In addition, Juilliard offers Juilliard-based work studies that are not tied in with Federal and it seems just about everybody qualifies. S has a violinist friend who's Dad is a doctor, who has one.</p>
<p>A friend of S's got a lower scholarship amount there and appealed and was given more. Have no idea what the balance between how "rare" the instrument is and how much money. In her case, the money WAS tied to need, and she was able to show extreme circumstances. There are a number of "named" scholarships there, and I don't know how many of them are tied to music specifically. At the info session, we also were told about the "need-based" - but the session included parents of actors and dancers, too, so I wondered if that info was given out to encourage folks to not count on merit aid. As they told us, everyone at Juilliard is pretty talented, so who derserves merit is not easy to determine.</p>
<p>S was also offered merit aid at CCM and CIM, though Juilliard's was highest. (Of course, CCM was cheaper all around, so the total cost of attending would have been lower.) Interestingly, CIM has a reputation for not giving much aid - and they were the lowest of the three. But they offered us exactly what we said we would need on our application.</p>
<p>Momnipotent -- you don't sound pretentious. Statements from teachers count as objective information! I see you're in Ohio - half tuition at CIM, CCM, Oberlin -- that would be great. It is normal to ask the private teacher about other schools. In your case, the teacher will know about any other schools since he will have to write recommendations! Best to make him part of the process. If he is professional (and I assume he is), he will know that students generally apply to several schools, and would be willing to help your S make appropriate choices. I think I would have your S ask something along the lines of, "Oh, I definitely plan to apply to your school, but obviously I can't only apply to one school. What other schools or teachers do you think I should be considering?"</p>
<p>And ask more than just this teacher, too. Any other teachers - from camps or youth orchestra or whatever - that he can ask?</p>
<p>We also have a high EFC, but D received a decent merit scholarship at NEC. Eastman offered her the most. Peabody teacher also said she'd get merit money, but she chose not to apply there. I can't say how these schools approach merit aid generally, but this was our own experience. D's merit awards ranged from one-third to one-half tuition.</p>
<p>On each of D's applications, she had to list all the schools she was applying to. I wonder if this has an impact on financial aid awards. If a lower-tier school thinks they have to compete with Juilliard/Curtis, they may be willing to offer more merit money. (Of course, the audition needs to demonstrate that the student has a reasonable shot to get into those schools.) I don't know. It's just a thought. I also know that once all the acceptances/scholarship notices go out, it is possible to bargain for more.</p>
<p>Be careful with application requirements if your S/D is looking for only merit money. Some schools require no separate merit scholarship application (Eastman), some require early financial aid applications (NEC), others later.</p>
<p>Momnipotent, you are not sounding pretentious at all. Your lucky S already has a safety school! And if your S's teacher is at a respected music school, all the better! It is only natural for your S's teacher (as well as conductors) to want to hold onto a strong student. However, his teacher is an important part of the process to figure out what should come next. Don't feel awkward about this conversation. The teacher should be expecting it. If your S feels too awkward to initiate the conversation, then you can start it.</p>
<p>Great question and name momnipotent! I wonder if someone could add some of those last posts to the audition tips thread? The advice given here is excellent and will be helpful to those starting and in the midst of the process. I have been gleaning information for a couple years and still feel I have very little to add compared to the veterans. </p>
<p>S1 is a piano performance/English double degree at Oberlin. He transferred after two years at Lawrence. (We are very familiar with the transfer route as he tried two times.) He also sings and played sax in high school.
S2, a junior in HS, wants to continue to play and study trumpet in college, studies classical piano, and the choir director he's worked for told me he's a wicked gospel pianist.(Something I've never heard him do because I serve at a different church.) He'd like to find an LAC with strong neuroscience that has strong enough music to offer groups to play in, but not so good that they don't need a solid trumpet player. (He's made our state honors band a few times) He also wants to play Div. III tennis. </p>
<p>My husband played trumpet in one of the infamous university marching bands and in the jazz ensemble where we met. He owns an un-music related business. I play and teach sax and piano, have a BM in applied jazz studies and am a church music director. I went back to school to pick up additional courses in church music, education, and piano pedagogy after I realized that there is not a big demand for jazz teachers in our small town. I owe our childrens' love of music to the fact that they grew up in a private studio, spent a week each summer singing in a children's choir at St. Olaf, and started piano lessons before they signed up for soccer and tennis. They also had a really cool babysitter who played jazz piano and composed for them when they were in elementary school.</p>
<p>I thought the numbers at CIM were interesting. Wonder how typical they are to other conservatories. Amazing how many strings get in. Wish all schools would give this information. Thanks for letting us know its there at CIM</p>
<p>I don't usually post on this forum as I don't have a child who wants to major in music but I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night! I just had to say that, sorry! I lurk because even though my D doesn't want to major in college, she would like to pursue playing opportunities.</p>
<p>On the Ohio question, I'll try to answer. If anyone thinks that I'm wrong, please correct me, but this is what I understand. CIM and Oberlin are private schools and therefore to my knowledge do not offer any special pricing for Ohio residents. CCM on the other hand is affilated with the University of Cincinnati and is considered a state school with state school prices. Additionally, UC offers every student who scores over a 26 on their ACT at least $2000 dollars/year provided they meet a min. GPA. They are invited to attend the Cincinnatus competition (my S went and we saw many accepted CCM students there). They can compete (through essays) for additional money up to full tuition. I do wonder if these awards are also based on need. None of my S's friends were offered more than the $2000 even though they were very strong candidates. </p>
<p>I don't know if CCM offfers department scholarships, I wonder if someone else knows. But my S, an engineering major was offered a very generous department scholarship.</p>
<p>I know someone (string player) who qualified for the Cincinnatus competition, but did not return the card, did not attend the weekend, did not write the essay, did not apply for financial aid, and they still offered him $7500. It all depends on what they need. I know a male singer who was admitted with good money to NEC, Eastman, UMich, but was turned down for admission at Cincinnati.</p>
<p>I have never heard of Oberlin offering half tuition to Ohio residents, either. They do offer full-tuition scholarships to all graduates of Oberlin High School who have been in town for all four years of high school and who are accepted by either the college or the conservatory.</p>