<p>I am in the dubious position of having a step-son (high school senior) who is a world-class jazz musician with very high test scores yet no money for college. Im looking for very generous scholarships to NYU, USC, MSM, New School, New England Conservatory and Berklee. We are set in the high-achievment yet low-funds department but need to qualify for full rides.</p>
<p>You might want to add Frost (Miami) and UNT (University of North Texas) to the list. Last year, one forum poster’s son received free tuition at Frost. UNT is known for offering good scholarships and a strong Jazz program.</p>
<p>I hope he met the early deadline for USC. They do have generous tuition scholarships for elite academic students. Not full rides - but they’ll meet need with a combo of grants and loans. Not sure if it’s too late for Oberlin, but they offer generous financial aid. And Northwestern, too, can have great aid for financial need (it varies by student.) Again, deadlines may have passed. Definitely add Miami and UNT.</p>
<p>Oberlin does offer a good mix of merit and need based scholarship help (grants not loans), but it has a December 1 application deadline.</p>
<p>Don’t most of these schools have Dec 1 deadlines? My advice would be to apply to as many as you can afford to, as it is hard to predict what financial aid packages you might receive. Unfortunately, there are many high-achieving, low-income students. And, as for great test scores: most conservatories do not factor in much besides the audition. Your best bet could be a non-conservatory program where your son’s musical abilities would be viewed as a very strong EC.</p>
<p>USC absolutely DOES consider test scores for it’s big merit scholarships (given for academics, basically, but many academic stand-out music majors get them), BUT… your student must have applied by Dec. 1. I hope you didn’t miss it.</p>
<p>(Note: USC also gives music scholarships, but they are not big.)</p>
<p>Scholarships from schools like NEC, Berklee, New School will be determined by the musical ability, not the test scores.</p>
<p>There are also scholarships based on financial need at the above schools, which it sounds like OP’s son would qualify for. (I’m assuming these are the schools OP’s son has already applied to by the deadline since he specifically listed them). However, one never knows for certain (even after using online estimated need ‘calculators’) what financial aid packages will look like. Study each one carefully to determine the kind of need offered–at first glance some schools maybe look like they are providing more aid, but much could be in the form of loans. It is always interesting how very different the package may look from school to school. And some packages arrive with the acceptance notification, but some later. So, it is a long process from application to finally choosing the school. Good luck to the OP–I think we’re all looking for those big scholarships so you’re in good company.</p>
<p>I have four kids and the youngest is a sophomore in college, so I’ve seen a lot of financial aid awards over the years. I’m most amazed at how different they are and how they tend not to match up much with the financial aid calculators. The best advice I could give is to cast a wide net, if possible, and not get too attached to any particular school, as you don’t know what is going to happen. It’s a good idea to include a financial safety in case none of your top choices come up with the aid you need.</p>
<p>If you really need a full ride, you might want to apply to some of the lesser known music schools who might be anxious to secure a highly skilled student. </p>
<p>What about Hartt, Eastman, SUNY Purchase in addition to Frost and UNT. You may have missed the pre-screen deadlines to some of these schools, though</p>
<p>I think GH’s advice was wise. With conservatories, from everything I have seen, the aid tends to mostly be based on financial need, even merit aid in large part is based on talent and financial need.Put it this way, if the program has a lot of talented students, as the top schools generally do, they will give the merit aid to the student with more need (every school is different in how they decide need and so forth, which is why GH is wise, like admissions, aid is not scientific). </p>
<p>My biggest suggestion is if you want to apply this year, you better call the schools and see if they are willing to accept a late submission. Most schools are December 1st with or without a pre screen, and especially schools that get a lot of applications may be unwilling, but you won’t know unless you contact them, I would recommend calling and explaining the situation.</p>
<p>My other suggestion is if you find that the schools that are willing to let you apply late (or have a later deadline than December 1st) don’t seem to match your S’s needs in terms of teacher especially, you may want to think of a gap year and then apply again next year. If hypothetically your S felt that Frost, UNT and Berklee were the ones with the best teachers for him, and they won’t allow you to submit late, it may be worth while waiting, gap years are not uncommon. I don’t know with the programs people are mentioning or with Jazz in particular, but a lot of schools require pre screen recordings, and to try and get an application and that done quickly enough to meet a late deadline may be very difficult; if you wait until next year, you can have that year to prepare, get your son’s chops down and so forth.</p>
<p>Thank you for the suggestions. We did get the apps in on time and he has strong audition/performance skills. Kid has his heart set on the east coast but it is going to be a stretch.</p>
<p>Good to hear, JJM. I suspected this was the case. Now you can join us in the waiting game… :)</p>
<p>There’s still time to apply to Harvard. They have great financial aid, as do many great schools. Your stepson could do the double degree program (BA/MM) with Harvard and NEC (the cost for the NEC used to be an extra $6K or so, a few years back) or go to Harvard, or other college/university, and do jazz lessons privately and perform either as an extracurricular or outside of school.</p>
<p>Tufts also has a double degree with NEC (BA/BM) and a great music dept.</p>
<p>Conservatories and music schools attached to colleges and universities tend to give more aid than conservatories. Conservatories do give merit aid and some financial aid but at least in our experience, not always enough to make them affordable.</p>
<p>Can’t edit for some reason. I should have said “freestanding conservatories” at the beginning of my second sentence above. Hartt, Eastman, Peabody, Oberlin, Lawrence etc. are not freestanding, as you know.</p>
<p>If he’s a jazz major and price is paramount, then UNT needs to be on his list, even if he is set on looking at the east coast. Roosevelt(CCPA) in Chicago also has a very good jazz department and good FA, depending upon your family situation. The reality is that full rides are a thing of the past; the student has a responsibility to seek out scholarships and assistance too. Check out local competitions and awards given out by area performing groups- while those may only provide help for the first year of school, it’s a buffer and gives the student time to keep looking for other sources. While in college, music honor societies offer some nice awards to members who apply and compete. There is no reason why the student can’t work while in school also, both at work-study positions on campus and other jobs outside.
If your step-son is world class musician, he must be well known, at least in your area and have attracted attention from some famous musicians. Can they offer advice or would it be possible for the boy to take a gap year and gig during that time to build up his bank account?</p>
<p>Have you looked into William Paterson in NJ? The jazz program is supposed to be topnotch and it’s definitely more affordable than most options.</p>
<p>Another vote for the Hartt School at the University of Hartford.</p>
<p>If he is a world class musician and demonstrates it during his audition, he will likely be offered significant aid from Berklee. If he demonstrates it during his audition at Miami and has scores and grades in excess of the published thresholds, he could receive significant aid depending upon instrument and the spaces for that instrument. For me the question that the original post raises is why would someone who is already a world class musician want to go to music school for an undergraduate degree to study with people he should be teaching, particularly if the money is tight.</p>
<p>Well I admit the term “world-class” is a little heavy handed and biased with some parental pride. I should have said “for his age”. I mean that he ranks with the highest of his peers and has the abilities to be accepted to elite schools (with perhaps the exception of Julliard) and has been praised by notable recording/touring professionals. We have been told we can expect significant aid from Berklee. As far as advice from the pros, one well-known drummer told him to skip college! Thanks again for the input.</p>
<p>That’s helpful thanks. He has been praised by some pros. But drummer Greg Hutchinson told him to skip college!</p>