protocol on scholarships...

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>During one of Ds college visits last year she was told during a 'sample' lesson by a prof that '....every school would most probably offer her some money.....' That was a nice thing to hear, but what is the next step? D has 2 acceptances so far and will hear from the other 2 schools by 4/1. </p>

<p>If, by chance, someone does decide to offer her any type of scholarship, how and when would they contact her? If she is fortunate enough to receive more than one offer, what is the best way to deal with that and possibly use it to her advantage?</p>

<p>Also, if she is accepted by the school where the comment was made, would it be 'bad form' to make contact to see if there is any any chance of financial help forthcoming....or would any offers of funding come along with the acceptances?</p>

<p>thanks,</p>

2

<p>At many schools, the financial aid details (need-based, scholarship and talent awards) either come with the acceptance or shortly thereafter. At others it takes a little longer. You should have all the details by the first week of April, with the possible exception of one or two schools that seem to be chronically challenged and may take until the middle of April.</p>

<p>Once you have all the offers on the table, the question is usually can you get school A (where the student would prefer to go if the money works out) to match an offer from school B (lower on the list of preference). The answer to that is maybe.</p>

<p>First of all, you need to be comparing apples with apples by looking at the total cost of attendance after all financial aid is applied, not just the individual award amounts. Obviously a school where the total cost of attendance is $25,000 per year is not going to offer anyone a $30,000 scholarship to match an offer from a school where the total cost of attendance is $50,000 per year.</p>

<p>Next, school A in the above scenario would have to consider school B a legitimate competitor. A top conservatory is not likely to match an offer from a program that accepts virtually everyone who applies.</p>

<p>It also helps if the student plays an instrument or brings a voice type that the school needs. If they have problems finding enough roles for the operatic sopranos they already have, then it may not be easy to get them to sweeten the deal. If they happen to be short in the horn section for the upcoming year and you blew them away at the audition, then you stand a better chance.</p>

<p>You don’t want to approach it as if you are trying to instigate a bidding war. Many colleges will say flat out that they will not increase an offer based on a competing offer. While they say that, some of the same schools will respond favorably if you provide some new financial information (a major unexpected expense that you had, obligations to help aging parents with medical care, or a decline in the value of your home, for example) and just happen to include a photocopy of school B’s financial offer.</p>

<p>We are rapidly approaching April 1. If you have not yet heard anything from the school where the comment was made, then the amount of aid should either be enclosed with the offer of admission or should come very soon thereafter. If it does not come with the offer of admission, you may be told in that letter when to expect the financial aid numbers. If so, then you should give them that long and perhaps a week more before contacting them because they are quite busy this time of year. If the acceptance letter says nothing concerning aid, I would suggest giving them at least a week from the time you receive that before calling. Clarifying the issue of how much it will cost is essential, so it is not a question of bad form as long as you ask politely and give them a reasonable amount of time to provide the information you need. I would not suggest calling about financial aid amounts before receiving an offer of admission.</p>

3

<p>[FAQ</a> 12](<a href=“http://nasm.arts-accredit.org/index.jsp?page=FAQ+12]FAQ”>http://nasm.arts-accredit.org/index.jsp?page=FAQ+12)</p>

<p>Above is a link to the NASM policy regarding acceptances, commitments and financial aid offers.
Most schools will offer some amount of aid to students who really need it, but to be honest, VP majors are usually far down on that list, especially undergraduate sopranos- simply because there are so very many of them. I wish that profs would stop making comments and promises during lessons and even auditions because they are often not in a position to even know what is available much less extend anything and things get all mixed up and feelings hurt. Always, always, wait until you have a written offer of admission in your possession before talking finances with a school.</p>

<p>BassDad gave good advice. Most often, the acceptance letter will give info about when you should expect to hear from the financial aid office if indeed, those things are not included in that initial mailing. You will need to have everything in front of you in order to make an informed decision, but you can do the preliminary costs in advance. You may well be able to “negotiate” a bit with some of the financial aid offices as they are in the business of attracting new students and “available discretionary” funds are used to pull them in. Please, direct those questions to the financial aid office, not to Admissions, department heads or profs since the latter don’t have authority when it comes to finances ( OK, there are very rare cases where a president or high ranking person at a particular school is also on faculty-hired because they are a “name”- and they might be able to pull a few strings, but it’s not policy!).</p>

4

<p>Thank you so much BassDad & MezzoMama - exactly what I needed to know.</p>

<p>I think we’ll wait until April 1 when we should have all the possible acceptances in hand, & see if in fact any actual funding offers have shown up. If not, then I might contact the prof who made the comment, and see if there is anything possibly forthcoming…</p>

<p>We certainly are not counting on any off the cuff comment, but could be worth following up on. With education costs what they are these days, help would be nice…but, we certainly are looking at the big picture vs. offers of small percentages of full costs.</p>

<p>thanks, again</p>

5

<p>^I believe my son attends one of the universities to which your daughter has been accepted (UMich.) Just so you know, in its case, there are three possible avenues: 1. academic scholarship, usually shortly following acceptance; 2. Music scholarship, usually not offered until into April after they’ve completed all acceptances and then started working on fin aid packages (although some get early offers; it really depends on the dept and how far they’ve progressed in the sequence) and 3. need-based financial aid and grant.</p>

<p>If you are OOS for UMich, unfortunately they do not meet 100% need (and some would say often meet no need). However, you will not really know your net prospective cost until you have all three elements communicated to you - just so you know. I’ve seen OOS students who at the end of the day, with all three streams collected, attend UMich for LESS than what the cost of their own in-state flagship would have cost. So anything’s possible.</p>

<p>Best wishes. The financial packaging to my mind is the most stressful part of all ;)</p>

<p>OOPS, sorry, I checked and saw that it was Jacobs and Fla so far. Well, if you get good news from UMich too, you’ll know how it works ;)</p>

<p>PPSS In case anyone wants to know, scholarship packages to the SOM went out as late as April 15 back in my son’s freshman year.</p>

6

<p>Thanks! It really was the dates I was wondering…so, since we haven’t heard anything yet, doesn’t mean we won’t…
thanks again!</p>