Question on anyone's experience with transferring and merit scholarship money

Hello Forum friends!

I’ve been off from this site for awhile. Busy times getting D sorted in her new apartment in NYC for her sophomore year and moving son off to grad school. Oy! In any case, I have a specific question for a friend who is interested in exploring options to transfer to Berklee or Miami/Frost. He is an exceptionally talented jazz instrumentalist. Does anyone have either personal or anecdotal experience/information on whether or not Berklee or Miami are either the same or less generous with merit awards for transfer students? I know some schools don’t offer nearly the same scholarship money for transfers and others don’t differentiate. And I wonder if we ever determined if Berklee awards were either more or less generous in ED vs RD? Or maybe about the same…

I would love any info that anyone has whether personal or anecdotal. Thanks so much!

Sorry I do not have input/experience with those specific schools, but my daughter was just forced to transfer due to a significant drop in FA. She found this out late, well after transfer apps closed. She found six schools that were still accepting that she thought might work. She received very good merit at all of them except for one state uni. We were very surprised because many had told us we wouldn’t receive much as a transfer. Best of luck to your friend!

@taverngirl I’m so sorry to hear that. I hope your daughter is happy at her new school. That’s so difficult. Hoping to hear if anyone has any scoop specific to Berklee or Miami/Frost because those are the two he’s focusing on. Thank you for your insight on the others and hoping it translates for him as well.

@SpartanDrew this is probably too late but I asked a friend at one of these schools and they told me it might depend on what the instrument is and what the school’s yield on that instrument was the year prior, which kinda makes sense and is the same as when you are a first-year applicant. I hear that the admissions and merit decisions always depend on whether your instrument is in demand. I hope your friend’s kid found more detailed info and finds a good spot at a school that is also affordable. It must be hard to transfer as a music major, even more so I imagine than for other majors.