Hi everyone,
I just sent in all my grad school applications and I was wondering which schools that I applied to offer great scholarships and financial aid packages? I applied to Eastman, Northwestern, FSU, Peabody, Boston Uni, Boston Conservatory, and Yale. I’m a mezzo and my GPA is 3.98. I also have financial need, EFC is 0.
Thanks!
Did you apply to only terminal master’s or did you also apply to master’s that are part of a doctoral degree? The latter tend to be funded. Do you know if any of the programs you applied to are funded via teaching assistantship or other duties?
Hi @mezzothings - Congratulations on getting your grad school applications in! My daughter, a soprano, applied for MM VP last year. Of the programs she applied to and which you mention above she got decent scholarships from Eastman and BU. Grad students will typically have EFC of 0.
If you dig into the details of each of the programs you’ve applied to you can learn more about the tuition structure at each school and what’s offered for scholarships and graduate assistantships. Some GA/TA positions require a separate application. (Eastman VP grad scholarships are mostly in the form of graduate assistantships, but in my daughter’s case it’s no more than 4 hours a week, so easily manageable.)
Read up on each school’s tuition structure. Look at the cost of grad tuition vs undergrad tuition - they may be the same at a conservatory, like NEC, and much cheaper at a music school associated with a uni, since they are based on credit hours required for the degree.
Most scholarships were a fixed amount, but I think there was one that was a percentage off each credit, can’t remember which one. Maybe BU?
Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions and I can also put you in touch with my daughter if that’s helpful.
Best wishes!
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Agree with above.
1.) All grad students are needy so it does not play much of a role.
2.) There is more variety in offers for grad students: scholarships, TAs, fellowships etc. All schools seem to do it differently for grad students (unlike UG where its pretty much just scholarships based on talent and academics).
3.) Performance needs for the school can matter more in grad school offers. Schools will soon be considering their next season. UG students will not be singing principal roles so their offers will not reflect a strong need for a performance ready lyric mezzo, for example. But for grad students, they will be looking closely at filling any holes. So that can produce strong interest. If a school has too many lyric mezzos and you are still excellent…you may get an offer but not the big money. That can be confusing but grad school may reflect some of the realities of the performance world (meaning its not all about grades and talent…performance needs can come into play).
Good luck!
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