<p>First the good news: my D got an acceptance e-mail from OCU MT and it included an offer of a talent scholarship. The e-mail also included a form to accept or reject this scholarship by January 15! Yikes! My D has several auditions scheduled in February! Having said that, OCU is one of her top 2-3 schools and we don't want to lose this money! In reading the offer
it only states that "after May 1, 2015 I will not consider and offer from an institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music...".</p>
<p>So what are we to do here? D wants to complete her auditions but, as I said, this is one of her top schools and she would need the money to go there. Having said that, we don't want to mislead the school or get in any trouble.</p>
<p>Has anyone been in this situation? Not sure what to do.</p>
<p>We were advised D’s year to go ahead and accept offered scholarships with early deadlines at schools that were top contenders, then let them know immediately if another school moved to the top of D’s list so they could offer the money to others. We felt awkward doing it that way, but as far as we could tell it was the way of the world.</p>
<p>OCU knows quite well that all other auditions are in February. They’re just trying to get you (and your money) before the frenzy starts. So don’t be worried about misleading them; they’re not exactly giving you much latitude. This is your D’s biggest decision ever. Don’t rush to chose because OCU wants you to. Most schools require a $100 or $150 ‘down-payment’ with an acceptance. If this is in your top 3, pay it, and finish your auditions. If you end up backing out, some lucky kid will come off the waiting list and get accepted. No harm done. </p>
<p>I remember reading some discussion in one of last year’s threads where this “scholarship contingent on early commitment” was identified as a violation of an ethics code agreed to by schools within a certain association. If I’m recalling correctly, the family was advised to accept with the tacit understanding that this was not a binding agreement. We can all understand that if your daughter chooses to go elsewhere OCU would like to use that money to meet the needs of a different candidate but I’m pretty sure this demand violates the rules of the game.</p>
<p>Agree- they know very well when other auditions are being held so are putting unreasonable pressure on your daughter. If this is one of her top choices, there is nothing wrong with accepting the scholarship and then notifying them immediately if a better offer comes along. One thing that happened to my D is that one of her top schools(2nd choice at the time) offered her admission and a good talent scholarship with a very early deadline. She contacted them and told them that while they were a top contender, she needed to hear back from all of her schools to make an informed decision. They immediately sent her a better scholarship offer with a new, but still early, deadline. They went back and forth several times, with her telling them she needed to hear all her offers- she really was waiting to hear from her “dream” school and we were definitely not trying to negotiate! Each time she was offered more money. We were starting to feel really guilty but she legitimately was waiting to hear from her top choice school. In the end, the 2nd choice school became her top choice when they made an offer too good to turn down. She eventually did get accepted to her top choice but with very little aid; she was very happy with her final choice and never regretted not waiting to hear from her “dream school”. </p>
<p>Thank you for all the feedback! My D loved the school and the people she met there and it is legitimately one of her top 3 schools. But she hasn’t even auditioned for her other 2 yet! She is going to cancel some of her auditions with her “other” schools now that she has this offer and just focus on her top choices.</p>
<p>It sounds like the thing to do is to accept their scholarship offer and then contact them and tell them the truth of what’s going on? As soon as she makes her choice (hopefully in early to mid March) she can let them know and they can offer the money to another student if she chooses someplace else. Its a small world and #1 - she really likes this school and may go there; and #2 - don’t want to burn any bridges.</p>
<p>The e-mail/offer came from the Dean. But as I said it only seems to say if we accept the scholarship we can’t consider any other offers AFTER May 1 but also says we need to accept their offer by January 15. Just never done this or been here before and want to do the right thing by my D and the school and other kids that may want/need money to go there.</p>
<p>I am not faculty, but I found this on the internet, from the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC). From a document entitled Statement of Principles of Good Practice, (these are the “Mandatory Practices”) adopted by the 2014 assembly. In pertinent part it provides:</p>
<p>Post Secondary Members Agree they Will:
Section II
Section B, 3. “Permit first year candidates for fall admission to choose among offers of admission, and institutionally- affiliated financial aid and scholarships until May 1, and will state this deadline explicitly in offers of admission.”</p>
<p>The entire document can easily be found using the name of the association Mandatory practices and Google. I am assuming there is no subsequent document. It seems pretty clear you get to consider all offers and scholarships, including theirs, until May 1. I first looked at the 2013 version, and 2014 was revised to add the words: “institutionally-affiliated”. So I take that to mean that if an independent scholarship (say, the Rotary Club International, as an example) for in state use lets say, and a condition is selection of a college, OR perhaps even a specific college, by a given date before May 1, they can probably do so, as long as they are not somehow affiliated with the institution. Would take more research to determine what exactly the term “institutional affiliation” would mean in this context. </p>
<p>One could certainly argue that if the scholarship is being offered in your acceptance letter, it is affiliated with the institution (perhaps). </p>
<p>It does seem confusing at first, but if you read it again, OCU is very clear about the May 1 deadline being the binding deadline. It is perfectly ok to accept the scholarship offer now or before January 15 as requested with the understanding that your final decision will be made before May 1. Like you, schools also have many other offers to consider in the coming months. So the sooner they know of your continued interest in their program the better so they know how much scholarship $ they can offer to those in later auditions. But they know you have until may 1 to make your final choice and that is why they state May 1 in their email.<br>
Just fyi, it is Point Park that had the possible ethics violations in regard to offers a few years ago. I’m not sure if they’ve changed their policies or not. </p>
<p>I read it just as you do @vvnstar, they are merely requiring that you say “yes” to the scholarship by January 15. You have until May 1 to say yes (or no) to the school. (But honestly, how many would say “no” to the scholarship and “yes” to the school. I think they are in a round about way saying, without violating any ethics, if we are not still in the running on January 15, please let us know.) </p>
<p>Beginning at Post #14 in the thread below you can follow a past discussion related to this topic (but not exactly the same) - it seems to come up in some form or fashion almost every year on this forum:</p>
<p>There are more, including some issues at Point Park a few years back, as mentioned by vvnstar. If you search on “NACAC” and select Forum: “Musical Theatre Major” using the Advanced Forum Search feature, you can find more related threads.</p>
<p>Thank you so much. You have made me feel much better about this! We will accept their scholarship by the deadline and go from there. I just didn’t want to do the wrong thing. Thank you again!</p>
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