<p>My understanding is you don't have to apply to the music school to get a talent scholarship for being a good instrumentalist, but I have questions. Are these scholarships very big? Do they come with strings attached such as playing in the orchestra or the marching band? How can you tell which schools may award you one? Is an audition involved? Does a person in the music department help push for them as they would a regular music scholarship? Does it help if you plan to minor in performance?</p>
<p>Basically, I am wondering if musicians get scholarships like athletes. If you're really good at tennis, you might get a full-ride with the stipulation that you play on the team. Obviously, you don't major in tennis. I'm wondering if the equivalent exists for instrumentalists who are skilled players but might not want to major in music or double major.</p>
<p>Forget about the full ride, full tuition even if you are a music major and you are at the top of the heap. These are as rare as a didgeridoo player at Curtis.</p>
<p>There are a number of schools where a musical ability will get you some money (from paltry to a nice chunk, (I’m remembering a few in the $4k-$6k range). Most will be audition or submission based, and the “pull” of the music department is a variable that is institution specific. It can often be instrument specific.</p>
<p>There are a number of prior threads, which I can’t pull or link as CC’s search function is down.<br>
I’ll give it a shot tomorrow.</p>
<p>If you have specific colleges you are interested in, go to their websites and look for music scholarship information under the college’s financial aid page. As an example, this music scholarship information for non-music majors at Case Western:</p>
<p>The Music Achievement Awards scholarships are designed for students who have attained a high level of proficiency in music performance, but who do not necessarily intend to major in music. These scholarships are up to $15,700 per year for four years and are awarded by audition. Applicants must have an audition on campus to be eligible for an award. To schedule an audition please submit an Online Audition Application and select “Music Achievement Award” under Preferred Degree Program. Applicants who audition for the music major are automatically considered for the Music Achievement Awards and do not need to schedule a separate audition.</p>
<p>If I recall correctly, Violadad’s daughter got a full scholarship somewhere playing didgeridoo. Can’t remember the school… ;)</p>
<p>FWIW, my D got offered several thousand (5k? - can’t remember) at St. Olaf as a non-major violinist, and 10k at Furman for same. Neither was enough to tip the scales for us. We also heard, “We don’t need violinists” at a couple places, and “we don’t give music scholarships” at others. So your mileage may vary, depending on school.</p>
<p>I assume that you play horn. That is often a desired instrument, especially if you are willing to go to a school where the music program is still developing.</p>
<p>CC’s search function is now working, and here’s the past threads. As suggested, you need to thoroughly read the music dept/or general scholarship infp at each school. Instrumental need can be a major factor. </p>
<p>Yes binx, she did. It was U of Tasmania Conservatorium of Music in Hobart Australia. They did include a travel allowance for one round trip, but it was based on airfare when oil was at $45 a barrel. We found the best alternative was unflagged freighter. She hasn’t been home in two years. :(</p>
<p>I don’t think it is right to say “forget it” for a full music performance scholarship. My step-niece got a full scholarship at the University of Kentucky on cello, including room and board. My daughter’s middle school band teacher told us that he has had a few students go on to get full scholarships for instrumental performance.</p>
<p>DD plays the oboe and English horns…and owns excellent quality instruments. She was a state ranked high school player here as a sophomore. She DID continue to play her oboe in the college orchestra in college as a non-major (her school did not have a strong music program and therefore had an “open to all students” orchestra) as first oboe player. They loved having her as oboe/English horn players are not particularly plentiful. BUT did this translate into “big bucks”…no it did not. She did get a $750 a year orchestra performance scholarship for playing in the orchestra…and her private oboe instruction was at no cost for four years.</p>
<p>Believe me…if there had been a full ride out there for talented oboe players (who wanted to major in engineering), she would have applied to those schools. We never found any such places.</p>
<p>Just to clarify, within the context of the thread, the OP’s question was </p>
<p>
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<p>In my fairly broad base of experience I have yet to hear of full tuition, let alone a full ride offer being given to a student for music talent alone if that student is NOT a music major. Music may be a part of it, but there are often merit, academic and need based factors within the package.</p>
<p>Actually, they do have full tuition scholarships for non-music majors at Univ. of Wisconsin. You must be a WI resident. You must attend the high school music clinic in June after you summer year and audition for the scholarship. I believe the award 10 full tuition scholarships. If awarded a scholarship, you must play in any assigned ensemble each semester. I have known several students who have gone through UW this way and have not majored in music, although I believe that most winners do end up majoring in music. I don’t know if there are other state schools that may offer something similar.</p>
<p>So, doesn’t look good. People says “oh you’re lucky, your daughter will get a scholarship”. And she probably will, but that needs a pretty big scholarship to make a dent in private or even out-of-state public expenses. Even $5K per year may not make the parental expected contribution any less, as I assume it reduces loans first (yes, that is good…) </p>
<p>Free private lessons is good, I forgot we’d have to pay for those if she wasn’t majoring in music. </p>
<p>Is minoring in performance any different than not-majoring in terms of scholarships?</p>
<p>Some years ago, a horn player friend of my son’s received a full scholarship plus at Clayton State University in Georgia. I believe she was majoring in music (don’t know if performance, teaching, or what) but not sure. She did say at that time that they were desperate for horns. However, their website says scholarships are available for non majors as well (though I don’t know if it would be full), and they do offer a minor in music.</p>
<p>We were there for a horn conference (S was still in HS, so this was probably 10 years ago at least) and the music facilities were absolutely gorgeous and the focus was on building the program. I don’t know where they stand now, nor the quality of the program.</p>