<p>They may have to wait until they know who has declined their offers of admission before they can free up additional merit aid to offer to you. Of course, that could be after you have to decide yourself. I agree that $12K is a very good start, particularly this year. If you get better offers from schools that they consider competitors and they happen to need bass players this year, you may be able to negotiate the offer up a little.</p>
<p>When did you audition there or send them a recording? Is this amount coming from the University for academics, or from the music school based on your audition?</p>
<p>Alright thanks to both of you. It’s just that I always thought CCM and UC were very very generous and had a huge endowment but I see that I should just be grateful.
It was a recording, that I sent in early march. The 12k came from the university, based on academics (applied at the university in december but didn’t send the recording before march).</p>
<p>That is how it worked for my daughter. The academic scholarships came first and the CCM scholarship came in April. CCM is a bit less expensive than many other conservatories, so the scholarships do add up to make a big difference.</p>
<p>Sometimes the head of the department to which you are applying will tell you that he/she can try to get you more money, if that will convince you to go to their school. This can come up at the interview/audition stage, or if you meet with them after acceptance.</p>
<p>Meeting with someone at the school after acceptance can also often result in a conversation in which this subject comes up naturally. They might, for instance, ask how your decision-making process is going, and you can respond, that you love their school but have a great offer for another school, and are trying to decide between the two. Well, maybe a little more subtle, or not, depending on the situation.</p>
<p>This could be very good news. You already have an academic scholarship of $12K, with the possibility of a talent scholarship to follow in the coming weeks. Don’t get your hopes too high, however. Sometimes a recording will not get treated as well as a live audition when it comes to handing out talent awards.</p>
<p>For reference purposes, the average at UC for non-need based grants tends to be about $5K. (See [College</a> Navigator - University of Cincinnati-Main Campus](<a href=“College Navigator - Search Results”>College Navigator - University of Cincinnati-Main Campus) for example, for some numbers.) I would guess that you got the UC Global Scholarship, which is targeted specifically to international students. If that is the case, you got the absolute maximum award possible for the merit scholarship piece of the equation (see [UC</a> Global Scholarship, University of Cincinnati](<a href=“http://www.admissions.uc.edu/admissions/international/finance/scholarship.html]UC”>http://www.admissions.uc.edu/admissions/international/finance/scholarship.html)). Considering that the cost of attendance before aid at UC is $10K - $15K less expensive than some of the other schools to which you have applied, you already have a pretty good bargain and it could get really good if they come up with any additional talent-based money from the music school.</p>
<p>You cannot count on lots of non-need based aid from schools just because they have a lot of money put away. For example, the Ivy League schools have endowments ranging from about two times (Brown) to about twenty-five times (Harvard) the size of UC’s, and they also serve fewer students, yet they offer no merit aid at all.</p>
<p>I have already been accepted to Purchase, and recieved the acceptance letter… but there was nothing about financial aid or scholarships. Is that separate? or do I need to actually call and ASK for a scholarship?</p>
<p>Sopranorose, I started this thread <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/886715-2010-scholarship-thread.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/886715-2010-scholarship-thread.html</a> last night based on a couple of comments in the acceptances thread.</p>
<p>It’s got the most comprehensive reported info from the last couple of cycles, and some general info scholarship/aid threads.</p>
<p>I can’t tell you the timing of the SUNY’s or Purchase specifically as to how and when talent, merit and financial offers are made, and whether they are via email, snail mail, or in combo. There’s a reported Purchase offer from last year here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062126586-post19.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062126586-post19.html</a> that doesn’t bode well.</p>
<p>Some schools are generous, some aren’t. Publics, particularly in this economy may well be tightening the purse strings.</p>
<p>Many schools offer the talent/merit money awards within or shortly after the acceptance letter. Need based aid tends to follow, but each is school specific. Try looking at the financial aid pages of your schools in question. In the case of Purchase, you might want to email the faculty contact you’ve mentioned.</p>
<p>Bassplayer, you are an example of why we tell students that even if they are majoring in music they should strive for the best grades in the hardest curriculum they can handle and work for good test scores. Academic merit scholarships can be a big piece of the financial solution to attend the expensive schools. Excellent start. It’s hard waiting for the music piece though.</p>
<p>My d has been offered an 18k merit award (Howard Hanson scholarship) from Eastman for vocal performance. Her acceptance letter states that her admission is based on the “strongest recommendation of the faculty.” Yet, we know of another female vocal performance student who was offered 26k merit award from Eastman last year. I’m not sure what to think about my d’s offer. Is 18k a good offer from Eastman for vocal performance? Would CCM be considered a comparable enough school to try and negotiate for more $$?</p>
<p>Welcome falconmom92. Great question and one I am interested in hearing the answer to. I am also interested in knowing when you heard from Eastman on your acceptance. And was it email or snail mail? THANKS and CONGRATS.</p>
<p>I would not be too quick to compare amounts from last year with amounts from this year. A lot can change. </p>
<p>Regarding CCM, they start out at a lower cost before aid, so what you have to look at is not the absolute value of the scholarships but the cost of attendance at both schools after grants and scholarships are subtracted from the list price. If those numbers differ by a lot, it would be worth asking about.</p>
<p>Hi! I’m glad to have found this thread. It’s so hard to wait for these letters from the schools wondering what our costs will be for next year. My D heard from Eastman by email; I think two days ago. I am aware the costs of ESM and CCM are very different and that we should compare cost of attendance. We have yet to hear $$ from CCM, but we are still hopeful since a faculty member my D had a lesson with wrote and said she was very interested in working with her. As it stands now, without a CCM scholarship, the COA at ESM would be slightly better. When does CCM usually send out $$ letters? Snail mail or email? Also would a merit award from Roosevelt have been included in her financial aid letter? If so, she got no merit award from Roosevelt. Also we have yet to get an official letter from Oberlin, although a faculty member wrote my D and said she had recommended her for admittance.</p>
<p>From what I have heard, CCM has already announced academic scholarships through UC, but not yet the talent awards from the Conservatory. I believe Oberlin tries to have the financial aid info in the acceptance letter. I don’t know about the others.</p>
<p>CCM’s financial aid letters should be arriving now. We got ours yesterday.</p>
<p>Just a heads-up - sometimes extra scholarships for academics will trickle in after the main package. In the past this happened to my older son at USC and for my younger at Michigan - and both were for enough money to make a difference.</p>
<p>Please, do not compare last year’s numbers with this years- costs have gone up at many schools and funding has been cut. Schools were counting upon funding which is not going to be coming in thanks to funding cuts-go read the entire bill- which were buried deep within the Health Care Reform Bill. All of those things added together= more money that most of us don’t have…</p>
<p>I was just told by Purchase that they will NOT be offering me any scholarships right now. This is really bad news for me and my family. We really need at least $5,000 a year in some sort of outward money, and we were really counting on it to be from scholarship. So? Should I hassle or not?</p>
<p>If you need it, by all means ask!</p>