@Compojazzmom - USC used to guarantee the half Presidential scholarship to National Merit Finalists - but I don’t know if that applied to international students. And it’s no longer a guarantee, I believe. The full Trustee scholarship is competitive, and usually requires an invitation and interview. The higher the stats the better. USC definitely gives more funding for academic merit than music. @vistajay’s son got a very generous offer from Thornton - more than most.
Ultimately, I think if my son is able to get any scholarships at all, the chance for music talent aids will be far higher than academic ones. Maybe that has an implication regarding the schools he should apply to as well?
Here’s the official USC scholarship write-up for the 2018-2019 academic year (actual grades/scores change by the year and can’t be known in advance, but you can get a good idea based on this year’s freshman profile, which should be released soon):
https://admission.usc.edu/docs/Scholarships.pdf
Last year’s freshman profile:
https://admission.usc.edu/docs/USCFreshmanProfile.pdf
Depends @Compojazzmom . Do you have a low or high EFC? If you have a low EFC, I would recommend your S apply to schools that claim to meet 100% need. If your EFC is high, then look for schools that might give generous merit aid. You can see by reading this thread, merit scholarships are very unpredictable so it is wise to apply to various of these.
As some have expressed sticker shock, I’ll just give a few “opinions” particularly for classical VOCALISTS…and managing expectations…
@vistajay has a stellar academic student, NMF…so if you don’t have a NMF student or close, your results could differ.
@NYsaxmom has an instrumentalist. I have not seen a lot of vocalists pull in free tuition or high $50K in music scholarship. I’m sure there are a few (I knew 1). I’ve seen better awards in grad school for vocalists. Be careful with comparisons.
@dramasopranomom was smart about need…but unfortunately not everyone has need. Some schools do need-informed awards, some don’t.
So for a great student (but not tippy top), no need (or need leaving you 50K to pay yearly), AND being a young vocalist…you may find yourself like @YertleTurtle IN GENERAL. And when big awards are shown…people with lesser awards may not post them. Our experience was nearly identical to @YertleTurtle and most parents I knew with vocalists and no need where in this “average but still amazing” boat.
Big awards do happen…but be sure to have a smart list so your big awards don’t leave you with a big bill nonetheless.
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@Compojazzmom’s S is international - so only schools which meet need for internationals would work, if there was proven need. It complicates the search. I’ve suggested schools like McGill and Purchase which have a lower price to begin with for international students.
@SpiritManager Thanks for the clarification. In the search I’ll assume there’ll be no need-based aid for us, so we’ll be primarily focusing on schools with possibilities of merit scholarships for any amount exceeding what SUNY Purchase costs.
I’m wondering if there are other international parents seeking advice for their musical kids here @ Music Major.
@vistajay but you do have to tell us after it’s over if you were right
@NYsaxmom , I am cheating, because my odds of being right are 50/50 at this point!
@vistajay :)) :))
agreed with @bridgenail completely. D being a jazz vocalist has some great offers, some not so great. The best are half COA. @NYsaxmom was extremely generous in posting specifics of scholarships! She has a very talented instrumentalist D. Mine would NOT qualify for much academic scholarship if any. The only school offering her great academic money was Loyola. Every other scholarship was purely talent based. We got zero need-based money despite our EFC being low this year due to our son in college.
@NYsaxmon
My daughter is a recent Blair grad. Your previous post is my understanding of the merit/need-based situation. There are a number of different scholarships available (music and academic), but you’re right – a merit scholarship would simply lower any need-based award. Our experience was that need-based aid was consistent year to year (no sudden negative surprises), subject to demonstrated need each year. The folks in the financial aid office are accessible (though probably pretty busy at this time of year) and always willing to talk.
@StringPop thank you for the information. In theory need based doesn’t change much but in our situation in 2016 (which is what the freshman aid is based on) I had some health issues that dropped my income considerably. Althought not back to where I once was (nor will I be) the increase in 2017 is enough for it to be a big difference sophomore year. I have emailed them and they didn’t say an immediate “no” which is encouraging!!! And then an email letting me know they are looking into options and I will hear seomthing by the end of the week. So they are nice sympathetic people!!! But I know it’s a long shot, so I’m not holding my breath, but it is my D’s #1 pick so I have to try.
What was your D’s instrument? And any advice on pros and cons of Blair? Thee seems to be very little info on CC
@bridgenail you are right, VP is much different with respect to competitiveness than instrumentalists, although my D is playing one of the most common instruments so it’s pretty rough!!! But I am so glad she is not a vocalist (and if you heard her sing, you’d be glad too 
:)) )
I do know that Frost has the Stamps groups, and they get a total full ride…everything paid! And I’m pretty sure there are Stamps vocal groups. It varies by year (for example there was not an opening for a Stamps clarinet position this year; I think that is open in 2019).
And I am going to ask a question that I have no clue about. Does anyone know what the deal is when our kids get to the stage of applying for a masters? Are there scholarships for Masters programs for musicians? I know that for academic programs they can get funding as they can become TAs but have no clue what to expect with a musician (none of my kids have yet gone on to a Masters). And I know that is many years in the future but the only reason I ask is that deciding which school to pick now can be influenced by what we may face in a few years. Maybe it is better to take the cheapest option now and save the money for the inevitable Masters if there are no scholarships to be had then? Or if there are scholarships for Masters, maybe it’s better to pay a little more for a bachelors at a “better” school, hoping that you have more chance of the Masters you want, or to get any scholarships at that stage??
Thoughts?
@NYsaxmom I think as far as master’s program it is all over the place. What I did hear is Master’s is much more important than Bachelor degree so if she is looking for prestige Like MSM, NEC, Peabody etc it is most likely the same grueling process of being at the right place at the right time kinda thing. But from the look of your track record so far it looks like she will do well.
I actually thought it was a “rule” on these boards to not discuss award amounts. I think it is helpful but can also cause unrealistic expectations just as everyone throwing around the term “generous” can. What’s generous to one, is not necessarily generous to another.
My D is Soph in college now and I’m pretty sure she tossed out all her award letters, etc. so I cannot give “to the penny” comments on awards. @SpartanDrew - I really thought my D would be attending either Loyola NOLA or Frost (she did neither) and I can give you comparisons on those (if they so happen to be the 2 left on your list) by PM if you’d like. She was pursuing commercial music / music business programs (voice). Loyola would have been very affordable and Frost was extremely generous considering their total COA was one of the most expensive.
Our experience was that all offers in the end were “close” but the most expensive schools were still the most expensive and the least expensive schools were still the least expensive. The difference was the $35K spread was now a $9K spread. (The exception being Berklee. It was far and away the most expensive and not included in the $9K spread we were left with as it was not at all an option.) I’d say about 40-60% COA was typical for her offers.
I have since found other parents IRL that had similar stories about some of the same schools D applied to, and there is something else interesting I’ve noticed. I’ll use an example to explain…
School A, Student A
$40,000 tuition
($5,000) Talent
($15,000) Academic
No need based aid
Final price tag
$20,000
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
School A, Student B
$40,000 tuition
($10,000) Talent
($10,000) Academic
No need based aid
Final price tag
$20,000
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
School A, Student C
$40,000 tuition
($15,000) Talent
No academic
($5000) Need
Final price tag
$20,000
I have heard this over and over again. The end price offer was (probably not exactly the same) but remarkably close between students, but the distribution was all over the place. That is why it’s hard to “compare” bits and pieces of the picture. My D was consistently offered significant academic awards and her talent awards looked tiny by comparison. I think, internally, she perceived this as she wasn’t very good. After the fact (in talking with other parents that also went thru the process) I found the above example to be common. So, because she was getting large academic awards, it seemed they were adjusting the talent accordingly. Another student with no academic award was being “enticed” by a larger talent award. I sometimes wonder if there is a bottom line they are not easily willing to cross. Maybe I’m completely wrong or that is completely abnormal, but that has been our experience in comparing with others on the same instrument / program at some schools.
At her current school, it was all laid out very clearly. These are the awards you could qualify for, here’s the max awarded, etc. We thought we hit the jackpot when her talent and academic totalled full COA… until we saw they didn’t stack. LOL
I will say that we got calls after the deadline at nearly all schools after the deadline offering to still admit her if she was interested and also one school came thru with more $ just before May 1 without us requesting any.
I also want to suggest paying very close attention to any of your kids indecision. I realized after the fact that I was “running the show” way more than I should have been and it created a whole lot of stress on the entire family when my D switched gears after the official “deadline” and applied to (and currently attends) a completely different school after accepting at another. I had been doing all the leg work all along because she was so busy and stressed out. Really, I don’t think I knew what she really wanted (even though she seemed in agreement all along the way)…maybe she didn’t really know either.
Long post gets longer…
Another thing to ask a school… Is there potential for additional scholarships as an existing student? My D is able to apply for additional scholarships every year. As a freshman, she applied for only 1 (as she was confused as to how many she could use the same essay for, etc.) and she did receive additional $. She has just applied for 3 more and we shall see how that turns out.
As for some of the other considerations and comments about drive and opportunity…that’s another post when I have more time. lol
@dbandmom when you say Tuition are you including room and Board? Would Conservatories Final Price tag be higher due to COA around 65,000.
@musicdm My numbers were meant to be “generic” and just to demonstrate the fact that when we compared some of D’s offers to other kids offers, they may have been given more or less in the category of “talent” “academic” or “need” but the bottom lines were very similar. Not all, but many.
To go further (real numbers) I’d have to pull out old paperwork but off the top of my head I think she ended up with full COA (tuition, room, board) offers mostly in the range of $21 - $30K compared to the full COA list prices in the range of $42 - $65K. (If that’s what you’re looking for). Generally speaking, she was offered 40-60% off total COA at all but 1 school (Berklee)
@dbandmom Yes that is exactly what I was looking for.