I’ve started to look at the financial aspects of the music schools on S’s application list, which now contains more schools than he could possibly apply to (due to the restrictions imposed by his high school), thinking of eliminating those that are our financial reach. NEC is already off the table, and I’m not sure about Berklee and Boston Conservatory. Do any CC parents have experience with these 2 schools? Do they award scholarships close to or exceeding 50% of tuition? If you have other conservatories to suggest, I would appreciate it, too. FYI, S is applying as a composition major and intends to take jazz performance (double major/minor/elective) as well.
Eastman, New School
Hartt
My son’s a performance major at Berklee for jazz saxophone. His scholarship covers half of his tuition, plus a grant that covers an additional quarter. One of his close friends goes to NEC, jazz piano. Not sure of exact amount but I know from conversations at commitment time that the scholarship offer was a big factor, so I’m sure it’s substantial.
We know kids who did very well at Berklee!
Most of the kids I know of who, in my opinion, are extremely talented got mid-range amounts at Berklee (low to mid 20’s) and low amounts at NEC (10-20K). There is a rare, occasional higher amount at NEC but I think they are very rare. My D was offered low at NEC and high at other schools so it just depends. She got merit money that covers 75% tuition at New School but almost all of the instrumentalists that she knows that were offered money at NS were offered low including her unbelievably talented guitarist friend who has won every imaginable award including Grand Prize Finalist for the LA Spotlight awards. It’s crazy at how random it seems to be. As much as you want to have some sort of assurance, it’s a roll of the dice. Never in a million years would I have expected my D to end up at New School with that price tag but crazy enough they came in with the highest merit award and thankfully it was the best fit for her as well. Which lends me to the comment that I believe @bridgenail made way back, your kid will very likely land in the right spot. The fit for her was mutual for the school as well clearly since the school offered her such a high amount.
Hang in there and keep the faith!
You mention 50% of tuition. But tuition is only a part of the cost. I assume you mean 50% of total cost.
Colburn and Curtis have free tuition as you know.
For many families, even with merit aid, stand alone conservatories are out of range financially. One NEC faculty member in composition suggested (after the student was accepted and got around $20k merit) attending a school nearby and studying with him privately as an affordable option!
Colburn https://www.colburnschool.edu/conservatory/apply-to-the-conservatory/tuition-fees-expenses/
Curtis https://www.curtis.edu/admissions/financial-assistance/
this was interesting: https://thebestschools.org/magazine/tuition-free-colleges/
sorry for the tangent!
I really meant 50% of tuition, as a convenient way of estimating affordability. Furthermore, I thought stand alone conservatories that award merit-aid covering 50% or more of total cost would be very very rare.
I do wish my son could include the tuition-free conservatories on his application list - we were advised not to due to their gearing more towards classical genre as well as rigid training, which does not seem like a fit to S’s style and aesthetics.
I think looking for percent of tuition is smart. The tuition amount is pretty much fixed or will increase yearly X percent whereas housing costs will change. For us as a family, this year will certainly be the most expensive year for us since D will be in a dorm in Greenwich village which is 20K JUST for the housing, no food! OUCH! Most kids move off campus to apartments after the first year and save a ton of money which is our plan for D. She should be able to get an apartment with her own room and 3-4 roommates next year and save us a bundle so our costs will actually go down next year. Incidentally, faculty at NS urged D to be as involved as possible and do as much as she can this year to help other students as well and then to appeal her merit award again every year to increase it. It will be interesting to see if that happens but since they pushed her to do it I’m hopeful for another bump in merit money next year.
Our experience is that the merit was a fixed amount but the tuition went up each year.
Oberlin, Berklee, Hartt - based on our experience a few years ago. S will graduate from NEC next spring