<p>Our son will qualify for a full-tuition scholarship in Georgia to any public institution to which he is accepted, and he is competitive for all of them. However, the best university in our state has NO BFA theater program! They have an MFA, which means those students probably get preferential casting in the mainstage productions. Also, although they have a music department and offer BFAs in vocal performance, they have NO musical theater program and you’d have to sort of cobble one together for yourself. </p>
<p>Of the five mainstage productions each year the school has “maybe one” musical… I was SO disappointed to find out that University of Georgia, our state’s best liberal arts university and where he could go for FREE, will not even be an option!</p>
<p>Ithaca College has very generous scholarships. Two of my students have been admitted to the MT department this year, and both received great financial aid packages – some academic, and some talent-based.</p>
<p>This is my first time to post, though I’ve been a reader for a few months. My D went through the audition process this season and was admitted to several schools for MT. I can tell you from our experience that Oklahoma City University gives LOTS of money-full tuition! Webster, Emerson, UMiami, and Pace all gave between half and two-thirds tuition. NYU gave almost nothing. Otterbein was pretty decent, too. My D got a fairly equal balance of academic and talent scholarships. Strong SAT and ACT scores and grades really do matter. Several of the schools asked my D about her grades and test scores at the beginning of the audition. I hope this is helpful!</p>
<p>OCU can be generous but one point of clarification…When we were going through the process 2 years ago they made it a point to say that in most cases scholarships were stackable and will cover up to full tuition but NOT room and board. There are some exceptions: National merit scholars get a total ride even if not the first choice school with NatMerit, certain ethnic groups (I think native americans) can get a total ride. Both those are funded through OK state programs. Any other assistance would be in the form of loans. At OCU Tuition represents approx 50% of the annual cost.</p>
<p>To skipsmom…since you are in GA let me point out something to you that could be VERY important. GA is one of 16 states in the Academic Common Market. Google it to get the link, but basically this is the concept: if your student wants a major that is not offered in your state but IS in one of the ACM states, you can work through the designated ACM agency in your state and basically attend the program in one of those other states and pay the same tuition you would in your home state. In states where they do have tuition subsidy programs (we have TOPS in LA) that makes a free ride possible sometimes that can also be applied. That is a VERY broad brush description and there are lots of other details but if you haven’t heard of it (and we hadn’t when we were doing our search) it at least provides another option to be aware of. That won’t necessarily apply to private schools, mostly public.</p>
<p>Skipsmom, My daughter was in the same boat regarding schools in Georgia. She didn’t have the grades for the HOPE tho. She applied to Shorter and Brenau and was accepted to both schools but they weren’t quite what she was looking for. She has quite a few MT friends that are going to schools that are ACM with Georgia. That is a great option to look into. Best of luck!</p>
<p>I have looked in to the academic common market program and unfortunately there is a BFA in musical theater offered at a state school, in Valdosta, Georgia. The programs we looked at were good for in-state tuition “swaps” only for masters’ level degrees :(</p>
<p>CCPA-Roosevelt is really good with talent awards. I got SIGNIFICANTLY more from Roosevelt than I got anywhere else. Others who I have talked to received a large amount as well.</p>
<p>D is a VP major at Steinhardt who does receive a merit scholarship based on talent (without having any need.) I know that as a general rule, NYU is trying to phase out merit aid without need, but my understanding is that they still do exist in talent-based programs in Steinhardt and Tisch to allow them to draw from the top ranks of students. I believe that NYU plans to continue to offer these merit scholarships. These scholarships can range in dollar amounts, but I would probably put them in the $5 to $10K range/year. </p>
<p>For a student who has need (like the OP) a financial aid/ talent package can be much more substantial. D has several friends who are in her program who have very low out of pocket costs becasue of the generous packages they receive.</p>
<p>Interestingly, a very upfront guy at Steinhardt answered my son’s emailed query a couple of months ago about the potential availability of financial aid saying frankly that very little was offered by NYU, and he probably shouldn’t waste his time if his financial need was significant. He HADN’T auditioned at that point, in case you were wondering…And decided not to. Maybe he shouldn’t have!</p>
<p>The ^^^ meant my post was in reference to your post immediately above it about not applying to NYU due to someone saying if you needed financial aid, not to bother. Every situation is different, but just commenting that I am glad we didn’t follow that advice as it turned out that NYU gave the biggest scholarship of 7 BFA scholarships D received and so you never know until you apply and see what happens in individual cases.</p>
<p>Susan (who does live in a mountain range) ;)</p>
<p>Thanks - and for the advice. Thanks to that (AND the fact that Steinhardt accepts preaudition tapes or youtubes until Jan. 1st) son has decided to give it a whirl. This whole college process is giving me a cramp.</p>
<p>I know Illinois Wesleyan University has a great up and coming music theatre major and they are exetremely generous with their scholarships. I believe all their BFAs get a talent scholarship of 10,000+/year. There are other scholarships to be had as well, and I know from friends how willing to work with you they are if you go to the financial office and talk to them.</p>