Thanks everyone. My D was priority wait listed last year, but was offered a spot at DePaul BFA with a generous merit package. However, she is likely going to apply to CMU next year as a transfer. I’m surprised at CMU’s lack of general merit scholarships, given that they have a huge endowment. I’ve heard that NYU does not have a large endowment, so I can understand their policy of “non-negotiation” more. Good luck to all Wait Listers!
@uskoolfish Thanks for the reply. I’m a middle income single Mom, and I find it comical sometimes when they say we don’t have “need” when NYU would cost well into the 60k per year range.
As I understand it (in a VERY limited way) not all majors/departments within a school are equal in terms of merit aide. I have read a number of time here on CC that NYU Steinhart offers merit $$ (not a ton, but some) that NYU Tisch does not. As for CMU - the students who I know who have gone there for STEM majors have often received generous aide, but again, I have read here about it being a struggle for BFA majors - perhaps b/c BFA kids are not held to the same academic standards as non BFAs?
@audrone is your D at DePaul this year? Would love to hear about it
I have chronicled my experience with CMU before in other threads. Initially CMU offered only need based money (and who in the world calculates those EFCs? Ridiculous!). We are definitely middle class and my S had great grades but the first offer contained no merit money. My initial inquiries about aid were pretty much rebuffed with an attitude of “We are CMU, we are expensive, you know it, we know it, pay it if you want to go here.” There is an appeal process that you can follow, which we did. You have to tell them what you want. Our first submission was rejected and we were told to submit a lower figure. We did that and were then awarded a grant (not a loan) that was less than our amended request. That made CMU doable but not without considerable debt for both us and our kid. Very tough for our middle income means and for our future actor. Ultimately S did not go to CMU and finances definitely paid a role although it was not the #1 factor in his decision. BTW, we were told by the head of the department that the department did not get involved in the process and that whatever was done was totally up to the financial aid committee.
From the kids I have known who have gone to CMU, in several different majors, the merit aid is not the same in each department. I always thought that CMU made this pretty clear, although maybe not recently?
Like Tisch, CMU’s BFA is one of the most expensive programs and also one that gives little to no merit aid without financial need.
We learned with my older son who is majoring in Engineering that the schools that typically only accept the highest caliber of students academically don’t tend to offer academic merit based awards. What we heard was that the majority of students have very high GPAs and test scores, so how would they determine who should get those awards and they don’t really need to offer merit based awards to attract the best academic students. So they save their awards for those with some type of financial need. I wouldn’t think it’s much different for musical theatre students at those same schools. Sometimes they have talent based awards for those that they really want. But again, for some of the top programs, they don’t need those types of incentives to attract the talent either and it still comes back to financial need. I definitely agree that FAFSA and College Board have no concept of what real families can afford when they calculate EFCs.
@IfYouOnlyKnew - I don’t believe he did for this go round, but I will definitely be encouraging him to do so during this deferral year!!
@bfahopeful My daughter’s experience at DePaul has been mixed. She’s had some great teachers, but she feels that she has way too much free time, and the freshman requirement for crew assignments each term is not very helpful. She would prefer to spend more time in voice and speech class, or in more rigorous training. On the other hand, she feels she has learned lots of useful skills and has worked with wonderful teachers. Her classmates are super talented. I think she wants to see what options are available to her and then make a decision. She would be fine finishing her BFA at DePaul if need be. We think the next 3 years would be much more rigorous. I guess we’re figuring this all out as we go along. And one more thing - the general academics courses there seem to be pretty easy.
@audrone I sent you a PM. Thanks!
Anyone else just get a letter from BW inviting them to the New BFA acting program??? Says they anticipate BFA approval within 6 weeks.
@MTMOM16 my S is an MT at BW - he says they hired the new head and says it is scheduled to be in place by Fall term - I assume for auditions? They have a process for the current BA students to audition in but I have no details as to how that will work.
@artskids Wow! The letter is pretty clear that they will use the audition that has already been done for the MT program. This sure changes things. How does your son like BW? When we visited, we loved it.
Yes @MTMOM16
@MTMOM16. My S is very happy at BW. Let me know if you have any specific questions. If I can’t answer them, @kategrizz may be able to!
Changing topics here…Now that all is said and done here in terms of applications and decisions, I have a PILE of paperwork, folders, binders, etc. from all the different schools that S applied to and auditioned at. I’m having trouble just pitching them in the trash/shredding them. Am I OK to do that? Do I need to keep anything other than the obvious stuff (chosen school’s info, FAFSA papers, sheet music, resume, applications)???
Saw great videos and heard wonderful things (including from the pair who created the show) about the BW production of The Theory of Relativity. Bravo if any of your kids were involved in this.
@Dankadon bonfire!!! Seriously – shred anything w fafsa/personal information but I am in the process of tossing all of those pamphlets, letters, etc.
Thanks @alwaysamom - my D was in the BW production of Theory! She really enjoyed the show - it was so new, that she had no idea what to expect when she was cast (nor did any of the other kids) but she really ended up liking it a lot! We certainly enjoyed it as spectators… we got to see her in it twice. It had a very short run which was nearly sold out. Many of the Playhouse Square folks I talked to said they wished it was running another weekend because of what great reviews audiences were giving it on their way out of the theater! (If you saw the promo video - she’s the long blonde curly headed one with the blue eyes, in the oversized blue sweater)
@kategrizz and she was WONDERFUL. Sorry, sidebar to gush over her. Lol