Boston Conservatory voice (soprano) came in this morning with a great offer as well!
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Major congrats from a BU (non music) alum!!
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We also got merit for academics back in November and it was recently readjusted slightly higher. We are also OOS so would need a lot more money to have it in the ballpark of affordable.
I have often advocated for the BA option- or including it in the applications- for schools that are a good match musically (often schools that do NOT have a BM degree) and for a kid who can thrive with more academics than a BM.
The level of musical talent and work ethic on this thread often earns admission to some very selective BA schools (my kid landed at Harvard). And many BA kids I know went on to MM or doctorate and are now working musicians.
Of course BM programs are wonderful for those who want total focus on music, and affordability can sometimes be mitigated with merit or financial aid.
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A great result from BU! Is anyone else still waiting for Juilliard?
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I’m waiting for Juilliard
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None of the appeals started with zero merit. She got merit from every school except CMU. Ours was a similar situation to some upthread - we thought they would give merit, but they basically don’t give any to undergrads. It was my daughter’s “wild card” school, and it was never really high on her list. If I could have a do-over, I’d have encouraged her to apply to another school, like Peabody or NEC, rather than CMU. Anyway, we didn’t appeal that one because she wasn’t really interested in it.
Most of her offers came in with pretty solid merit, but with the cost of these places, every dollar makes a difference. It was definitely worth the trouble of appealing to get more.
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@Clara30 thank you. We have one that may be his top choice with zero merit, and a couple with substantial merit that are making personal phone calls to him. Trying to read the room to figure out if he can leverage that for even a small amount of merit at his favorite.
These are all helpful perspectives. Trying to decide whether to ask for more merit in cases where the merit is honestly pretty good. DC has offers with merit from Eastman, Oberlin, NEC which are roughly similar but the preferred school’s merit is about $30K vs the second-ranked school $40K, so the COA is definitely affected. We can manage it either way but it’s obviously more comfortable if we could get parity between the two, so that money isn’t at all deciding factor. Just wondering whether it’s worth it to pursue relatively small differences in what is honestly really good merit. I mean, the merit scholarships are drawn from a shared pool of money and part of me feels like it’s potentially taking from others in greater need. Probably overthinking this.
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If it’s any consolation, we’ve long heard that NEC also gives no money to undergrads
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At Oberlin the department chair offered to advocate for money. Not sure what your preferred school is though 
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Another cautious post here on merit. For schools that give merit to UG, it is not only linked to talent…it can be linked to need. My D watched this play out over 6 years in music schools. You can be very talented and not get merit bc the school is full up with your instrument. You are good enough for the school but they have a lot of your instrument so they may not really need another of you…putting you in a very competitive situation for top performance opportunities. This may be a little less so in UG but it is definitely true for grad. My D’s rule was no merit no go. As a vocalist, she needed to build a resume of roles…not ensemble participation. And…kids talk about their merit once they arrive at school. It’s inevitable. For some that may not matter. But remember your kid could be sharing a room, a house and a classroom with someone paying significantly less and getting more opportunities. If that doesn’t bother a kid that’s fine. And yes, you could easily grow and get a lot of opportunities…most schools offer a lot to UG. Still, it should be thought over carefully. Schools that are enthusiastic for you…are places that see opportunities for you. So food for thought. If you have a real “go getter” that has no issues with the competition…go anywhere. But if your kid may be “sensitive” to the merit issue and peers…think it over.
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I don’t think that is true. We talked to an NEC rep at a college fair last year and again during an audition visit this year. What they stressed is that they strive to give every undergrad around the same amount of merit/talent scholarship, rather than small amounts to some and big amounts to others. When I pressed for an amount, she said it’s typically around half of tuition.
See also their appeals policy on p.20 of their financial aid guide here.
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This checks out, I know someone personally who received about 30k in aid from NEC per year, who ultimately didn’t decide to go. It seems they do give but aid but aren’t as generous as other schools can be.
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i dont think thats true.
my friend and i are both for bm. im for bm viola and shes for bm violin
we both got a decent amount that cut down tuition by over half.
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We may be outliers, but my son was offered full tuition at NEC applying as an undergrad (and told by the teacher he could also request more for housing). This was straight merit aid, three years ago.
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Mine included Emory University on her list with this in mind. It’s now one of her more affordable options with their great grant aid.
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There’s been so much helpful dialog about schools, merit, etc., but little-to-no discussion as yet about studio assignments in schools where our kids have been accepted. This is a dimension that is heavily influencing our family’s thinking, and I’d love this group’s thoughts on whether or not we should be giving it so much weight — especially from those of you who have kids midway through or done with UG music performance programs.
Did your kids get their first-choice studios? If not, how influential has this been on their trajectories? In hindsight, was this a signal to pay attention to?
Our specifics, if relevant: dual degree/double major (piano/math), fortunate with admissions with what sounds like a somewhat typical range of merit from $0 to very helpful amounts. Thanks for any wisdom you can share!
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NEC did sell a 10M Strad last year, might of been helpful to their coffers.
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My opinion is that it doesn’t hurt to ask, especially if you have better offers elsewhere that you can use to negotiate. Tuition will go up every year, so getting the best financial package out of the gate is helpful. By the time he graduates, it will be at least as much as you’d be paying with that extra $10k.
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