Community Service

College Majors Music Majors
6

<p>sagiter, my son was in the same boat with the music 24/7 throughout high school, as are a good many of the folks here. Between hs music, pit orchestra for spring musical, yo, private lessons, 3 string quartets & coachings, a decent amount of paying gigs, there was little time for eating, let alone community service.</p>

<p>And what little community service he did, it was musical. Some mentoring, coaching of elementary & middle school kids, the hospital, nursing and vet home visits, and pro bono performances for some civic activities and nonprofit fundraisers. </p>

<p>I agree with BassDad, you don’t complete for the broad spectrum scholarships, be they local, regional, or national, unless your kid’s talent fall within the parameters and there is a realistic chance of being competitive within the pool (kinda sounds like audition advice ;)).</p>

<p>Face it, in many cases, the time spent drafting & revising the essay alone may be better served doing scales and rep for audition prep.</p>

<p>Singersmom07 has sound advice. Target the theme. Son’s quartet had a recurring well paying gig at a supper club. They played the week after the 9/11 attack, and announced they were contributing their pay to one of the 9/11 charities, and left a donation can on one of the tables. By the end of their gig, they had over $1000, excluding their contribution. He incorporated this experience in his school applications and scholarship essays. Even without this, he was able to focus and expand on the smiles, the joy, the memories his other cs participation evoked in describing his participation. </p>

<p>It maybe a bit late now, but if you’re looking for music specific outside scholarships, there is not much out there. Most are competition based, and offered by local, regional, and a few national paid orchestras. Additionally, local music societies, instrument specific societies, music educators groups, provide them as well. Again, some are worth the effort, some aren’t. Son had local peers that nailed a few nice ones, but we were in a geographic area that afforded a number of decent sized competition based awards; not all are so fortunate. </p>

<p>I spent many hours looking for these opportunities for son both prior to and during his undergrad, and would be happy to pass along any info I may still have.</p>

<p>Face it, we and our kids fill a niche market, and the broad spectrum scholarships usually don’t fit. Is it fair? Maybe. Maybe not. It might be, because depending on where your son ends up, many of these opportunities will still exist as an undergrad, and not just as an entering freshman. Institutional internal competitions, instrument specific departmental and/or endowed, alumni scholarships for continuing students, local, regional, national performing organization competitions are still available, and are often tiered to different age/performing levels.</p>

<p>And don’t forget all the free, full tuition or full ride summer festival/program opportunities that many will compete for and take advantage of, often into and beyond grad school. </p>

<p>Again, it’s a crap shoot. Much like an audition. Know your opportunities, and take advantage of all that provide a realistic expectation of positive results. Tilting at windmills is frustrating; shooting fish in a barrel can be far more rewarding. </p>

<p>A couple of prior outside scholarship threads:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/663031-private-music-scholarships.html?highlight=scholarships[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/663031-private-music-scholarships.html?highlight=scholarships&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And some competition or discipline specific possibilities:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/559701-long-island-competitions.html?highlight=competitions[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/559701-long-island-competitions.html?highlight=competitions&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/541925-guitar-competitions.html?highlight=competitions[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/541925-guitar-competitions.html?highlight=competitions&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/487175-must-do-vocal-competitions-beyond-all-states.html?highlight=competitions[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/487175-must-do-vocal-competitions-beyond-all-states.html?highlight=competitions&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/269839-trumpet-competitions.html?highlight=competitions[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/269839-trumpet-competitions.html?highlight=competitions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;