Merit Scholarships - MT Schools

College Majors Musical Theater Majors
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<p>I thought it might be useful to list scholarships we’ve come across in our college searches or been pleasantly surprised by at admissions time for the sake of those who’ll be applying/auditioning next year. After all, who wants to start off in a business with such shaky employment prospects with a lot of debt? I posted something similar to this on Theatre/Drama awhile back and some of the schools I looked at offer MT. Most of these are academic scholarships for kids with National Merit Finalist level academic stats … </p>

<p>[Catawba College](<a href=“http://www.catawba.edu/administrative/financialaid/firstfamilyscholarship.htm”>www.catawba.edu/administrative/financialaid/firstfamilyscholarship.htm</a>) has a bunch of [full</a> and part-tuition scholarships](<a href=“http://www.catawba.edu/administrative/development/endowed.htm]full”>www.catawba.edu/administrative/development/endowed.htm) with several set aside for theatre/MT majors and still others that are non-major specific through the First Family Scholarship Competition. They offer up to $2,000 in talent scholarships to the people they want, too. Be careful using this school as a safety because they attract some very smart and talented kids from lower middle class families who can’t afford some of the more “name” schools through these scholarships and admission into the BFA in MT the second year aint no gimme. I was using them as a safety and had been following some student Live Journals. I saw that there were some very devastated people around there recently who are supposedly pretty darn talented that didn’t make it.</p>

<p>[University</a> of Miami](<a href=“http://www.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/1,1770,29532-1;30010-2;29913-2;29467-3,00.html]University”>www.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/1,1770,29532-1;30010-2;29913-2;29467-3,00.html) offers lots of academic scholarships that range from half to full-tuition. </p>

<p>[Otterbein</a> College](<a href=“http://www.otterbein.edu/admission/financial_aid/scholarships.asp]Otterbein”>www.otterbein.edu/admission/financial_aid/scholarships.asp) offers up to $13,000 in merit scholarships and up to $4,000 in talent money. </p>

<p>University of Arizona offers $19,500 per year to National Merit Finalists. To keep them for four years, you only have to maintain a 3.0 GPA and stay a full-time student.</p>

<p>[University</a> of Oklahoma](<a href=“http://www.go2.ou.edu/national_scholars/nonresident.htm]University”>www.go2.ou.edu/national_scholars/nonresident.htm) offers tuition wavers to National Merit Finalists plus a $3,000 cash stipend. They’re good for five years and all you have to do to keep them is stay a full-time student and keep a 2.8 GPA!</p>

<p>[Carnegie</a> Mellon University](<a href=“http://www.cmu.edu/enrollment/admission/know/scholar.html]Carnegie”>www.cmu.edu/enrollment/admission/know/scholar.html) offers some half-tuition scholarships. They have Presidential Scholarships, too, which I assume would cover full-tuition. I somehow missed this when I was doing my college search and didn’t apply or audition. Oh,well … I imagine the scholarships are as hard to get as it is to get accepted to their program. </p>

<p>I saw some talk about Tisch offering some $20,000 merit awards, too, which surprised me since I’d heard that they basically offer nada.</p>

<p>Does anybody know of more or want to share what they were offered in academic and talent money at the programs to which they’ve been accepted?</p>

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<p>Thesbohemian, this is a good idea. Frankly, until my child got her acceptance letters, I did not even know about the scholarships and merit awards these particular schools gave so they were a very pleasant surprise. Every school she got accepted to offered scholarships on talent and/or academics, and I am not even counting the need based financial aid award part. At the moment, I would have to look up all these but for right now, I can say that very nice awards came with acceptances to Boston Conservatory, NYU/Tisch, Syracuse University, Ithaca College, and Penn State. Most of these awardsd had names to them and so if you need me to look it all up, I can try when I get a chance. As well, my daughter’s financial aid packages at Emerson (BA, not BFA) and at Carnegie Mellon (waitlist) included very substantial grant awards but I don’t think THESE ones were based on talent/merit so don’t include those with the ones I mentioned before but am still mentioning that the grants were excellent. </p>

<p>Susan</p>

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<p>Arizona State University offers more than $20,000 per year for National Merit Finalists and National Hispanic Recognition Scholars.</p>

<p>University of Arizona offers $19,500 per year for National Hispanic Recognition Scholars, and may waive out-of-state tuition to in-state tuition for other students.</p>

<p>Oklahoma City offers different amounts up to $10,000 for academic scholarships, depending on GPA and test scores, plus talent scholarships.</p>

<p>Illinois Wesleyan offers $4,000 for National Hispanic Recognition Scholars plus up to $10,000 for academic or talent scholarships, but they don’t stack academic and talent scholarships.</p>

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<p>In response about scholarships. I was the one who received at 20,000 a year scholarship. To justify it was 10,000 merit based and 10,000 academic base. I auditioned in LA and did the summer program after my junior year at CAP 21. I dunno about how much they usually give out but I felt very lucky anyway. I dunno where I will end up in the fall yet, but it was nice to get some money. Academically I was surprised I received so much as i have only about a 1410 and a 4.0 GPA at a known very rigorous school. I was a national merit commended scholar but not a finalist. I mean thats not bad for MT but i didn’t think it would bring me 10,000 a year plus 10,000 more on talent! So I hope that clears up the NYU thing!</p>

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<p>I would also love to hear about any outside scholarships for theater (not associated with a specific school). I have heard of Donna Reed and Princess Grace on CC, but not many others. Doesn’t matter what level of undergrad, please share if you know any! Thanks.</p>

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<p>TaraMom, I don’t know any to tell you but my D is going for a few within our own state and you might want to look at more local or regional ones because sometimes the chances are greater with those than nationally based ones. </p>

<p>Cadget, we also were surprised to get a $20,000 Trustee Scholarship from Tisch/Cap21 as we did not even know that such a thing existed there. I felt likewise with all the schools’ scholarships that came this spring. There is quite a lot to be had at some of these programs and I had no idea.
Susan</p>

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<p>Emerson offers half tuition for students in their Honors Program. Students must maintain a B+ in all their classes and a B in Honors.</p>

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<p>Tisch Scholarships</p>

<p>I just wanted to add that I was surprised to find out, and am wondering if I was informed correctly, that all Tisch scholarships, even merit scholarships, still take into account parents’ income. This seems to make no sense to me as it would seem that a merit scholarship would not tie into financial ability to pay tuition. Can anybody with students who have Tisch scholarships address this? It just seems to me that if you have a merit scholarshp it would be based only on your talent, not your parents’ ability to pay your tuition.</p>

<p>Thanks for any insight to with regard to this question. As you can see, even though I was told otherwise through a Tisch source, it just doesn’t make sense from my perspective. Any input would be appreciated.</p>

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<p>Having been awarded a scholarship to tisch for merit I can verify that it is not based on my parents abilitity to pay. There is a difference from financial aid and a scholarship.</p>

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<p>theatredivasmom, I can address the Tisch question. When my D applied two and a half years ago, we inquired about this issue with several individuals at NYU. In our discussions with Arthur Bartow, who is the artistic director of the drama dept., Kevin Kuhlke the chair of the drama dept., Elliot Dee the assistant dean at the time, and two people from the financial aid dept. whose names I don’t recall, we were told that merit scholarships at Tisch, and indeed at all NYU colleges (with a very few exceptions), were tied to financial need. Awards were decided in conjunction with the normal f/a process and examination of the FAFSA information. True merit awards were not given without consideration of the ability of the family to pay. </p>

<p>We knew at the time that our family would not qualify for any financial aid and this is the reason we inquired. We were told by Dean Dee that D2 was the top academic student to be accepted that year, and that had she applied to CAS she likely would have been a presidential scholar because they do reserve a few of those each year strictly based on merit. However, in Tisch, she would only qualify for a Trustee’s scholarship, which I can assure you is a drop in the bucket, a very small drop! :slight_smile: It wouldn’t even cover her spending money or books for the year. So unless something has changed, and I honestly don’t think it has, based on a couple of kids we know who were accepted and judging from what they were offered, it would still be determined in conjunction with financial need. It’s similar to how the Ivies award scholarships, no merit is involved. NYU still designates this ‘merit’ scholarship money as such in their financial aid packages they send out, but in reality, the method by which it is arrived at, is definitely in conjunction with FAFSA information and financial need of the family involved.</p>

<p>One more thing I’d like to add, the ‘merit’ scholarship money at Tisch is for academic merit, not talent, as it is at some other schools.</p>

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<p>I dunno, like what you are saying above seems like a good package. It just does not fit with me at all. My FAFSA was filled out honestly for an income of about 200,000 dollars a year which i think does not lend me to get any money and also I did get a merit scholarship on talent and one on academics as was specifically stated in my acceptance packet. I am not saying the above is wrong because honestly i have no idea. All I know is that anything is possible if they want you enough( PS I really do not hope this post does not sound self righteous not then intention at all) I am lucky and i understand that but ya know in college i really ahve found out its more like anything goes so nothing seems to be black and white.</p>

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<p>Hi - regarding Tisch scholarship money. Our family income is about 100K. My d received a 9K per year Tisch scholarship. When I called to find out who she should write a thank-you to, the woman in charge said it was “half talent based, half academic based”. She said nothing about financial need. Just my 2 cents worth.</p>

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<p>It’s very possible things have changed in the past two and a half years. The son of a friend was accepted this year and due to an illness in his family I’ve been assisting him with the college process. I actually have to speak to Mary Schmidt Campbell on his behalf on Monday so I’ll confirm the changes with her for those who are interested. </p>

<p>rossji, I’m curious, did your D receive need-based aid on top of that $9,000?</p>

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<p>Dear Always a Mom why is this so important to you to make those who were told by tisch that this scholarship was indeed that a scholarship. To correct my Daughter because of our income we didnt fill out fasa. It is truly not important but we never inquired or applied for any scholarship or aid but my daughter attended cap21 last summer. It does bother me that some people cannot just be happy for others successes and try to make them feel that there rewards are not just. Its the same thing as some talented students getting accepted to a certain school and some other talented students not. Nothing in this field is black and white. Grades test scores being a national merit scholar matters. So please remember that every situation is different and by law admissions cannot disclose a lot of things in reguards to there processes.</p>

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<p>My d also received some loans (Stafford? Perkins? I don’t remember; the form is tucked away somewhere). We haven’t applied for them yet, but they’re listed on the estimated financial aid statement.</p>

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<p>cadget03, I apologize if that is the impression you got from what I posted but that was absolutely not my intention. I’m always happy to hear that these great kids receive aid from their schools, and I always support and rejoice in their decisions. I’m not sure why you think I’m not happy for all of them or why you would think that I would believe their rewards weren’t just, because I truly am. The point of this thread, I thought, was to provide information to prospective students as to what is available at each school in scholarship $$. Some schools, and Tisch used to be one of them, tied merit aid to financial need. This is no secret. Some do not do this and give large need-blind scholarships for both academics and talent. I’ve done counselling for enough years to know that it varies tremendously school to school, and also that sometimes policies change. I gave my D’s experience from 2 1/2 yrs. ago to show what it was then and I acknowledged that it may have now changed. This kind of information is important to kids when they make the decision as to when and where to apply. While it’s true that individual situations are governed by privacy laws in the admissions process, general policies aren’t. Again, I was in no way impugning your D or anyone else here. I was simply trying to provide information which may be of use for this year’s group of applicants. Not everyone can afford NYU, and it is notorious for poor financial aid, in all of its colleges, not just Tisch.</p>

<p>Thanks rossji, for the information. This may be helpful to the boy I’m currently trying to assist.</p>

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<p>AlwaysaMom,</p>

<p>Thank you for your extremely knowledgeable answer to my question. I am extremely happy for everyone who has received a scholarship and it is something they should feel great about; my only reason for the inquiry was because our income was above the $200,000 amount and I was given the impression by someone at Tisch that my daughter would not be likely to receive any aid, merit or financial, based on our income. The person I spoke with at Tisch did not mention any talent grants given just for talent and not tied to income. When people started mentioning them on this site I became curious. She is our only child in college at this point. Certainly Tisch’s tuition is a signficiant amount of money for any family. We have two other daughters and have saved for school for all three, but we never dreamt we’d be spending over $60,000 a year (by the time we add in travel costs and other expenses) for college. My request was never meant to cause any upset among anyone with regard to their scholarships. I truly apologize if I caused anyone concern. It is just in my nature to question and find answers to issues I may or may not understand. In that vein, thank you so much Alwaysamom, and I look forward to any other input you have with regard to this issue.</p>

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<p>As an addendum to the above post, when my daughter applied at IWU in Illinois, they offered her a signficiant academic grant ($10,000.00) and possibly a small ($1,000) for talent, all without regard to our income. The reason for the small amount for talent was that they are not allowed to stack scholarships; but they, evidently, can stack a small amount for talent as a nod to the student’s talent. So, I assumed that Tisch was similar in this regard until I talked with someone about scholarships and received similar information to that given Alwaysamom. </p>

<p>Thanks again for everyone’s information.</p>

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<p>a note regarding another school with their merit scholarships. ocu has a pretty standard system that list on their application material. a certain act score along with a certain grade point makes you eligible for a particular amount of money. it’s not guaranteed, but you are pretty sure to get it if you apply early. there are break points, at an act score of 24, you get one amount, then at 27, you get a little more, and so on. i think their talent scholarships are fairly subjective. but, the merit scholarships are not based on financial info, just scores and grades.</p>

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<p>I was in touch with Dean Campbell yesterday and she referred the boy I mentioned whom I’m helping, to Dean Elliot Dee’s replacement for further information. He emailed Elliot’s replacement, Robert Cameron, and received a wonderfully nice email in answer to his questions. I thought I’d post a portion of it here since you were interested, and others, as this boy, may need that information for the fall. It appears that our thoughts on the scholarship $$ being tied to financial need were, and are, indeed, the case at Tisch. </p>

<p>Matt–</p>

<p>I’m glad you’re considering Tisch as a possible place for college. You’ve asked great questions. </p>

<p>In fact, all of our scholarship aid is predicated on need. Academic merit and artistic talent are considered in allocating aid, but you have to demonstrate need, by way of the FAFSA, to get there. </p>

<p>The Tisch Scholars program is a co-curricular program for selected students that explores the connections between art, society, and public policy. Students are selected for the program on the basis of their application profile–that is, grades, scores, artistic portfolio–and their interest and experience in community service, evidenced in their high school activities and application essays. The Tisch Scholars program is not related to financial aid in any way; in other words, you don’t have to qualify for financial aid to be a Scholar, and there is no financial benefit to being a Scholar.</p>

<p>Thanks for writing. Feel free to write back with any further questions.</p>

<p>Best,</p>

<p>Robert Cameron
Associate Dean for Student Affairs
Tisch School of the Arts</p>