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WestrnMom
Super Moderator
| Joined: | Fri May 26th, 2006 |
| Location: | West Coast, USA |
| Posts: | 1173 |
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Posted: Sun Jul 23rd, 2006 01:32 am |
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After indicating a possible interest in chemistry, my son received a letter from a college department mentioning that they have merit aid for chem majors. I did some research into endowments and discovered that if a school (usually a small LAC) has an endowed department and that department may need students (ie is small or not something the school is necessarily known for) they will offer scholarships through the department rather than the financial aid or admissions office.
In contrast, my sister's child was admitted into a very competitive program in a private school and offered nothing, even with outstanding stats. That school told him all merit scholarships came through admissions. April 1s rolled around, they still hadn't gotten back to him, so he made another selection.
Is it a good idea to take a departmental scholarship if one is offered? If the student changes majors, I presume the aid will no longer be available. Does anyone have more information on this?
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Mezzomom
Member
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Posted: Sun Jul 23rd, 2006 02:33 pm |
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Is it a good idea to take a departmental scholarship if one is offered? If the student changes majors, I presume the aid will no longer be available. Does anyone have more information on this?
My daughter is in this situation; she received a significant talent award, supplemented by a departmental award, which is contingent upon her major (music). She loves music but has no desire to pursue a performance career...she just wants to sing and continue her private vocal lessons, but she has theory-phobia. In her case, she decided to accept the award and try it for a year. That will give her enough time to see if the perceived cons of theory outweigh the pros of immersing herself in the music opportunities...or not. She knows that if she decides to drop music as a major, she'll probably lose $6000 of the $7000 award (she can likely keep $1000 as a participation award), and she knows that if she gives up the $6000, she'll have to apply for many more outside scholarships. She decided it was a "risk" worth taking: she really connected with the vocal music professors at her school; she will still have her academic scholarship, no matter what she majors in; and she's in the fortunate position that her career goals aren't dependent upon any particular major. For her, those positives outweighed the thought that she *might* dislike theory in a college setting (she has a strong theory background and doesn't hate it, just finds it boring).
I gave her a lot of space to make this decision, because there was no sense in accepting the award if she was going to feel forced to major in something. As time has passed, she's more comfortable with the idea; in part because she was told by the music department that they gave her the most money of any incoming freshman (she's not immune to strokes to her ego!) and because she's discovered that she's not the only freshman "leery of theory" and that study groups are the norm for theory classes.
Just our experience so far; hope this helps.
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WestrnMom
Super Moderator
| Joined: | Fri May 26th, 2006 |
| Location: | West Coast, USA |
| Posts: | 1173 |
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Posted: Sun Jul 23rd, 2006 04:37 pm |
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That is good information about talent scholarships. I've heard it before from other singers. Instrumentalists don't worry as much because they get theory from the earliest points in their lessons. Singers should have theory. It depends on their teachers and if they do evaluations. Some of those have theory tests attached to them. In reality, it's not nearly as bad as they think it is if they take it like they would a math course.
At this point, I plan to suggest that S look at what is offered (if anything--he may not even apply to the school with the chem department scholarships), and then weigh the benefits against the costs.
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HImom
Member
| Joined: | Mon Mar 20th, 2006 |
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| Posts: | 261 |
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Posted: Thu Jul 27th, 2006 09:18 am |
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| My son was awarded several merit scholarships to attend USoCal. One of them for $2500/year--renewable for 4 years) is for majoring in engineering (which is where he will begin as a freshman). The other two awards he received (for 1/2 tuition & $1000/year, both renewable for 4 years) are not specifically tied to him remaining in the School of engineering, which will give him the option of switching majors if he decides engineering isn't for him. He was thrilled that the school of engineering offered him money he hadn't planned on receiving but since in the scheme of things the amount isn't that large, he won't feel compelled to remain in engineering if he decides it doesn't work for him.
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