Full Ride? WHATTT.

Well, it's not set in stone, but I couldn't help but blog about the latest development in my life. So, here's the basic story.

In chemistry today, we weren't doing anything because we had a sub and I had already done the assigned worksheet (which, by the by, was technically homework), and so I started playing around on my phone. And when I started playing around on my phone I saw a little notification stating that I had an email from the University of Miami.

I figured it was one of the many emails colleges send to try and persuade you to come to their school, but two words caught my eye: "FINANCIAL AID."

Now, again, I wasn't expecting much, because I have gotten absolutely squat as far as need-based financial aid goes. But I thought maybe there was an academic scholarship somewhere within this financial aid notification.

And lo and behold, I pulled up the link the email gave me and kind of screamed in the middle of chemistry class (luckily, there was a sub, and she wasn't paying much attention-- if she left a note stating that I was misbehaving, I'm sure Ms. Robertson will understand my reaction.) Miami is offering me an annual $24000 scholarship for academics, and then an additional (possibly) annual grant of $15654, which adds up to an inordinate sum of $39654. (PS THAT'S EXACTLY the 2011-2012 TUITION. OMGGGGGGG)

The only thing that is scary is that the Miami Grant (which apparently is also academic-based, not need-based) is not necessarily guaranteed-- it all depends on whether they are able to find funds to get that to me, and in the struggling economy, nothing can be guaranteed. The good news is that the $24000 is guaranteed, so that's a nice blanket. However, at this point, it's gotta be a full ride or I'm not going. I don't mean to sound posh, but nothing short of a full ride will beat CSU's current offer.

There's also the case of a potential vocal scholarship. According to an email I received, I should be receiving information about a vocal scholarship shortly. Now, that might be outed by the grant (after all, what else are they going to pay? Room and board?), but if the grant doesn't go through then I still might have a vocal scholarship. It really all depends.

Apparently, I'm supposed to hear within a week whether the grant will go through all four years. If it does, then there's really no question that Miami is the winner, unless I can convince CSU or DU to get me more money. :)

Also, I feel obligated to mention that NYU has offered me a grand total of $8000, meaning that I would have to slave away the rest of my life to pay on loans. So that's, unfortunately, out of the equation (though, in case you're still keeping track of my rankings, NYU is now ahead of St. Olaf and Capital University; for the moment, I'm saying that CSU and Miami are tied.) I can't say I'm too surprised, but I was hoping for a better package from my dream school. However, I certainly can't complain at the thought of living in Miami for four years. No snow... no cold things... the humidity would be pretty bad, but I would hopefully get used to it. And its music school is (at least, according to Wikipedia... I haven't found any actual backing to this claim yet) ranked in the top 25 schools in the country, so I have no doubt that I would get a good education, especially considering how much I would be able to put into the program, since I'm pursuing a degree that I will love.

So right now, I'm kind of at a difficult crossroad. And I have less than a month to decide where I'll spend the next four years of my life. Wish me luck.