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.

On Being Professional

The title is, of course, an excellent use of hyperbole. I still don't consider myself a professional anything... with the possible exception of professional dogsitter. But I had a really great experience today and I felt the impulse to blog about it. (I go in and out of blog spells, apparently. I still am yet to match September's 17 posts. I obviously had little to do then.)

So my family and I drove up to Ft. Collins today to the somewhat obscure Avogadro's Number Restaurant. (I KNOW! What a cool name! Unfortunately, its address is 605 Mason St. in Ft. Collins, when Avogadro's Number is roughly 6.02 x 10²³, so the numberin

g is a bit off... but maybe its owner was just a chem major at CSU (something that I, for the record, will never be), or a big nerd (something that I, for the record, have always been.)

But I'm getting ahead of myself. This is not a blog about chemistry, but about the joys of singing.

So, anyway, I had my first paying gig, receiving a whopping $25 for my singing ability. This was the first time I was given money for singing in a non-artistic setting. (Though I have accompanied on piano for money, but that wasn't performance... after all, the singer is the main attraction.) But I sang three songs:

Non piu andrai, by Mozart (from the opera The Marriage of Figaro)

Chiquitita la Novia, by Fernando Obradors (fro

m a collection of traditional Spanish songs called Coplas de Carro Dulce)

Our Great Mikado, Virtuous Man, by Gilbert and Sullivan (from the operetta The Mikado)

And I frankly thought they were highly entertaining. The other singers were great as well. And, at the end, I got this lovely little honorarium for my troubles:

It is only $25, which (at least, hopefully) will eventually be like a drop in the bucket of the millions of dollars I'll be making as a vocal performer. But it's just kind of special, because I have never gotten money for singing outside of a competition setting. Just for performing. It feels kind of cool.

The performance's purpose was to honor those who had finalled in the Colorado regional Classical Singer Competition, something that only eight students in the state were invited to do. For those of you following my vocal pursuits, this is the competition that is taking me to LA this summer along with my best duet partner Hillary Thompson, who is amazing as well. It's also the same competition that sent me to New York last year, so this is the second year I've participated in the second round (hopefully, though, this year I'll make it a bit farther... last year I think I was disqualified because I was never told that I needed to have more than one piece prepared-- the website was fairly unclear. This year, of course, I know better.) I'm just as excited this year (even though LA isn't quite New York... haha) and I really hope I get far enough to at least garner some scholarship money. We'll see.

Well, at any rate, I have $25. :D That will pay for lunch at college... for a week. Maybe. Or maybe a few trips to Starbucks. Like now. Or I can spend it on clothes... I could buy more vests. But you know what? It's my money that I earned, so I can buy whatever I want!

(Well, as long as whatever I want falls within the price of $25.)

Scholarships?

Everyone who knows me knows that I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY want to go to NYU for college. There's a list of reasons why.

1. HELLO. IT'S NEW YORK

2. It will look excellent on a resume, especially when one considers that I want to go into a performing arts career.

3. I'll be in the same place where I want to live for the rest of my life.

4. I'll be in the same place where I want to work for the rest of my life.

5. They've got a well-respected music program (operated through the Steinhardt School of Culture Education and Human Development), which I'm fairly confident I could get into.

5. UM HELLO. IT'S NEW YORK.

NYU is conveniently placed in Manhattan. It seems like the absolute perfect college for me. I'm fairly wary about going to a conservatory school because they won't allow any non-music majors (I do want a fall-back plan) and they are sometimes only two-year programs, which won't give me the amount of teaching I need to become a fairly well-rounded persona. And that freaks me out.

The problem with NYU is... it's the second-most expensive school in the country.

When it comes to overall tuition, room/board, and the rest, it's expensive. My parents have informed me that if I get in, there's no way in heck that they will be able to pay for it. And, unfortunately, my parents make just enough money so that I won't be able to get a ton of financial aid (though I'm hoping that's not entirely true-- doesn't the FAFSA consider where you're going to college?) So, it's up to me to go scholarship hunting in order to make my dream come true.

Another problem with NYU is that it only offers Early Decision options for admittance. If I get in, I'm locked in. There's no going back. I've gotta come up with some sort of money. Student loans are, of course, always an option, but my parents both are against it, because they were still paying off student loans after I was born. It is an option, but I'm not sure that I want to take it.

However, people who do Early Decision I are the first to get their hands on financial aid. A significant percent of students at NYU get financial aid. But I'm afraid that I'll get in... but be screwed financially.

I'm really hoping to make NYU work out. REALLY REALLY HOPING. Like, if I can't make it work out, I'll be crushed. No joke.

New York is calling me!

Schoooooooool

It's started.

The excess of O's in the title are both an indication of excitement and sheer terror.

Mostly sheer terror.

But I don't mean that in a bad way. I'm very excited to be a senior, but I'm terrified of IB. But who isn't in these modern times? IB is quite terrifying. I blame Switzerland. They're the ones who gave it to America.

This is why I hate Swiss cheese.

But I've gone off on a tangent. (Not to be confused with a cosine. Ha.) I'm very excited about being a senior, even though I don't think the fact that this is my last year of school has truly sunk in yet. Holy Calcutta. It's my last year of school. After this, I have to pay to learn.

Though of course, I kinda have to pay to learn now. And by me, I mean my parents. My mom just signed a $200 check for graduation materials. God Bless Her. She also paid for my choir classes, my parking permit (which cost $50, a $20 increase from what it was last year), my yearbook, and everything else that costs money. Good thing I don't take the bus-- that would have been another expense. Stupid budget cuts. Public school is no longer free.

But anyway, I'm very excited to be a senior. I'm terrified of IB and also getting into college stuff. I really really REALLY want to go to NYU, but I'm gonna need scholarship upon scholarship to get in there, because it's one of the most expensive schools in the world (hardly a surprise, since it's in the most expensive place in the world.)

So, most of this "School" post is not really about school, but this blog is more of an electronic diary that anyone can see (hmmmm....), but it's mostly for me. So I don't care. :)