Scholarships

This is touchy for all. However, we should all understand that the merit-based scholarship really has almost nothing to do with how good you are at your thing. Rather, we should scratch any pre-conception of the meaning of "merit" that we had. Once we're clear about that, we can all talk about it.

I recently spoke to a string player who was concerned about being able to return next year because he was only receiving 75% of scholarship. This undergraduate junior is receiving more than me (a lowly DMA specimen!) No, I'm not even getting 60%. The difference is, instead of complaining, I went out and interviewed for some jobs and took two of them.

Fine, no one said a doctoral student should get more than an undergraduate anyways. Of course, the idea that a doctoral student has to pay for school is unheard of in any other field but again, it's all about the merit.