YOBC’s President’s Scholarship is a need-based scholarship that offers one year of free music lessons on your instrument and one year of free tuition at YOBC.
Eligibility
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Open to all students in (or accepted into) YOBC through 10th grade (at the time of application).
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Student must participate in their school’s performance music program (if available).
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Students and their families must demonstrate financial need and a commitment to the study of music.
Application Requirements
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Student Letter – Student must write a letter briefly explaining their motivation for applying for the scholarship and their goals should they be selected.
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Parent Letter – The parent/guardian must provide a letter stating why they believe that their child would benefit from this scholarship and stating their commitment to help the student comply with the requirements of the scholarship.
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Music Teacher Recommendation – Students must obtain at least one letter of recommendation from their school Music Director or, should the school not have a music program, from a music educator with specific knowledge of the student’s music performance skills.
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Tax Returns – The parent/guardian must provide YOBC with a confidential copy of the family’s prior-year federal tax return to demonstrate financial need.
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Application Deadline – All application materials must be submitted by August 1st. Applications that are not completed by the deadline cannot be considered.
Student Commitment
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Students selected for the President’s YOBC Scholarship are expected to demonstrate the highest commitment to YOBC in terms of preparedness, attendance, leadership, and full participation in YOBC programs.
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Students are required to participate in all concerts and dress rehearsals. A year-long commitment to YOBC is also required.
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Students must faithfully attend and prepare for their lessons.
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Students must also agree to abide by YOBC’s policies as outlined in our Student Handbook (see Documents and Forms in the Members area of the website). Applicants should pay particular attention to the attendance requirements.
Selection Criteria
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Strength of the applicant (based on our assessment of need and benefit from the scholarship’s assets and student’s motivation).
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Written recommendations provided by the parent/guardian and the music professionals.
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Fit within one or more of YOBC’s ensembles.
Evaluation
YOBC will receive updates on the student’s progress from the private instructor, the school Music Director, and YOBC’s ensemble director(s).
Disclaimers
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Selection of an appropriate teacher to provide music lessons is at the sole discretion of YOBC.
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YOBC reserves the right not to make an award should the pool of candidates not meet the criteria as determined solely by YOBC.
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YOBC reserves the right to withdraw a scholarship should the student fail to: practice his/her music sufficiently; attend the weekly lessons; participate in the school’s music ensemble (as available); and attend practice and performance at YOBC. YOBC will ask the music instructor and school Music Director to periodically report on the student’s progress to YOBC.
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Applications must be complete and all materials submitted by the due date. This is the responsibility of the applicant. Unfortunately the student cannot be considered for the award if any portion of the application is missing.
Application Dates and Deadlines
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The next award cycle will solicit applicants through July 1st. All materials (including tax forms) must be submitted by this date.
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YOBC will evaluate applicants and make awards by July 7th.
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Private lessons will begin as of the first week in September. Students will receive up to 44 private lessons from September 1 through June 30, as agreed upon in the President’s Scholarship contract. Tuition for the upcoming season of YOBC will be announced in March. The scholarship covers the tuition amount.