10 Days and Counting - Still Undecided

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Very long post coming at you …
I hope some of you can chime in with opinions about my son’s remaining 4 schools. He has already declined the 3 schools that I can not afford, even though two of them are in the “dream school” category for him. Cost of Attendance (COA) has been the stated priority since day one.</p>

<p>Here are his 4 remaining schools, in alphabetical order. All 4 have basically the same COA after scholarships and grants. Three have offered full-tuition. The 4th offered a little less than full-tuition, but their cheaper room and board offset the difference, almost equalizing COA. Three of the 4 have said that money is not an issue – if it becomes an issue for us, they said, they will grant more money. He likes all of his prospective voice teachers a lot.</p>

<p>Lawrence University:
-loves the academic environment and presence of a conservatory
-would probably study with Ken Bozeman, but he can choose someone else
-offers a classics degree, his favorite subject outside of music (will be double degree)
-the best double degree program (a 5-year plan)
-small classes with individualized instruction
-feels a good fit with other students and campus
-school’s/conservatory’s reputation an unknown to him (but he’s not sure he cares)
-weather is a plus and a minus (he loves the cold, but may/will tire of it)
-food is currently a BIG minus, but we’re told there’s a good new vendor next year
-dorms are a minus (they’re the only ones of the bunch that don’t offer a private sleeping space that can be closed off for freshmen, and maybe other years)
-distance is a HUGE minus – travel between here and there is a difficult, all-day affair; neither he nor I like this
-he and I don’t think the cultural opportunities and interaction with Appleton will compare to city-wide opportunities at the other 3 schools </p>

<p>Southern Methodist University:
-probably loves this voice teacher the most of the 4, but doesn’t know the others as well
-would definitely study with Virginia Dupuy; can’t say enough good about her
-no classics degree, but would probably enjoy the medieval history program
-feels the reputation, good name, smart people, great track record are a huge plus
-lots of small classes, but only school with larger, seminar-style that he doesn’t like
-loves the gorgeous campus and feels a great fit with the School of the Arts students
-great relationship/connections with city of Dallas and the arts
-selected as 1 of 10 elite arts scholars with special opportunities
-$5000 creative grant included for study abroad, production of opera scene, anything else
-$400/month church job as part of package
-food a huge plus
-close enough to home (he can come home and we can attend his programs)
-biggest con, and we’re not even sure it’s true: he hears there are too many rich, entitled, frat boy type people – BUT neither of us have seen this for ourselves, though the area is very rich. The Meadows School of the Arts kids, at a minimum, are a great fit for my son
-only other con: close to home! (yes, it’s a small con for him, as well as a pro)</p>

<p>Texas Christian University:
-the friendliest, happiest campus of all, without a doubt
-would likely study with Sheila Allen or David Brock, but he can choose another
-no classics degree, but a classics minor within an exciting new degree called Modern Languages that features all of his favorite subjects (history, languages, cultures, etc)
-gorgeous campus with the nicest, newest facilities throughout – except at the music school (music school facilities are fine – great in some cases, average in others)
-small, individualized classes with lots of personal attention from professors
-great relationship with city of Fort Worth and the arts
-good food, great dorms
-selected as 1 of 5 elite university scholars with special opportunities
-close enough to home (he can come home and we can attend his programs)
-biggest con: we’ve visited studio classes - he fears he won’t be surrounded by enough “amazing” talent – he wants a lot of competition – a big con for him
-other con: close to home!</p>

<p>University of North Texas:
-maybe the best known music school of the 4?
-would likely study with Lynn Eustis or David Sundquist, but again, has his pick
-expansive facilities, tons of music opportunities
-the music school kids seem very happy (the non-music kids: not so much)
-good relationships with Dallas, Fort Worth, and Denton, though not as inter-connected, it doesn’t appear, as SMU to Dallas and TCU to Fort Worth
-beautiful dorm through Honors program (other dorms: not so much)
-selectivity, size, content of honors courses an unknown, but supposedly good (the non-honors classes and facilities – not a plus)
-voice faculty/admissions tell us they have THE best music program, opportunities, connections, facilities, talent, etc of any other music program in the area – they know my son’s other choices in the area (TCU and SMU) – we don’t know anything!
-average to above average food, in general, but lots of choices
-close enough to home (he can come home and we can attend his programs)
-biggest con: my son is just NOT excited about UNT, because it does not provide the level of academic stimulation he is looking for outside of the music program – it was his safety school for this reason, otherwise, he likes the music program a whole lot, and the faculty he’s met – but he can’t get past his lack of excitement for the college in general. For this reason, he has not yet declined UNT, but it also does not feel like one of his choices! He speaks of 3 choices most of the time. At this point, the only reason he’d pick this school of the 4 is if it absolutely is THE best voice program of the bunch – something we don’t know enough about. This is a big area where we need help.</p>

<p>We know the drill … it’s going to boil down to a personal choice, and all that. But can any of you offer any insight into his decision that he or I may not yet have considered?</p>

<p>Ten days and counting! Thank you for any pearls of wisdom you can give!</p>

2

<p>Some of this depends on his priorities and how serious he is about the academic part of his double degree. If he has any interest in going on in Classics, his best choices would be Oberlin (by far) and Lawrence - without a major that allows for learning Latin and Greek, he would face a formidable obstacle to any graduate study; if he doesn’t really care and only wants to dabble in it, that’s a different story.</p>

3

<p>He’s very serious about getting the double degree, but he has already decided that IF he runs into a problem with time management or stress down the road, he will drop the academic degree and focus on the music.</p>

<p>Oberlin is not a choice. It was his top choice, without a doubt, from the start. But I can’t afford it, despite the fact that they generously increased their scholarships on appeal. It still doesn’t come close to these other 4 in COA.</p>

<p>I wasn’t clear about something with SMU - the $5000 grant for any creative process he desires (study abroad, create an opera, create a film, anything) and the $400 a month church job are extra bennies, over and above the otherwise equal COA.</p>

4

<p>SMU–First of all, he likes the teacher best. Second, the opportunities with the church job (great experience, nice money) and the 5K for special projects/study abroad. He can look for a study abroad situation where he can study classics. Third, elite scholar opportunities. 4th, good food. 5th, feels like a fit with the school of the arts students. 6th, biggest con, “rich, entitled, frat boy type people” is silly. As a singer, he’s not going to be wrapped up in that–drinking parties and lack of discipline won’t fly, and obviously your S already knows this, or he wouldn’t be where he is today. He’ll be too involved with his career preparation to notice what foolish frat boys may be doing, even if the stereotype were to turn out to be true. 7th, it’s close enough to you so that you can see his performances. That’s really nice for both of you.</p>

5

<p>He’s got some great choices. I’d veer away from any that he may feel the peer level not be high enough, regardless of any and all other “pros”.</p>

<p>Other than that, sometimes the decision boils down to a “gut” reaction.</p>

<p>We loved the ability to see son’s performances on a fairly regular basis, but this was not necessarily a draw or drawback, just a convenient plus.</p>

<p>My take is that it’s really a choice betwixt Lawrence and SMU.</p>

<p>You thought the hard part was over.</p>

6

<p>Hey, sopranomom92, thanks for the advice! Actually, if I were picking today (and I’m not about to pressure him in this area!) I would pick SMU for him. For all the reasons you stated. I hope he picks it, to tell the truth. </p>

<p>Looks like you and I posted at the same time - my second post and your first. And it sounds like you already understood that the $5000 and $400/mo were on top of the other stuff. Thanks!</p>

7

<p>Exactly, violadad - I thought the hard part was over. Arggh.</p>

<p>And thank you for your wisdom. I think you’re right - between Lawrence and SMU for the most part.</p>

8

<p>I checked with my sister who is a Classics professor and she totally agreed with mamenyu. She said as far as classics - the difference in schools is the difference between Mt. Olympus and an anthill. Her only concern with the most prestigious, Oberlin is that it is extremely liberal and has a wide variety of lifestyles that he may or may not feel comfortable with. Since that seems out of the ballpark financially, her next choice was the same as mine - Lawrence University. I’ve heard wonderful things about the school musically AND it is the only school that has a major in his academic interest which is critical if he wants to continue classics in grad school. Good luck!</p>

9

<p>Obviously, Lawrence is a great choice as well. But, the minus for distance is also a minus for $. The travel costs will add up over 4 years. At a minimum, he’ll make 4 round trips each year, plus you may make at least one or two round trips each year.</p>

<p>By the way, SMU has a classical studies minor. Maybe that’s enough for your S, and would allow him to focus on music?</p>

10

<p>Classics is a rigorous major, not one you can easily jump in and out of, because it requires advanced knowledge of Latin and/or Greek and lots of courses in translation as well (because you simply can’t read that much of the Iliad or the Aeneid in a semester or two). Doing a double degree in Classics and music would be a major challenge for anyone (and there are all the breadth requirements, too, so without a lot of AP’s, it would require a lot of balancing and hard work). Medieval studies at SMU could be a fine major, if your son is interested in the Middle Ages, though their language offerings in Latin and Greek are quite minimal.<br>
Since music is his principle focus, and he seems flexible about his double degree choice, and even about continuing it through the full 5 years, it may be best to go where he has the best combination of musical and financial benefits and where he will thrive socially. He could go with his gut here.</p>

11

<p>About the Classics major. Since his ultimate career pursuit is as an opera singer, and since he wants to learn the basics of Italian, German, and French, he will pursue the Classical Civilizations track as opposed to the TRUE classics track that includes all the Greek and Latin. He wants to be somewhat of an “expert” in the field by the time he’s, like, 60 years old, just because he’s so very passionate about the subject and already reads a lot about that time period. If he has to fall back on it, he can easily see himself as a college professor on the subject, obviously with a lot more education under his belt. BUT, his primary focus and career goal is opera singing. He’s already resigned to the fact that Latin and Greek will not be in the cards, except for the very minimum required for the “civilizations” track. </p>

<p>Amazing commentary and considerations from all of you, though. THANK YOU! Keep it coming!</p>

12

<p>I am with the let the “gut” feeling now. He has excellent choices. Now it is being over-thought. He needs to visualize himself getting ready to go, packing up, moving in settling in, going to classes and participating in the events and groups he has found. If he has not be able to visit again since acceptance this is a little harder. Visiting after acceptance is a whole different experienice from visiting when still applying. Totally different orientation. If he can visit top contender(s) again it becomes a little easier. </p>

<p>It’s where he is going to live and work, it needs to feel right to him, not anyone else. If he is uncomfortable with the level of experience musically or academically, that discomfort speaks volumes.</p>

13

<p>Thanks, singersmom, I’ll pass that nugget along. He HAS had the opportunity to visit all of them since acceptance, EXCEPT Lawrence. And a final Lawrence visit is coming up still! Which is KILLING ME!</p>

14

<p>I have spoken often about how DD’s first choice was eliminated financially, which she knew going into the process might happen. But I have not mentioned as often that in the end the lowest COAs in the final 3 were also eliminated based on the gut feel for all the factors combined. We let her make the final choice once we had agreed on the financial suitability of the contenders, even though they were not equal. All met the basic criteria we had set when starting the process. The final choice was hers and she made it when she visited, stood on campus and said “yes, this is where I belong”…</p>

15

<p>Thanks, Singersmom07, for that perspective. You’re right - that perspective is not as widely emphasized on CC. It’s the way I choose contractors for my home repairs, typically.</p>

<p>Unfortunately for us, eliminating the lowest COA can not be an option. Fortunately for us, he was blessed with many choices that ARE options. And he knew all along that COA would reign supreme, out of necessity. We feel very, very lucky to have these fine choices for such minimal cost. God bless that hard-working son of mine!</p>

16

<p>Just thought I would chime in on this. From the sounds of the various offers, my gut feeling seems to say that if I was making the choice, SMU might be the best place given that the teachers seemed good, the COA was there and so forth. Quite honestly, I suspect your son will do well anywhere he goes, he seems to have a really good vision of what he wants to do. I think it is awesome that he wants to head to opera and thought about what would make that work better i.e getting familiar with the basic languages of Opera and the culture as well since that plays a large role in how these operas were created, where the stories came from and such. One other factor, sort of inspired by what another poster wrote, and that is if your son is going to go into opera he would be well served by a place with a lot of diversity. Classical music and opera share something in common, they both are worlds that are as diverse as anything you can imagine, people coming from all over the world,differing backgrounds, cultures and yes, lifestyles, and if your son wants to enter that world it is a good thing to get used to what one friend of mine calls a rather vivid tapestry:)</p>

<p>One last thought, trust your gut feelings on which road to take, it often knows a lot more wisdom then 100 years of thought.</p>

17

<p>So my son has definitely narrowed his choice to the two schools now - Lawrence and SMU.</p>

<p>Thanks for all your great comments about the classics degree. Classics is a passion of his, and ideally he would like to pursue both. But vocal performance is the priority.</p>

<p>Regarding the vocal performance degree, for undergrad work, considering that both teachers have excellent reputations and that my son has a great rapport with both, is one school a better bet for getting an opera career going after graduation? We are thinking that either school will prepare him well, assuming that his teachers are great. We have been told that talent (auditions) get college kids into great grad schools, period, so the undergrad school name-recognition and teacher connections are not as important. Is this right? If not, will one of these two schools prepare him better than another? And why? (or how?) Thanks!</p>

18

<p>Carolyn, who has been a sage on these boards for many years, offers the “flip a coin” decision maker. The idea is, assign one school heads, and one tails, flip a coin, and see where it lands…</p>

<p>And then, see how you feel about that. Chances are, you will either feel relieved or disappointed. And that will tell you all you need to know.</p>