<p>My son wants to attend the college and be a history major, but also continue his music studies. However our college advisor told us that this was a very bad idea - while the conservatory has wonderful practice rooms with Steinways, their resources are limited and he will not be able to receive any music lessons. Before we took Oberlin off the list, wanted to confirm that this was true.</p>
<p>My understanding from touring the Con a few weeks ago with our accepted student and last summer is that College of Arts and Sciences students are able to audition to study in the studio of a Conservatory faculty member. If the student is accepted to a faculty studio, they will be held to the extremely high expectations of Conservatory students which is difficult for some Arts and Sciences students with their heavier loads of non-music courses, but some do it. Another option for Arts and Sciences students is to take lessons with a high level Conservatory student who has had courses in pedagogy, for the rate of $7.50 per hour. The non-con students we spoke with raved about this option and said that the quality of the lessons was high. Practice rooms and Steinways are open and available to all students, Con and College. Non-con students can also audition for various ensembles though understandably Con students have priority for some due to their need for pre-professional training and likely greater skill from more time devoted to music courses and practice. After touring both the Con and the College, our violinist opted to apply only to the College because she thought it seemed like a lot more fun. She wants to major in Music Studies and American Studies. Both of our College tours were full of students who love music and plan to play in some form at Oberlin. Our D told me that 70% of students in the College play musical instruments (not sure where she got this stat, but Oberlin College sure does seem like an environment steeped in music). </p>
<p>PianoDad: Your college advisor is completely misinformed. Here are a couple of blog posts about music opportunities for College of A&S students:
<a href=“http://blogs.oberlin.edu/learning/college_courses/school_starts_i.shtml”>http://blogs.oberlin.edu/learning/college_courses/school_starts_i.shtml</a>
<a href=“http://blogs.oberlin.edu/applying/applying/opportunities_f.shtml”>http://blogs.oberlin.edu/applying/applying/opportunities_f.shtml</a></p>
<p>Thank you, this is very helpful, especially the blogs.</p>
<p>Another parent back from recent visit – confirming above comments clarifying access. We were told that College students could audition for Con faculty, to take lessons from them, but it is very difficult to be accepted as a student when there are all the Cons there too. But, all College students can take class from upper level Con students, and our tour guide raved about that. College students can audition to ensembles, but there is also a College-only orchestra. </p>
<p>My musician kid who does not intend to pursue it it college really liked the environment where music is part of the life of campus. </p>
<p>Another thank you. The blogs are excellent. </p>