<p>Northwestern music ed students study with faculty - not grad students. Sometimes NU faculty violin instructors use grad students as teaching assistants to hear scales and such for both performance and ed students, but this would not be the only studio assignment - you’d be assigned to a faculty studio full time.</p>
<p>Last time I knew, IU also assigned full time faculty - not grad students - to ed majors. Others can correct me if I’m not current, there are several violin IU parents who read this board. I don’t know anything about Peabody for music ed. </p>
<p>Any of the 3 programs you mention are very competitive for violin. As a junior transfer, the level of repertoire mentioned earlier - unless you play it stunningly - is likely below their expectations. I don’t think the 3 schools you’ve mentioned here are going to cut you much, if any, slack for wanting a Music Ed rather than performance track. These schools can afford to have very high standards.</p>
<p>Don’t mean to be discouraging - and I wish you much luck. I have known students in similar situations - solid players who became very serious a little late in the game after beginning study as non-music majors - who took a year off for intensive practice and repertoire building before auditioning for performance programs. I’m sure you’ve considered this. I know stopping out for a year can be a hard decision to make, but I’ve seen it be a quite successful strategy. Good luck - whatever you decide!</p>