Advice on majoring in music education

I’m a junior in high school and am beginning to look at colleges, and I am having issues finding a lot of in depth info on music ed programs, specifically though that result in a bachelor’s of music. I’m also worried about the competitiveness of music ed programs and am very nervous about not getting into any. I play flute & piccolo and am very involved with my school’s symphonic and wind ensembles. I take private lessons, I am in a flute choir, I’m directing an elementary flute group at the studio I’m part of, and am in one of the Hartt School’s ensembles for high school students. The colleges I’m interested in are Temple University, Ithaca College, Syracuse University , Hartt School of Music, University of New Hampshire, University of Maine, SUNY Potsdam, Rowan University, & the University of Delaware, I’d be interested in colleges not much more than 5 hours away from CT. Any feedback & information about auditioning, other schools, acceptance rates/competion for music ed programs, info on the music ed at the above colleges, etc. would be much appreciated!

You are very much headed in the right direction. My son plays flute and is majoring in Music Education. But after years of going back and forth between music and STEM it took until his senior year to finally choose music so we are a bit behind compared to you. That being said, I know that Ithaca has an amazing music education program. Two of the top faculty at our state flagship are graduates from there (a married couple). A number of the faculty members at schools my son has applied to went through Ithaca. It has been suggested to me on this board that College of St. Rose is good as well as SUNY Purchase. My son’s directors have gone back and forth whether he should pursue a BM or BME. But my son did just attend a conference for Future Music Educators as part of our All-State program and the majority consensus of the panel of educators was where you go to school and what the degree is for undergrad isn’t as important as being readily prepared and qualified for K-12 licensure in the state you plan to teach in.

Look for programs that will get you out in 4 years, not 4 years plus teaching. Look for programs that get you in the classroom and exposed to students NO LATER THAN sophomore year because a lot of students end up deciding teaching isn’t what they really want once exposed. If your grades are good try for schools with good academic scholarships because often for flutes, depending on program, music scholarships aren’t as readily available as say bassoon or tuba. So although you may get a music scholarship, having guaranteed academic in addition to can’t hurt. An educator especially should take on as little debt as possible. Of course we all want our kids getting out of school with no debt but that isn’t always an option. Look at accreditation with NaFME as an example. Look out how the programs are structured. Will the BM be performance, education or music education. There is any number of combinations to get a music Ed degree. Music major, Ed minor and the reverse. Ed major, performance minor. Plain music Ed major. Every program, including the big ones, structure it differently. If you plan to teach at the post secondary level, plan on a master’s degree and go for the name schools there. That is not to discourage you from a name school at undergrad. If you have the talent and the numbers work then go where you love.

Get on line now and start looking at audition requirements and start discussing with your private lesson teacher possible pieces for auditions. (That’s where we were hurt the most in starting so late.) You can read the last couple of years of journey threads on here to get some ideas of changes from year to year.

@akapiratequeen is an East Coast-er whose S is pursuing music education as part of his path. She may know more about the programs in your area.

Hi @Cezmac! My son is a senior and very much on the same path, although he is a jazz saxophone player. As @UniversityMomOf2 says, Ithaca has a great music ed. program. So do Temple, Syracuse, SUNY Fredonia and Potsdam. I don’t know the others on your list, although Hartt is great for jazz! I might suggest Montclair State U. or Rutgers over Rowan if you want to be in NJ, but I would put Temple above those.

My son is applying to Ithaca, Syracuse, Eastman (part of U. Rochester, super-competitive though), Berklee (better for jazz than music ed.), Rutgers (it’s our state school and very inexpensive for us), and NYU (competitive/expensive unless you qualify for scholarships). Keep in mind that many of these require pre-screen videos in addition to applications and auditions, so it can be a lot of effort. I would suggest having at least one non-audition backup (my son applied to Rutgers Arts & Science in addition to the music school), preferably at a school where you are likely to be admitted. It helps relieve stress to have a backup!

Finally, if you are a CT resident, pick a few schools where you will get in-state (residents) tuition. It is so much cheaper! Sounds like Hartt would be a good one. U. Conn, Conn College and Fairfield all have music ed. as well.

Although I don’t know your grades, I would say that musically you sound like a good prospect! Best of luck!

I second the non-audition back-up. Even if it doesn’t ease your mind to have a back-up it will probably ease your parents’ minds. My son did a local school (although private) and got great merit aid then was invited to audition strictly for scholarship (which he did get). So it’s nice to have that in our back pocket. And I forgot about pre-screens. Many programs require them, especially for flutes (coming in after violin, piano and voice not necessarily in that order). If you don’t pass one, don’t let it get to you. I took my son’s failed pre-screen worse than he did. But another pre-screen ended up landing him direct admission. He got to skip the audition (although he was later invited to audition for a scholarship). But we tossed in a couple non-audition programs that offer good merit aid as a back-up. It can’t hurt, especially if you can apply free through the Common App.

I second the non-audition back-up. Even if it doesn’t ease your mind to have a back-up it will probably ease your parents’ minds. My son did a local school (although private) and got great merit aid then was invited to audition strictly for scholarship (which he did get). So it’s nice to have that in our back pocket. And I forgot about pre-screens. Many programs require them, especially for flutes (coming in after violin, piano and voice not necessarily in that order). If you don’t pass one, don’t let it get to you. I took my son’s failed pre-screen worse than he did. But another pre-screen ended up landing him direct admission. He got to skip the audition (although he was later invited to audition for a scholarship). But we tossed in a couple non-audition programs that offer good merit aid as a back-up. It can’t hurt, especially if you can apply free through the Common App.

Chiming in (although I don’t have a MusicEd kid) because my kid auditioned at Temple and they were talking a lot about their MusicEd program at the parent session. Their graduates evidently are in high demand with ~100% placement after school ends. The university itself has a policy to guarantee graduating in 4 years or they will pick up the tab for the extra time (assuming, of course, that the student has done everything like passing classes/talking with advisor if they cannot get classes etc.).