<p>S was accepted percussion performance to UNT which is a school he loves. He also was accepted percussion performance to Northern Illinois University which is a large school with a smaller percussion studio. Everyone tells him that he will get lost at UNT and just be a number and never see the percussion faculty. He has been told to save UNT for his masters. NIU has professors only (UNT grads, by the way) in the percussion program. Is what everyone is saying true? What to do, what to do??? I should have stocked up on ulcer medication sooner!</p>
<p>hawkrn, if you go to the last three years of Master Decisions threads (links here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10077956-post5.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10077956-post5.html</a>), scroll to the last post in each, you’ll see the posters that have indicated matriculation at UNT. Three, maybe four instrumentalists, one vocalist. Steve M.'s son is a jazz drummer. You might want to search for some of Steve’s posts, or try a private message. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/892168-search-tips-other-insights.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/892168-search-tips-other-insights.html</a></p>
<p>The masters can be great research tools to track down school/program specific info.</p>
<p>My D is a jazz voice major at UNT and almost all of her music classes for 3 years have been with full faculty. Fantastic access from what I can see. Don’t know why percussion would be any different. You might want to call the department and ask them this question specifically.</p>
<p>I’d send him to NIU. North Texas is like a giant assemblyline. There will be about 100 incoming freshmen percussion majors and most will drop out. Sons teacher went there started with 100 or so and 8 graduated. He’ll get way more personal attention at NIU. I wouldn’t pay tuition for a graduate assistant to teach him.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything specific about the schools, but I do know that whenever my D’s prep program at New England Conservatory buys a reference CD (tracks for the students to listen to), they first try to buy the UNT one because “They are the best”.</p>
<p>Friend’s S graduated about 5 years ago from UNT in percussion. He loved it. I don’t know if he had graduate students as TA, but it did not seem to affect his opinion of the school. He loved the opportunities he had. He did go on to a graduate degree. You (really S) must explore the issues and have a clear understanding of what each school woudl be like. Visit again, talk to students, do lessons (again) to make the final decision. BTW - friend’s S had some nice scholarships that made going to UNT actually cheaper than any in state school.</p>
<p>UNT has better facilities that’s for sure! Nice campus! S was 1 of 5 accepted to NIU’s percussion program as opposed to 1 of lots at UNT. He knows the Gods of percussion are at UNT but NIU has good faculty too. Gut wrenching! Thanks for the comments!</p>
<p>My experience from my S at IU says that which school to choose depends upon your S. If he is very dedicated and driven at this point UNT for undergrad may be a good fit as the opportunities will be there if he works hard over the summer and auditions well at the beginning of the semester (may be worth checking to see how and when UNT assigns students to the different groups). If he is still maturing then NIU may be the better fit as the opportunities will be there as there are less students for each group. Some may say that the earlier your S gets used to the competition the better. Sounds like professor wise he will be just as well off at NIU so probably either choice will be fine in the end. Just make sure your S is the one making an informed choice.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that though he may get a chance to play in higher-up ensembles at NIU earlier, they won’t be comparable to the same ensembles at UNT. If he’s really working hard, he may hit the ceiling as far as opportunity pretty quickly at NIU, whereas at UNT there’s somewhere for him no matter what his ability.</p>