AP/Honors Classes/GPA vs sanity

I had no idea that there were different levels of AP classes and that some covered a year of college work and others a semester. This was most helpful.

On the quality of the BA program? Find out where recent grads are going to grad school and review the curriculum.(though it’s still all about the teacher—they can be found in BA programs!)
For VP frequently there is not as much latitude between a BM and a BA as you would imagine.In either case most all of those courses “outside” of music are language courses. From my D’s point of view it was the availability of in depth language study as opposed to “diction for singers” that made a university based program attractive. Especially now that so many singers are ending up in the EU.

I agree wholeheartedly with ClassicRockerDad’s post. By sophomore year we knew that our musician son just wouldn’t be able to take a bunch of AP classes, be able to do all of his musical activities, practice and have downtime and sleep .He took one AP class junior year and two senior year mainly because these were subjects of high interest for him. We also forewent the intense study for the SAT. He took it once without extra prep or really any study. We felt that while academics were and are important, we decided it wasn’t the most important aspect to following his dream at the schools he was considering. It really was about the audition. I think our son was successful his last two years of high school because he had balance. This approach helped him learn how to prioritize and how to take care of himself so that he doesn’t burnout.

You can ask about outcomes; variety of offerings; check out some syllabi; your child could ask questions to Admissions, perhaps to be put in touch with someone in the Dept and in particular with a current VP major AND (very important) freshmen iadmitted to the BA and BM majors so she can compare.

http://www.stolaf.edu/multimedia/streams/archive.cfm?category=chapel
http://www.stolaf.edu/singforjoy/listen/2015-10-18
http://wp.stolaf.edu/musicadm/

This is what they say for VP:
B.A. music major, music education, non-music major
Candidates will prepare two songs or arias in contrasting styles. Approximately 6–8 minutes total. One selection must be in English, the other in a foreign language of your choice. Both must be memorized.
B.M. performance major
Three songs, one from each of the following time periods. At least one must be in English, and at least one in a foreign language; all must be memorized.
One song or aria composed before 1800
One song from the standard foreign language art song repertoire
One song from the British or American art song repertoire
A song from music theater repertoire may be substituted for one of the above requirements.
Two songs are required for the live audition — one in English, and one in a foreign language of your choice

Yes, in depth language study is something we value as well. Thank you for the links to St Olaf. It seems to be a balancing act. From what I feel intuitively and the advice I have gotten here, I am going to have a more holistic approach to this and not panic about the AP/honors/SAT/ACT etc. etc. etc. Thanks again!

Biggest problem with high schools today: a mix-up of sleep deprivation, they do not teach time management skills, or the ability to think critically. I’d throw in there how to think without a computer but that would put me into the old fuddy duddy category and I’m not ready to go there yet.

The main goal of the AP curriculum is to show that you are capable of doing college-level work. I don’t think the test itself or the subsequent credits really matter since a lot of scores won’t come back until after admissions.

Yes, all my daughter’s classes (except German) are on the iPad. They don’t even get books anymore!

My daughter did not do a BM. Her school allowed a BS (which would probably be a BA at other schools). She was able to do more classes in an area of interest outside the music school. She auditioned for grad schools last spring and it did not matter at all. And she got a good number of offers. However her school was a well-known school. I doubt anyone even noticed if it was a BM or bs or BA.

Still with AP classes (not a ton but a few) she did get out of a few gen eds so she was able to take all diction classes. Some diction and some electives were not included in her bs. She was however able to fit those in and do a study abroad. The diction was important. Just food for thought.

Yes, it sounds as if they are similar. I do like the idea of being taking more classes outside of music. I don’t know if this happens a lot to music majors because they are usually very passionate about their art but kids can and do decide to change majors. I imagine it would be easier to do the more liberal arts classes that a taken.

Yes it is the stereotype and there is probably some truth to it. But my daughter continues to dapple in other things. She did struggle a bit in college ( freshman and sophomore year) with feeling “not committed enough” next to her peers. But honestly I think many underclass women/men will find something to worry about. It’s natural to question your talent, abilities, hair cut. But she’s much more comfortable in her own skin now in grad school. And her teacher in undergrad kept supporting her and encouraging her “to do it her way.” She was a great fit for my daughter.