<p>Hey! I know I posted something like this a while back, but I'm basically stuck between going to either Western Michigan or Xavier University. One program is a competitive music program with a great voice program, while the other is a small BA program.</p>
<p>I'm planning on double majoring in Music Ed and Voice Performance. Western offers a BM and BME degree while Xavier has a BA and BS degree. What is the disadvantage of Xavier's degree options opposed to Western's?</p>
<p>Xavier's faculty and I seem to have a really good relationship and I received a lot of money from them that will definitely help me in the future when it comes to paying off college. I would say about 75% of the faculty went to CCM and the voice teacher I want to study with has been all over the world and was once a teacher at CCM. The professors have told me that many students have the opportunity sing the Cincinnati Opera and Ballet as undergrads, and the school anualy performs with CCM. I'm just unsure if I could get enough of a musical education to be accepted into a high quality conservatory with a BA from this small liberal arts school opposed to a BM at a music school.</p>
<p>Western's program is definitely better music wise because of the great performance stage, rehearsal spaces, choirs and overall faculty. Xavier only has 2 advanced on campus choirs. With Western's degree being a BM, the music coursework is rigorous, but I feel like I could accept that challenge. I haven't yet visited campus since the audition, but after looking at some of the voice faculty bios, I can tell that they are good at what they do. I don't know anything much about the professional performance opportunities outside of the campus, but one thing Western does have are yearly operas (while Xavier only has one every other year).</p>
<p>As of now, I am leaning towards going to Xavier, but knowing about how competitive it is to be a singer, I want to make sure that I am making the right decision. I've heard that your performance degree doesn't really matter until you get your master's, but I need a great education to be accepted into a top music school for my master's. Xavier has told me that the education I get there is just as good as many other music schools, but is that all just a pile of fluff?</p>
<p>Also, Xavier is a liberal arts private school while Western is a big public school :)</p>