<p>D is a sophomore in HS and would like to think about colleges that have strong choral programs. She would like a school that allows non-music majors to be as involved as music majors. She is going to school most likely as a pre-law or science major but wants the flexibililty to sing in the top level choirs that the school has to offer
My D would like to be in a top notch science department and in a top notch lmock trial program.</p>
<p>Participation for non-majors can range from student run ensembles to audition based spots in top groups that include vocal major. It’s pretty school specific as to exact policy and opportunity, and this aspect is usually found within a school’s specific music web pages. </p>
<p>I’m assuming academic institutional strength is a prime criteria, and you may well want to narrow choices: large versus small, rural/urban, univeristy/LAC, public private.</p>
<p>Possible places to begin <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/72531-schools-have-strong-music-science-programs.html?highlight=science[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/72531-schools-have-strong-music-science-programs.html?highlight=science</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/6280-suggestions-colleges-music-majors.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/6280-suggestions-colleges-music-majors.html</a></p>
<p>Off the top of my head, St. Olaf, Oberlin for a start. There are a good number of posters knowledgeable in voice programs. I’m more versed in the strings area.</p>
<p>Happy hunting.</p>
<p>Maybe you should research the science and pre-law aspect of it, then come back with that list. Also, if you have geographic preferences to where your D wants to attend college. Also, what do you envision a “top” vocal group to be offering? Do you think they have to be connected to a course of study, or would it be okay if they’re an extra-curricular student group?
A little more info will help you and us.</p>
<p>There are schools that excel in choir that are not top Vocal Performance schools. One school that has a reputation in choir is St. Olaf. </p>
<p>[The</a> St. Olaf Choir](<a href=“http://www.stolaf.edu/music/stolaf_choir/]The”>St. Olaf Choir – St. Olaf College)</p>
<p>My Daughter goes to Lawrence. There are 3 choirs for the ladies. Basically they are the (not their real names):</p>
<p>1) Intro Choir
2) Women’s Choir
3) Top Choir</p>
<p>The Intro Choir is for anyone who wants to be in a Choir, but are not great singers. For instance Piano majors who need to fulfill their Ensemble requirement.</p>
<p>Women’s Choir. There are a lot of women (music majors and non-music majors) who want to sing, and are good at it. This is where they can put a lot of the ladies.</p>
<p>Top Choir. This is where they put their top singers. Because there is stiff competition among the ladies, it is primarily filled with the top Vocal Performance majors.</p>
<p>UC Santa Barbara is strong in the sciences, particularly the life sciences and physics. I have been honored to wait in line behind Dr. Stephen Hawking at the coffee stand - he has had a lot to do with UCSB’s Institute of Theoretical Physics. Their music department is fully accessible to non-majors (or at least it was 12 years ago), including private study. Several choral groups as I recall.</p>
<p>James Madison University in Virginia has excellent choral ensembles and there are talented non-music majors who audition and get into the top ensembles. They also have excellent science programs and that is a real growth area of the university. If you want the name of the person in charge of the choral person, PM me - I’m sure he would be happy to talk with your D about the opportunities there. As with many programs, more unusual voice types are the ones recruited so more opportunities will exist in the most select ensembles for mezzos or contraltos than sopranos.</p>
<p>Chapman in California has a fantastic chorus program with Dr. Hill and a very good pre law program. (Im not familiar with their science program.)</p>
<p>Is she thinking of majoring in pre-law in order to go to law school? If so, she does not have to feel as though that is necessary. In fact, pre-law is one of the few majors that can be looked down upon by law schools. They don’t feel it is a particularly valuable major so if there is something she is interested in, she could major in that rather than pre-law.</p>
<p>My good friend attended Hastings School of the Law after having received a BFA-Photography from BYU. Just a data point, but I know more than one person who has attended law school with a non-pre-law degree. BTW - he performs with a group that performs sea chanteys on the weekend.</p>
<p>My friend who goes to NEC told me that two years ago, a jazz performance major graduated from the conservatory and headed straight into Yale Law school. Granted, he had perfect grades and studied his buttocks off for the GMATs, but nevertheless it proves that even the world’s top law programs will take students who not only majored in music, but moreso majored in music at a conservatory.</p>
<p>Rice has just one choral group open to both majors and non-majors. It is harder but not impossible to get a solo if not a major but all perform together. There are also classes non-majors can take and i know of at least one non-major taking voice lessons from a studio professor. Probably has to pay for them.</p>
<p>Well…of course the odd of acceptance for ANY student are low…but don’t forget about Yale. Yale has some of the best undergrad performance groups in the country…all open by audition to anyone from any major.</p>
<p>That’s exactly what I was thinking. OP owes us – and her/himself – more info. There are many options, it’s all a matter of priorities.</p>
<p>A music degree is fine for law school. Law schools look at GPA and LSAT scores. They care little about the major. Graduating from a conservatory is fine as long as the numbers are good. A student majoring in pre-law has no advantage over a music major with equal grades and scores.</p>
<p>In fact,may be at a small disadvantage, as it’s generally a Good Thing if an attorney knows a little something about the field they’ll end up practicing in, and has connections there. It’s probably no surprise that my friend the Hastings Law grad with the BFA/Photography went into Intellectual Property law.</p>
<p>I’m awestruck by how responsive and helpful everyone is here. These are some good leads for schools. Thank you to everyone for your responses.
My daughter is a sophomore and has been in a private children’s choir since age 8. She doesn’t like solos at all but loves all ensembles, acapella groups, large, small etc.<br>
This topic came up because we were thinking about taking a look at University of Michigan when I pick her up from music camp. Then, a friend of hers told her that schools with large music departments may be less inviting to non-music majors for there ensembles.</p>
<p>D isn’t sure what her career goals are. She is in her second year of public speaking, first year Mock Trial and has done very well at both. She is in calculus this year and has decided not to take math beyond calc BC in her junior year. She’s just not enjoying it. She loved Biology and felt the ideal career (she thinks) would to be an expert witness in some type of Science. She then got a part as a lawyer in Mock Trial and did well. Her school is going to the state finals. This is when she started considering law.</p>
<p>She liked the Brown campus last summer where she studied Neuroscience. I haven’t heard about Brown’s choral program and I have no clue if she could get in there since it is an Ivy league school.
She isn’t as intense in one area as the kids I am reading about on many of these threads. She’s solid in many things, Latin, math. This is why I was thinking of helping her look at schools where she would have a good shot at getting into the choir. I want her to be happy and I’m sure if she is singing in a good choir, she will be happy.</p>
<p>We live in northern California near UC Berkeley and this may be the only school (UCB) she wouldn’t want to go to because it is in our back yard. She thinks she would like to go “east” which, to us, is anything east of Nevada. :)</p>
<p>All of your ideas are wonderful. I appreciate people taking the time to throw ideas at me.</p>
<p>Thank you for the additional information. If I were in your shoes, I would put the chorale aspect on the backburner right now, and any pre-law ideas, and focus your search on science schools. Get a list of about 20, then post them back here. That way people can give you meaningful feedback as to specific programs. </p>
<p>I agree with the previous posters who have told you that there is not a direct line to law school from your undergrad course of study. Actually, if your daughter concentrates on science, that will make her an extremely attractive candidate for law schools, as that is an exploding area of the law. </p>
<p>As you search, you will see that there are colleges that have “official” ensemble singing opportunities … but also do not discount ensemble singing opportunities that are entirely student-driven. As thumper wrote, the Ivy-League schools have some of the top-performing singing ensembles in the country. Anywhere you have a concentration of energetic, creative souls – good things will happen. </p>
<p>Off the top of my head, I would start you with
Indiana University
Florida State University
Arizona State University</p>
<p>But as we get to know more about your D, we can add/subtract.
Welcome!</p>
<p>Look at Univ of WI-Madision. She can study almost whatever she wants. They have a group called Wisconsin Singers. It is a fun, high energy, performance group, and music majors avoid it because they are busy enough with their music classes.</p>
<p>[Welcome</a> to the Wisconsin Singer’s Website!](<a href=“http://www.wisconsinsingers.com/]Welcome”>http://www.wisconsinsingers.com/)
[UW-Madison</a> Office of Student Financial Aid : Wisconsin Singers Scholarships](<a href=“Office of Student Financial Aid – UW–Madison”>Office of Student Financial Aid – UW–Madison)</p>
<p>Oberlin has a fantastic Science program, as well as the Con. I think its worth looking at.</p>
<p>I have to put in my 2 cents. D is a junior at Lawrence University and double-major in vocal performance and instrumental/choral/general music ed. She is in the “top” choir (directed by Rick Bjella) which just returned from a performance at the Amercan Choral Director’s Association meeting last week. Only about 4 mixed-group university choral groups are chosen to perform each year from about 300 audition tapes.</p>
<p>If you want to get a taste of how it went, go to the LU website and click on the news piece about the choir’s reception after the convention performances and read the Concervatory Dean’s note on the Conservatory page on the website. </p>
<p>Although clearly biased, I can say that the choral program at LU is amazing. In addition, LU has an exemplary science program and is a strong liberal arts college generally. It really does deserve a careful look for any student interested in music and liberal arts. I’m not sure how many of the concert choir members are not music majors – all spots are by audition – but I would certainly say that D’s experience in ensemble singing at LU has been extremely positive. Both Phillip Swan and Rick Bjella are gifted conductors.</p>
<p>Best of luck with your search.</p>