<p>Hello,
I visited Yale recently, and absolutely fell in love with the place in general but also the freedom that it being a liberal arts school gives to its students.</p>
<p>What are some good (academic rep wise) liberal arts colleges with strong music programs? I'm planning on majoring in composition if anyone has an even more specific suggestion regarding that. </p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Yale isn’t exactly what one terms a “Liberal Arts College.” Williams, Swarthmore, Bard College, & Wesleyan are very strong traditional “liberal arts college” music composition departments. Or for a double degree - or the proximity & accessibility of a liberal arts college - Oberlin, Bard and Lawrence Conservatories. If you’re looking for an Ivy League university for composition, don’t overlook Cornell. Yale has many undergrad composition students, but you can only study with the composers in the college and not in Yale School of Music.</p>
<p>interesting article on music ensemble that got its start at Wesleyan. It mentions it’s “graduate seminar for composers” in passing:
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/arts/music/20flux.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=wesleyan&st=nyt[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/arts/music/20flux.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=wesleyan&st=nyt</a></p>
<p>Tufts is good for composition. Great professor, seminar weekly, and weekly private lessons. They have several composers concerts during the year, too, with undergrad and grad students’ work in the same concert. It is a B.A. program.</p>
<p>The folks in the Middlebury music department do a lot of composition. I think I mentioned Bennington and Sarah Lawrence to you in the past. I believe that Wesleyan has a lot of emphasis on world music. At Yale, most students study composition with a grad student.</p>
<p>Lots of state universities seem to have B.M. programs with composition, but you also have to have an instrument that you will study in many of them. Ditto BU’s music school.</p>
<p>You could look at NYU.</p>
<p>Basically, it sounds like you want a B.A., and many college music programs will have theory and composition that could meet your needs. Go to sites, check out the professors, whether there is a seminar, whether there are private lessons or just classes, check out the emphasis (world music, classical, jazz, electronic or computer, etc.).</p>
<p>You might want to look at the book “Creative Colleges”, which has a lot of info.</p>
<p>By the way, it’d be nice these schools let you pursue your own voice instead of shoehorning you into classical. I’m a big film/game scoring and contemporary writing guy, so…</p>
<p>Regarding NYU: NOT a big fan of city schools. </p>
<p>Well, if it affects your responses at all, I go to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. I have a 3.51 and an SAT I score of 2060 (but I will be retaking and probably getting a higher score in October or November). I will take the Math I, Korean Language, and either English Literature or Math II subjects tests in November or December.</p>
<p>APUSH: 4 (Final: B+)
AP Calc: 4 (Final: C)
AP Music Theory: 3 (Final: A) - This little switchup between Calc and Theory really ****ed me off. I hate and suck at math, but I love and was good at Theory, and look what happened.</p>
<p>Grr, it won’t let me edit again, but let’s expand then…</p>
<p>What are the best liberal arts colleges for undergrad composition study AND what is the best Ivy for undergrad composition study?</p>
<p>Try “What are the best liberal arts schools and best Ivy League schools to study music composition, specifically film/game scoring and contemporary music?”</p>
<p>But, also, define for us what “contemporary music” means for you, because that term can mean many things.</p>
<p>Well, as far as I know/care, contemporary just means like music leaning toward film/game scoring - aka, NOT art songs. Essentially Elmer, not Leonard, Bernstein; Giacchino, not Stravinsky; and Williams (John), not Mozart.</p>
<p>I think you should focus on schools that are less selective than the Ivies. All of them will be a reach with your grades and test scores. Not to absolutely say you couldn’t get in, but it’s a longshot. Also, not one of them will have the kind of composition department you’re looking for. It’s possible you could find someone to study with at USC in the fields you’re interested in as an undergrad. Can’t really think of many academic schools with the emphasis you want. Film & game scoring tend to be a graduate level pursuit. You might look into Chapman in Southern California. They have a notable film department as well as a conservatory and may have something for you.</p>
<p>Well, I mean, at this point, as long as the school doesnt have a strict classical enforcement, I’m cool with it - I don’t mind “standing out” a bit. As long as they let students “pursue their own voice”, I like.</p>
<p>Regarding Ivies: Yeah, I agree - I’m only bothering applying to Yale because my interview went so damn well. But hence the reason I’m seeking out small liberal arts colleges.</p>
<p>Students who are composing “contemporary classical” are not shoehorned and they ARE writing in their “own voice.” They experience the same strong drive to write “classical” new music, as you do to write for films and games. Contemporary concert music is extremely individual, and you might enjoy listening to, say, Steve Reich or George Crumb or Phillip Glass to see what I mean.</p>
<p>But if that is not your thing, then it is wise to look into schools that offer the kind of thing you do want to do.</p>
<p>I think you might want to look at the book, “Colleges that Rock,” and also just research websites to see if you can find film scoring or the like in the curriculum. You can also do what you are doing on your own, and take a course or two in the music department that supports that, without being a composition major.</p>
<p>I have been to composers concerts at a small liberal arts college near us, and I would not say at all that all the pieces were “classical,” but most of them were.</p>
<p>I know I have seen film scoring on websites, but I don’t think I have seen anything at all about writing music for games.</p>
<p>The recent link posted by SpiritManager here [College</a> of Visual and Performing Arts : The Bandier Program for Music and the Entertainment Industries](<a href=“http://vpa.syr.edu/index.cfm/page/bandier-program-music-entertainment-industries]College”>http://vpa.syr.edu/index.cfm/page/bandier-program-music-entertainment-industries) might be of interest.</p>
<p>Nice link violadad,</p>
<p>So to recap for now, is this a solid list to look into? Anywhere else?:</p>
<p>Sarah Lawrence
Williams
Swarthmore
Wesleyan
Bennington
Tufts
Middlebury
Chapman - and I can’t seem to be able to find a film scoring major anywhere on Chapman’s page? Or is it just rolled into their “Music in Composition” major? </p>
<p>And I heard somewhere Vassar’s music department was pretty good? Or no?</p>
<p>I would also check into a state college or university. Also, most of the schools on your list are hard to get into, for anyone.</p>
<p>Clark University in Worcester MA is another possibility. It seems as if you might be on the East Coast from your choices.</p>
<p>Ithaca, University of Hartford…</p>
<p>Yep, I’m in the northern Virginia area, but I’m pretty sure the parentals won’t let location hinder me if I get into a good place. How are Haverford, Claremont McKenna, Amherst, and Pomona’s music offerings?</p>
<p>(Also, really, academically “free-er” or “easier” the better)</p>
<p>All those schools you list are the wrong schools to look at for easier academics. It seems to me you should pick a college for aspects other than their composition department and then just take music classes as you please - perhaps not even major in music. Maybe do media studies instead? Of the schools on your list the only one with easier academics is Chapman although the film school is one of the more selective in the country. I don’t really understand where your list of schools is coming from. Most of them are reaches and not known for music. On the other hand, if you really just want to do film scoring, why not just apply to Berklee and do that?</p>
<p>I mean, it’s not that I can’t handle high academics, just that after going to the high school that I’ve gone to for the last few years, it’d be nice to have a break, but that’s not mandatory. Besides, apparently kids coming from my school find UVA and Ivy League workloads to not be that bad, so I’m pretty sure I can handle it. </p>
<p>And well, I’ve been mulling over stuff a lot recently, and I figure it might be nice to have choice than to focus just straight on music. I do love music and composing and it’s what I want to major in - I can’t quite see myself doing anything else.</p>
<p>And that long list in my second to last - well, I guess it’s third to last now - post was just a list of all the schools named by people earlier in the thread.</p>
<p>Do you have a guidance counselor? Or can you purchase a college guide, or “Creative Colleges” or go to the library for such a book?</p>
<p>I agree that with your stated goals, including perhaps a less demanding academic load in favor of time for creativity perhaps (one of my kids has made that choice), that you need some schools on your list that you know you are going to get into. Just reiterating what Spirit Manager said, that your list is full of the most selective schools. By all means, apply to any of them, but you also need back-ups.</p>
<p>I think Spirit Manager’s suggestions are really good ones, in terms of not basing your choices on music per se, or, alternatively, looking at Berklee. You can major in anything, and work on your own on music. It seems to me that you may be impatient with some of the requirements of a music major, anywhere, and so working on your own may be more satisfying. You are not alone in this, and will find like-minded students on any campus. Also, most colleges allow extensive involvement in music extracurriculars regardless of major.</p>
<p>You may wish to have a look at the TIMARA program at Oberlin. [TIMARA=Technology</a> in Music and Related Arts](<a href=“http://www.timara.oberlin.edu%5DTIMARA=Technology”>http://www.timara.oberlin.edu)</p>
<p>It used to be possible to do a TIMARA emphasis in conjunction with the BA in Music degree through Oberlin College. The relationship between the College BA and the Conservatory BM programs seems to have changed a little over the past couple of years, so if you are interested in the program but want to enroll in the College only (i.e. not the Conservatory or Dual-Degree program) it would behoove you to give them a call and find out if this is still possible.</p>
<p>@Bassdad: That definitely sounds interesting, and I was unaware until this point that Oberlin offered a BA in Music. And I’ve definitely been interested in their TIMARA program</p>
<p>@Compmom: My counselor’s gonna be overloaded with seniors and the college janks, but I do think she has a favorable impression of me, so I’ll probably get around to talking to her a LOT about this. </p>
<p>In terms of being impatient with the reqs of a music major… if you mean like the theory classes and basic stuff and such, I just took a look at Amherst’s (not mentioned by anyone for music, I know) music theory placement test… and it was SO FREAKING EASY. And as I’ve mentioned before, I can’t quite see myself majoring in anything else…</p>
<p>And not going to a conservatory/not looking strictly at conservatories is basically my way of being like “Errrr, 100% music? Maybs not a totally good idea”.</p>
<p>And Berklee has already been on my “I know I’m going to apply here” list, along with Michigan, Indiana, USC, James Madison, Peabody, Princeton (ha), and Yale (ha).</p>