<p>I wish I had discovered this web site months ago!
My son wants a career in piano performance. He is going to apply to Juliard, Oberlin, New England Conservatory, Peabody, and the Cincinnati Institute of Music.
I know absolutely nothing about any of this. I have no idea if he's applying to the "best" schools. Please - if you have any information or feedback or anything to help me/him I would deeply appreciate it. What schools have we totally missed? What do you think of the schools listed above? Good/bad? Why? How can he possibly say which teacher he'd like to take lessons from when you have no clue who they are? We don't have a ton of money to go around and take lessons from them.............thoughts? If he gets accepted (I know the odds are low!), but he can't go due to finances, are there any good public schools where he could study piano performance? We live in MN if that helps at all.
I really appreciate any guidance you can give me.</p>
<p>anxious, I don't know anything about piano but I agree that you will get reliable information and answers to your questions on this board. I'd suggest that you also post on the Parents forum. There are many frequent posters who have musical children.</p>
<p>Financial aid is available at most schools. If your family is low income you may qualify for need based aid. This is the first point that you will need to clarify. Try using an on line calculator to learn how much you will be expected to contribute. There are certainly public colleges with good music deparments but out of state tuition may put you in the same boat as private tuition so don't draw conclusions until you've had a chance to learn more.</p>
<p>When will your son be applying? (Not this year, I hope!) What are his academic qualifications -- grade point average, test scores and rank? Be sure to include this information in your future posts as well.</p>
<p>Cincinnati is fabulous. I had an uncle who graduaed from CCM and was a Tony award winning composer. They have great success with their graduates. When I have gone to CCM performances, I am amazed at the talent of these kids. However, it is a VERY tough school to get admitted to.</p>
<p>Thank you for your helpful answers!
To fill in some blanks: my son IS applying this year - (trust me I"m beating myself up for not jumping in sooner)
To answer momrath's questions - his GPA is 3.7; SAT 1970:ACT 31: top 20%
I'm going to sound naive (again) - I thought that the music schools really didn't care how the kid did academically - all that mattered is if they can play??
Also - does the CD he sends in have to be perfect? It costs $200 to make a CD - it could end up really costly to make it a few times!</p>