Your son sounds delightful @ MusakParent. I embrace quirky and weird! I’m a special ed. teacher but I have worked with many GT kids on our team (and I help run Physics Olympics so get to really know some of them!) and I know what you mean about some of that awkwardness in social situations. And more than one GT student has matter-of-factly challenged a teacher on a concept or how they were explaining it which made some teachers defensive but made me chuckle. They are so honest and go with their gut feeling if they don’t like a certain teacher’s style or learning environment, that’s for sure! That will help steer him to a place he is fully comfortable with! I think he will definitely know the colleges which will work well for him-and he won’t be shy about telling you!
Thanks @AmyIzzy! I’ve worked a bunch with GT kids over the years too and they can just be quirky and opinionated! I have taught STEM classes on a contract basis. It’s not a good or bad thing, it’s just something we have to keep in mind. Actually, after working with these kids I have much more self awareness. LOL. 
I think my younger kid is going to be easier than him mercifully! I can see her happy and thriving in a lot of settings, but she will just be starting high school in the fall.
Anyway - I’m more worried about social setup for him than the exact in and outs of the academics at a school. He has actually LOVED dual enrolling just at a community college - loves the teachers and their passion and exposure to new stuff. I’ve been super impressed with the quality of our CC actually. He doesn’t have a social group there though - he’s in and out as fast as possible. He’s carrying a 4.0 after his first year - he should have good stats anyway and might have a better opportunity with merit money over music money which could open some doors.
MusakParent I am going to PM you about “Quirky” Kids
When my daughter auditioned at UCSB, the program had an informational meeting for voice students. Since they have both a BM and a BA degree track, one prospective student asked if the degree type mattered if they planed to pursue an advanced degree. Their response was that similar to undergraduate admissions, the audition is the primary factor in graduate school admission.
@AmyIzzy Wait, is there such a thing as a music school with a 65% acceptance rate? If there is a list somewhere, I would love to see it.
I am going through this process with a late bloomer who didn’t start private lessons until 7th grade and didn’t take them very seriously until the latter part of 9th grade, so he is obviously not looking at the top schools. I don’t know, maybe it’s crazy for him to even pursue it and I should just set the bass on fire. It is very hard to build a list for a kid like this, especially since he would hate a B.A. program. (He’s an A- student with high test scores, but he really is not engaged at all in academics and doesn’t want a liberal arts curriculum).
I think acceptance rates can be misleading. Like I know Lawrence University shows pretty high acceptance rates. But if you’re auditioning there for violin performance or a soprano vocalist for example, your odds are much lower than if you are auditioning music ed in an more exotic instrument. And for smaller programs, they can just vary widely year to year. It just depends who shows up to audition. I think the quality of the faculty is probably more important to program quality. We looked at a couple programs where the teachers were less qualified than the teachers the kid is working with now. Not a great sign that it would be a good fit for him.
DePaul in Chicago said their overall school of music acceptance rate is 14%!? And I’m sure within the program it varies widely by instrument/program. I almost never see DePaul on lists for strong music programs. But I’m sure their are a lot of students that just want to be in Chicago. I suspect my kid will want to audition there. But I don’t think the faculty is better than Lawrence for instance.
I agree that acceptance rates can be misleading as the audition and what types of musicians they need are key.
However, these music colleges have high admission rates FYI:
University of the Arts (Philadelphia) 70%
Belmont 80%
Columbia Chicago 88%
Roosevelt-CCPA (Chicago College of Performing Arts) 77%
I would be curious if anyone knows decent musicians who were rejected by any of the above schools.
In our case, it’s not just getting in but getting merit aid so that will definitely play into decisions.
Hello everyone,
Just wondering if there are new people on the board, and if so, where their students are applying?
Well, I’m not exactly new (2 daughters have been through the process already, one for music, one for acting, and CC was helpful both times) – I’m returning. My daughter will be applying to grad schools in the fall (MM violin). At the moment, her list is tentative and long – a little heavy on the usual suspects, perhaps a little light on safer options. That said, she knows the lay of the land a lot better than she did when looking at conservatories as a high school senior – and also what she’s looking for and why. A few are heavy-duty reaches for her, so I’m thinking a too-long list at this point makes sense in the event of prescreens not passed. In any event, she’ll be doing the sample lesson thing in the fall, and that could help clarify her choices. Like I said above, I’ve been through this as a parent already, and even though my involvement will be much diminished this time around, I know it’s bound to be a stressful process – one that, hopefully, has a happy ending.
I haven’t posted on this thread yet. Hello to all of you!
My son will be applying this fall for music education. He’s planning to audition on voice (baritone) and cello. He’s really torn between pursuing credentials in instrumental or choral music and wishes he could just do both, but we haven’t found a program yet that encourages that. He has decided he really really wants to teach, not pursue a performance degree. Perhaps sample lessons (behind on that) and auditions will clarify things.
The college list is short. Too short maybe, and we are looking for more schools, maybe some reaches, but finding a strong, potentially affordable music ed program is tough, mostly because both good and affordable are hard to measure. It was easier to get an idea about academic scholarships with my other, non-music kids. This kid doesn’t have quite their grades (he’d rather be doing music), and music scholarships seem very unpredictable. He’s been encouraged to attend college in the state where he wants to teach, but he doesn’t know where he want to teach,
He’s putting together audition materials for our state universities (AZ) and UNT and we are looking for other schools to add. We’re waiting on his June SAT score to help in that process.
In addition to cello and classical voice, he also does some vocal jazz (and wants a school where vocal jazz ensembles are available), plays piano well, is strong in theory, composes occasionally. I’m looking forward to seeing where he ends up and what he does with all his diversity of musical talent, but the process is overwhelming already!
My son is similar, @Parentof2014grad ! He’d love to do voice as well as saxophone performance AND education. He’s also much stronger on jazz so will do best at places that let him audition on the jazz side.
We’re in New Jersey; in addition to Rutgers (our state school), so far he is interested in Ithaca College, Berklee, and Eastman. I’d like him to see Oberlin and Syracuse (Setnor) as well. If we were further west I would have him look at the University of Colorado in Boulder and the University of Denver, both of which seem to have good music programs.
I think I posted way back on page 1 or 2 but I haven’t been following that closely because it stresses me out!
I have a bass player who is currently interested in a B.M. in performance. He just auditioned for a youth orchestra, is playing in a jazz combo he put together with his friends, and in a rock band. He just started dabbling in composing and arranging and seems to love that too.
We’re in VA and he’ll apply to George Mason and James Madison. Other schools on the (extremely tentative) list are Temple, Maryland and maybe Ithaca and CCM. We really have no clue and will probably try to settle on 6 to 8. He’s attending a bass program at Oberlin in couple of weeks and that might give him a better idea of where he stands and whether it’s realistic to audition anywhere besides the in-state options. (He was an alternate at all-state orchestra on a bad day, which probably puts him in OK shape for one of those). My hope is that he’ll find a great teacher in a less competitive program, catch up to his peers who started playing earlier, and have enough money left over for grad school.
Eh1234 - welcome to the board! I also have a bassist. It’s never too late to start the bass! He will find his spot. The fact that he is playing classical, jazz and rock opens more doors. It will likely help if he decides which (if any) he would like to play professionally as the programs do vary in their strength. Oberlin is on our daughter’s list - it’s a great school!! I think the most important thing is who he “clicks” with as an instructor. Our daughter started jazz seriously this year (as mainly classical before) and progressed quickly with a private instructor that she adores. It makes all the difference in the world. Just try and find him the best instruction going forward - and someone to help him prepare for auditions. Welcome to this crazy journey!
I have a rising H.S. Junior–interested in a B.M. in clarinet performance. I know we still have some time, but the process feels daunting, and I have a feeling it’s never too early to start! Have visited Eastman, Mannes, and U of M. Lessons at Penn State. Also considering Temple. Wondering about MSM, Julliard, Rice, Vanderbilt, NEC…
Hi @mom2clarinetobsessedkid ! You may find it useful to follow this thread and also to review last year’s – I learned a ton from the previous class. How did your student like the places you’ve seen so far?
We’re leaving Friday to drive my S19 up to Eastman for the summer jazz workshop, spending one night en route at Syracuse U. to tour Setnor Music School (rumor is they are generous with scholarships). Will report on our findings. If anyone else is on the summer circuit, please let us know!
Good advice, @akapiratequeen! Have had a hard time finding others posting clarinet-specific info., but will definitely keep looking.
SUPER impressed with the faculty, curriculum, performance spaces, etc. at Eastman. Went to Eastman Experience Day in the spring, and it was extremely helpful–even included a master class and chance to sit in/play with an ensemble. Highly recommend! The city of Rochester was maybe not our favorite…
As Penn Staters, it was hard for my husband and I to take DD to tour U of M, but we had a hard time finding anything to dislike. Clarinet instructors were not on campus/ available for a lesson, so still hard to make a call about that one.
We love the clarinet prof., band director, etc. at Penn State. Not sure if the program is quite strong enough, and the school isn’t as close to a major urban center/ symphony as DD would like, so we’re torn.
Mannes was impressive, and reportedly has good clarinet instructors. In the heart of it all, but not a traditional campus feel. Seemed like it might be a better fit for a commuting student or grad student, in my opinion. Maybe just because housing was elsewhere in the city and CRAZY expensive.
For us, I think it will come down to fit with an instructor, and, obviously cost. Many of these schools have mind blowing price tags! Will be curious to hear about your son’s Eastman camp experience. DD just returned from a week at Interlochen’s Clarinet Institute, and deemed it the “best week ever!!!”
Thanks for this feedback! I have heard good things about Eastman as well. Is your D classical, jazz or both? S19 is a jazz saxophone player for the most part, interested in music education but may or may not do this later on. So far we’ve been very impressed by Ithaca (hands on, caring faculty; he liked the head of the jazz program); our state school, Rutgers (small and very personal music school, although the level of performance may not be quite where he wants it); Berklee (went for the five-week last summer and really enjoyed it); and Peabody/Johns Hopkins (great jazz faculty coming in this fall; it seemed too small to me but he really liked it). Temple has great programs but didn’t work for him, and he doesn’t want to go in NYC (he’s spent most of his life in the area and wants a change). In addition to Syracuse/Setnor, which a friend told him is looking really good, we’re planning to check out Oberlin and a few others TBD. It’s quite a process!
PS Has your D checked out NYU, Manhattan School of Music, Bard, Indiana? These are names I’ve heard for clarinet…
You’re definitely right on track with clarinet recommendations! These are names we’re hearing as well. She wants to look at NYU, MSM (for us NYC would be a BIG change,) and Indiana as well. This is completely new to me, so it’s a little hard to even know how to narrow the list. Can’t imagine being able to visit them all, take a trial lesson, etc., but also not sure how you’d choose without doing so. She’s classical only–so that factors in. Same thing for her about music ed. Mostly wants to do performance, but may want music ed or music business of some type as well. Thanks for your help!
Oh also Bienen/Northwestern and Lawrence? @mom2clarinetobsessedkid