Will admit I’m not familiar with Bard or Lawrence. Must investigate. Fellow Interlochen clarinet students weren’t keen on the professor at Bienen/Northwestern. That has since come off our list.
In terms of classical clarinet - I’ve heard good things about Rice, USC and Colburn. From what I hear - trial lessons are key - finding the professor/instructor that will champion your student.
Richard Stolzman is at NEC.
Franklin Cohen at CIM. One of the best and a super nice guy too.
Greetings from the road! We just visited Syracuse/Setnor school, which S liked very much. We’d have to research teachers and studios but for now, it’s on the list.
As we see more schools, he’s starting to show a clear preference for scenic, ivy-covered campuses in less urban settings. He still wants cold weather (!) and driving distance to our home in NJ, though Rochester, our next stop, is a pretty long drive…
Any recommendations for scenic campuses in the NE or maybe Midwest?
Ithaca is definitely worth a look or did you already visit? Such a beautiful area and campus. I was disappointed when my daughter ruled it out after our visit (programs were more classical than contemporary and she wants an urban campus which has a more diverse student body.) Glad your son liked Syracuse. I attended SU for my Master’s degree-wonderful option if he can handle the cold and lots of hills! Good luck!
We’re visiting Temple this month, although if others here are looking at it, I guess it might be out of reach for my son. I mainly want to see if he likes the campus - I doubt that he would do a trial lesson anywhere (and not in the summer obviously). I wish his teacher were more help with suggesting schools but he’s older and a bit out of touch. He suggested Curtis, lol.
I’ll look into Rutgers since @akapiratequeen mentioned the level was maybe not as high as other schools some of you are looking at. “Not as high level” is probably what we need to be looking at. Also, if the NPC is right, they might give my son $25K for his grades and test scores, which seems almost too good to be true.
We don’t have the time or money for multiple road trips this summer so the kid’s first intro to some schools may be at the audition. I’ll also be on the lookout for fall open houses but there aren’t too many random days off on the school calendar this year. If he gets in somewhere or has a choice to make, they he can re-visit.
I would love for the list of schools to stay within 4 hours from home for audition purposes) but it seems to be creeping out there a bit. Having a gigantic instrument does limit the search geographically.
Oh yes, @AmyIzzy he loved Ithaca as well! Guess he’s figuring out his “type!”
That’s the best part @akapiratequeen!
When they start to really determine what type of “vibe” and environment they are looking for. My daughter now knows she wants an Urban campus, diverse study body, “artsy” vibe, and doesn’t want a “traditional” campus but she is open-minded on certain things like liberal arts vs. conservatory. It reminds me of when we bought a house. There were certain “must-have’s” but some things were negotiable. Berklee still a top choice but she really loved Columbia Chicago which is much more in our price range and just screams “artsy!” I’m glad she is exploring and can envision herself at more than one college which will make it easier when we look at final offers and determine what makes sense in terms of her goals and financial limits. I was hoping we could contain her to a 4-6 hour drive but that may not happen (Columbia is 8 hrs away but a short distance by air.) It may seem your children are getting “picky” as you hit new college visits but it really does help narrow down the list when they start to know what they want and don’t want.
That sounds perfect for your D! S19 got a nice note from the admissions person at Setnor, which further impressed him. She cc’d the dean and suggested he reach out directly with questions. So far the only other people who followed up after a visit were at Ithaca.
@eh1234 and @tripletmama if you have questions about Ithaca College and the bass studio there, you can pm me. S is a rising senior there and is going to be applying to grad schools this year.
We just picked up S19 from a summer program at Eastman. It was much smaller than other programs he’s done — 45 kids as opposed to nearly 1,000 at Berklee — and very intense, with every day including weekends scheduled. He worked very hard and improved a lot; loved his teachers, who were uniformly f/t faculty, and really enjoyed the other kids. My observations: very few women or people of color in the jazz program, which surprised me a lot as compared to Berklee or even Rutgers, our state school. Gorgeous facilities (no a-c in the dorms, which was very uncomfortable in the recent heat wave, but otherwise top notch), great level of student but supportive rather than competitive. I think he’ll apply, though not sure it’s at the top of his list.
S learned tons and also improved a lot from Eastman’s program, covering theory, master classes, forums, small ensemble, big band as well as jam sessions, which brought him to another level of playing. He adored the teachers, who are all Eastman Jazz Faculty members. In his words, ‘there is not a single teacher who doesn’t teach well!’
And so it begins: the Berklee application is open! No essay required, just the online form (S19 also attached a resume at his teacher’s suggestion). Whole thing took about ten minutes. Cost was $150, which gave me a shock, but they will waive it if you ask. They asked if he had studied with any Berklee grads, an interesting question.
His teacher suggested applying early to make sure he gets a good audition slot at the location of his choice. I hope to meet some of you in Boston this winter!
My S had a wonderful time at the Hinton Bass Institute at Oberlin. I’m not sure he even slept more than 2 hours a night because he was having so much fun getting to know the other students (only 32 in all) and he loved the instructors. He also got to know a bass professor from one of our in-state publics and is now more enthusiastic about applying there. He’s still working on building a list of schools to apply to so hearing that applications are opening is stressing me out! I might start sending some test scores out just to make it feel like something is actually happening.
Hartt and SUNY Purchase are possibilities perhaps for those looking at Temple, Rutgers etc.
For those who have a list or are developing one, would love to see it here. That way we can compare notes as we visit various schools.
S19 has visited/is applying to:
Rutgers/Mason Gross
Ithaca
Syracuse/Setnor
Berklee
Eastman
Peabody (possibly—mixed reviews of jazz program)
Visited/not applying to:
Temple
Vassar
Wants to see:
U Maryland
I’d like him to see and/or apply to:
Oberlin
Lawrence
On the fence re: Northwestern, U Michigan, mostly because he wouldn’t go without significant merit aid and it doesn’t seem like they offer this to out of state undergrads?
Thoughts, advice and suggestions welcome!
@akapiratequeen maybe we should start a new thread with our lists for next year. I will gladly add mine for my D19 french horn player. Since some colleges are opening up it may be time.
Hi @mperrine — this is the general thread for kids who are rising seniors/high school class of 2019. Did you mean start a separate thread for lists?
Great list, @akapiratequeen! Can’t wait to see how it develops. Will be watching/reading with bated breath. 
This will be us next year!