<p>My S has been accepted to CMU for piano but not for composition. He's been playing piano for 12 years and got started with serious composing only within the past 2 years. He's been in a strong certificate music-prep program for the past 5 years for piano performance. CMU only accepts 35-40 students into their school of music per year. We were told by CMU that he could start out as a piano major and then re-audition for composition once he develops a stronger portfolio. The curriculum for piano and composition majors at CMU is virtually identical for freshman and sophmore years. He was also one of 15 students accepted into U of D's composition program. U of D is only an hour from home compared to the 4 hour drive to CMU. They are not a "conservatory" within a university setting like CMU. U of D is nationally ranked #69 and CMU is ranked #21, I think. Bottom line: My S is worried that there's no guarantee of getting into the composition program at CMU, but he's already "in" at U of D. He also has some serious concerns about the "serious atmosphere" associated with CMU compared to the more "relaxed atmosphere" associated with U of D. He's read alot of on-line "student reviews" about the lack of social life at CMU and the abundance of social life at U of D. My main concern is this: Will he be missing an amazing opportunity by not going to CMU in terms of a "ticket" later on when applying to grad school or a finding a music career? Will he also miss out on "better" training in music at CMU compared to U of D? He does have other interests, academically, but insists that he wants to compose music for a career. He thinks he would like to go into film scoring at the graduate level, eventually.</p>
<p>Confused Mom</p>