St. Olaf has a BM program. People tend to use the term “conservatory” for freestanding conservatories but St. Olaf’s BM program is essentially similar to a conservatory. So again the best teachers and performance opportunities may go to the BM students. But it also has a BA program for music. I would just talk to them about this.
Oberlin has enhanced their “Musical Studies” BA for music majors (or double majors) with increased access to the conservatory. Bard also, as I wrote before, has “low wall” between college and conservatory. Lawrence and St. Olaf are worth looking at but she would have to keep in mind that the BM students might get more opportunities.
AFAIK, there’s no difference for performance access or ability to play in the top chamber orchestra wrt major, just music quality. Obviously BM students will be good but they don’t represent the majority of musicians on campus.
Orchestra+ main choirs= 500 students + Top Band + several smaller choirs + smaller band + Philarmonia + jazz bands + chamber orchestras = about 1,000 students are involved in serious music (out of 3,000). There are also student-led bands, a capella, etc.
According to the Music Dept’s page, students indicate an interest in music and after completion of pre-reqs are admitted to the BM, BA, BA/Ed, double degree, or not at all. 1st year students are rarely admitted directly to the BM.
(Edited to reword above info based on below post).
Same access to teachers for BA versus BM students? It’s great to get inside info. All I can do is suggest applicants check into this issue at each and every school.
Saw this just now on the site:
Admission to the music major by audition (either Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Music) is required. Students may not self-declare a music major. Admission to the B.A. music major is selective; admission to the B.M. program is highly selective. Consequently, it is not unusual for the B.M. applicants to be admitted to the B.A. music major initially. These students would begin the core music major coursework in the fall of their first year and may re-apply for admission to the B.M. program after they begin their studies at St. Olaf.
Yes, it’s best to email and ask.
AFAIK there’s no difference, in part because of faculty:student ratio - with 1/3 students involved in music in some way, there are a LOT of professors and opportunities.
(Of course, we can assume the BM students are the most gifted and therefore have the skills to get into the performance groups they are interested in, but it doesn’t mean others can’t. For instance, the top orchestra has 90-100 players and they represent a wide range of majors.)
A good way to know how one “ranks” as a musician is to apply for a music scholarship (in December). While not getting a scholarship doesn’t mean one will not qualify for a “top” orchestra/choir/band, getting one certainly means the candidate is considered very strong and among the best musicians among the applicant class.
Thank you for your suggestion - but Peabody and Hopkins campuses are far apart. It is not easy to do both.
Also, Hopkins has been great for my first son (biochemistry major, math minor) but won’t be for my petit daughter who is less stem oriented and less competitive in nature.
Check Pomona, they love musicians, actually recruit them, see the “Musical ‘recruitment’ At Pomona” threat.
And academics are certainly strong.
My D was accepted ED1 with almost identical stats. Her ‘selling points’ were languages and music, not much else.
I used to think about Pomona.
I even commented on this thread below “Unusual welcome to musicians (at Pomona) in Jan 2020, when my violinist son applied but denied. And there was also a negative post in that thread about the level of music at Pomona.
My daughter would like to stay on the east coast anyway. Thank you for the suggestion, though.
I’m sure there are better places to study music than Pomona. I am not sure there are many better places in terms of the “whole package.”
Anyway, I was mostly replying to:
admittedly, without seeing:
I am perfectly satisfied with the outcome of the admission process, and I wish your daughter all the best on her path.
Thank you, @ArtsyKidDad
I wish Pomona is on the east coast😉 It really looks like a great school. I love their freshman orientation on the beach+ in the mountain thing.
In all honesty, the Beach/Mountain Adventure is suspended until further notice, with new kids from 59 countries and probably all 50 states, they take the bug seriously…
But yes, the spirit is there.
We are from the east coast, and D went to NU/Bienen. She felt quite at home in Evanston, and frequently went to Chicago as public transportations is cheap and efficient. She really enjoyed the discounted student tickets to the CSO and Lyric opera. Saw many great performances (pre-pandemic)…
(@songbirdmama -I have read many of your posts in Music thread in the past.)
Northwestern is one of her top choices, even though it’s not on the east coast😉
Our public school is extreme competitive, but NW doesn’t take many students from our school - one a year, mostly from ED round from the fear of yield rate (my completely personal guess). So, we shall see.
My daughter is a pianist who does not want to “major” in music. NW won’t let her upload her music performance on Slideroom unless she wants to major. (I know this from my violinist son’s experience in his application process). So, I am worried that music won’t give her much boost in admissions. Just wondering… nobody knows. Oh well.
Not my area. But just looking at most schools as reaches…CWRU or Oberlin are targets and not sure if these have violin but Miami has music, engineering…and palm trees!!!..I see UNC, UMD, UGA.
The reality is kids with her #s, especially engineering, are finding they are not getting into what they assume are targets. Some kids on CC apply only to the top 20 and are left with nothing. Meanwhile schools like FSU or UGA have wonderful honors programs to boot. I saw others like Furman on the list. I know W &L has ensembles.
Admittedly music or the conservatories are not my wheelbase but perhaps this will help…and the note of caution. I know you said you’ll have an in-state safety…but lots of other schools give merit. While you say costs are not an issue, it’s always a mental boost for a kid to get a scholarship.
I missed the ‘not’…my bad. Will she be math / science, social science, humanities or otherwise ? Well you have a great start with a lot more informed feedback. Good luck.
My daughter is undecided.
She is taking BC Calc now so she is pretty good in math, but she doesn’t care much about physics. She says she might be interested in neuroscience (especially in relation to music), environmental science, and psych at this moment.
