<p>My daughter would like to study Music performance (classical guitar form the fall 2015. What is the difference between going to a Conservatory (Juliiards, NEC etc) vs a Music school (Beinen, Thronton etc...) vs a University with a Conservatory (JHU)</p>
<p>Time: Conservatory students have more time devoted to music only subjects and also more time to practice. T
Peers: Conservatory students tend to be very devoted to time spent on music and practice so they improve relatively quickly and that impacts the quality of their ensembles.
Less Distractions: Although Juilliard and NEC supposedly have hockey teams that play each other, there are not the same type of distractions on campus as there are at a big University with clubs and Fraternities and Sororities.</p>
<p>Those are what I see as the big difference…</p>
<p>Agree with StagJip, however not all Universities with a conservatory are the same. For example, Peabody Conservatory, which is part of JHU, is like a free-standing conservatory. All of my daughter’s classes are music classes, with the exception of the required English class. But I believe that most stand-alone conservatories have one required English class as well.</p>
<p>I had the same question when my daughter was applying, so for each school my daughter was interested in, I found/requested the conservatory’s catalog, and looked up the non-music requirements. As Stacjip said, the non-music courses required by most universities for music majors are considerable.</p>
<p>Agree with StacJip.
Another consideration: If D has any leanings toward another major, then she can change majors “within” a university instead of changing schools/locations. Also, more opportunities for a double major if interested.
And if she has a good GPA/ACT/SAT, some (not many) conservatories within colleges will “stack” academic and talent scholarships or they will offer both and you take the larger of the 2. If your D changes from music to another major, then the academic scholarship remains in effect. At one school, my D got talent, academic and a housing supplement! It was not her first choice, so was sad to see that one go :(</p>
<p>Universities typically have general education requirements. My son took biology, statistics, elements of calculus, four semesters of foreign language, literature,economics history, etc as part of his BM requirements. Some schools don’t have the math requirement and a lot will give AP credit for courses (score of 4-5 on the AP exam)-it depends on the college. As woodwinds notes, some conservatories basically have a writing requirement along with a few humanities courses; the students are able to focus much more closely on their instrument.</p>
<p>The big disadvantage with a standard university BM is the fact that progress is slower when the student has a heavy load of gen eds. My son went to summer school after his freshman year and knocked out 12 credits (I do not recommend this-exhausting) in order to finish the gen eds more rapidly. The following summer he took British Lit online at UNC-Chapel Hill the first year he was at EMF-it really hurt his social life with all of the reading). The advantage to doing the summer courses was his last two semesters of college have been music only and he has really progressed in his playing.</p>
<p>One thing I found interesting- S was interviewed at two conservatories (when he auditioned for the MM) for work as a writing tutor! The A’s in the English and Spanish Lit courses probably made him an attractive candidate for these types of positions. The other plus is, if music does not work out professionally, he could earn another degree more rapidly (he has thought of going into physical therapy and focusing on musicians injuries).</p>
<p>This is something my daughter encountered as an undergrad, and it did come up unexpectedly. One of the schools she seriously considered was a music school inside a university. She did not have any AP credits, so she would have been bogged down with a lot gen ed requirements, as hornet describes above. None of her other choices required much in the way of gen eds. (I think at her present school there is one “liberal arts” course a semester and the rest of the academic classes are music-related.) She was trying to pick the best school with the best teacher (that was also affordable) and this unexpected issue added a new layer to the mix. </p>
<p>D4 had to choose between BFA and BA theater programs and ended up picking (for artistic reasons) a school with a heavy academic core requirement. This school does not waive requirements for AP scores (you just get elective credit, with the exception of advanced math, which she did not have.) She took 9 credits last summer to help knock some of them out of the way, but it means for her a very heavy load throughout college. She does not regret her decision, however. </p>
<p>I guess the trick is to choose the best artistic program, but to be aware that gen eds requirements in some programs can become an issue.</p>
<p>Good point about the AP credits being “:general electives” for many schools, especially some LACs. D graduated college with 147 hours in four years. 24 credits were the high school APs that were given “general elective” status. Even though she earned 5’s on most, the college felt like APs did not prepare the students adequately for their upper division courses. D had to agree. Chemistry and Biology at her LAC were much more intense.</p>
<p>Another point about universities for the BM-the orchestras are often mixed in quality. My son’s school auditions everyone but there are some players that are adequate but not music major quality. He has found this to be a bit annoying in the last year or so (as he has gotten better). Some schools, like Oberlin simply don’t let the non-conservatory students in the orchestra unless they would be capable of being admitted to the con. Others have orchestras for non-music majors. Hopkins, for example, has an orchestra (not associated with Peabody) for its undergraduates. Some big schools, like Michigan, have many orchestras for the different levels of playing. Michigan even has an orchestra for its health science people (grad students, med students, etc)!</p>
<p>Another thing to consider as a difference - at a stand alone conservatory all of the student’s peers will also be in music ( at a conservatory like Juilliard: dance & drama, too.) But at a music school within a university, or a conservatory at a university (such as Oberlin) there will be students pursuing a multitude of majors. The student may, or may not, be living in a dorm full of scientists, writers, business majors etc. And the classes the student takes outside of music, whether there are many general requirements or not, will have non-musicians in them. This was important for my son - he knew he did not want to be surrounded only by musicians. I’m sure for some musicians, just the opposite is true! For my son, he knew he wanted to continue with academics at a high level, with a peer group in those classes to match him intellectually - he only applied to schools of music within a college setting for that reason. (Northwestern, USC, Michigan and Bard- where he ended up pursuing a double degree which was perfect for him.)</p>
<p>Oh one thing I forgot different conservatories have different partnerships with other universities. Full time NEC students can take liberal arts classes at Northeastern or Tufts. MSM students can take classes at Barnard (Not Columbia) but only after they are Juniors. Eastman students can take classes at University of Rochester. But before you assume what that means you need to talk to current students about a: How easy is it to cross register and get into a class that you want to take. b: How difficult is it to combine a standard liberal arts class at a University with conservatory education c: What are the logistics (transport to and from class etc….)</p>
<p>It can be really difficult to schedule those secondary courses if you’re working from a conservatory schedule. Some combined programs, e.g., Juilliard/Columbia, are focused more on academics with less conservatory participation until the final year. </p>
<p>Universities vary when it comes to what academics a BM has to do and it’s very important that you check out the requirements before applying. Rice is a lot different than University of Michigan, for instance. There are a lot of universities that only require exactly what a conservatory would in terms of academics. My kid is at a conservatory linked with a university and I believe she is getting a better music education and exactly the same academic ed as she would at most universities. In her case the cost was the same because the conservatory offered more ( or had more to offer ) money than the state school. I hadn’t expected that. As far as overall intellectual growth the student is responsible for that- I know plenty of dolts that went to college and many brilliant people that only finished high school. </p>
<p>You really need to look at the specifics–don’t stop at whether it’s a “music school” or “music department” or “conservatory.” What are the actual requirements? What is the interaction with the rest of the university?</p>