Creating the List of Colleges

College Majors Music Major
1

I made a more general earlier thread regarding S preparations for music school for a BM in jazz bass. As he is working on his craft, I started to think about how to form a list of schools that we could begin reviewing. I looked at collegeboard.org and applied only the filter of “jazz studies” for a major. There were 71 results. I will list what the results were below. From this list, we can apply extra criteria to narrow things down. Is there much of a chance that a great place for jazz bass in the USA could have been omitted from this list? Is this a good way to start a list? Actually, I notice that NIU in Dekalb, IL is not in the list, so I already know there is a problem. Is there any other way to assemble a master list?

In a later post, I will ask about ideas for narrowing down the list to suit a particular person, but I would like to start with a good list for narrowing down. By further specifying on collegeboards.org that it be 4-year and co-ed, the list shrank to 65 results. I didn’t see any options for “Awesomeness of jazz bass instructor” or “Music networking opportunities”.

Thanks.

Aquinas College Grand Rapids, MI
Bard College Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Berklee College of Music Boston, MA
California State University: Long Beach Long Beach, CA
Central State University Wilberforce, OH
Columbia College Chicago Chicago, IL
Community College of Rhode Island Warwick, RI
Cornish College of the Arts Seattle, WA
East Carolina University Greenville, NC
Five Towns College Dix Hills, NY
Hofstra University Hempstead, NY
Howard University Washington, DC
Johnson State College Johnson, VT
Liberty University Lynchburg, VA
Lincoln College Lincoln, IL
McGill University Montreal
Minnesota State University Moorhead
New York University New York, NY
North Central College Naperville, IL
Oberlin College Oberlin, OH
Palm Beach State College Lake Worth, FL
Rowan University Glassboro, NJ
Shenandoah University Winchester, VA
Terra State Community College Fremont, OH
University of Akron Akron, OH
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL
University of Miami Coral Gables, FL
University of Minnesota: Duluth Duluth, MN
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC
University of North Texas Denton, TX
University of Rochester Rochester, NY
University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX
University of Toronto Toronto
Webster University Saint Louis, MO
Whitworth University Spokane, WA
Youngstown State University Youngstown, OH
Augustana College Rock Island, IL
Bennington College Bennington, VT
Brigham Young University Provo, UT
Capital University Columbus, OH
City University of New York: City College New York, NY
Columbia University New York, NY
Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico San Juan, PR
DePaul University Chicago, IL
Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester Rochester, NY
Grossmont College El Cajon, CA
Hope College Holland, MI
Ithaca College Ithaca, NY
Juilliard School New York, NY
Limestone College Gaffney, SC
Loyola University New Orleans New Orleans, LA
Michigan State University

New England Conservatory of Music Boston, MA
North Carolina Central University Durham, NC
Northwestern University
Ohio State University: Columbus Campus Columbus, OH
Roosevelt University Chicago, IL
Saint Cloud State University St. Cloud, MN
Temple University

Texas State University San Marcos, TX
University of Hartford West Hartford, CT
University of Iowa Iowa City, IA
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI
University of Missouri: Kansas City Kansas City, MO
University of North Florida Jacksonville, FL
University of Oregon Eugene, OR
University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA
University of the Pacific Stockton, CA
Villa Maria College of Buffalo Buffalo, NY
Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI
William Paterson University of New Jersey Wayne, NJ

2

Does your son have a bass teacher? Filtering through collegeboard.org is not an efficient way to come up with a list for music schools; music is not really their bailiwick.

3

glassharmonica,

Thanks. I am interested in learning more about an efficient way to come up with a list. Of course, I have seen folks describe themselves here and receive suggestions. I felt like trying to start with a more zoomed-out perspective if practical.

Yes, S does have a bass teacher. He actually has two. I will tell you more detail in case you need. One is a masters student in jazz bass who S has worked with for about 1.5 years on electric bass and is just starting double bass. The second teacher, who S is just ready to start with, is a professor of music for classical double bass.

4

How old is your son? I would recommend sending him to a jazz camp this summer so he can meet the faculty and get an idea of how he compares to other bassists his age. Through the camp he will meet teachers and professional musicians and learn about their teaching styles to see what he likes and try out the teachers before going to auditions.

5

I understand wanting to start from an expanded list and narrow down from there. And I’m sure there are many schools where one can find a decent jazz program and a good jazz bass instructor. Having said that, based on my son’s school search, here are the schools on your list that I think have particularly good jazz programs, plus a handful not on your list - just one person’s view fwiw (and just in the order they appear on your list):

Berklee
McGill
NYU
Oberlin
Miami/Frost
North Texas
Columbia University (NY)
Eastman (Rochester)
Ithaca
Juilliard
New England Conservatory
Northwestern (rebuilding but I’ve heard good things)
Michigan
USC/Thornton
University of the Pacific
William Paterson

Not on your list:

Manhattan School of Music
New School (NY)
Princeton
Indiana/Jacobs

6

University of North Texas

7

We’re partial to Ithaca, as the bass prof there is a perfect fit for my son. He will be starting in the fall. He does classical and jazz. :smiley:

8

Agree that UNT and Ithaca have good jazz programs (both are on my “short” list). I did not include Loyola NO on my short list because I just don’t know anything about it, but @mommabass’s son is a jazz bass player who is a junior there, and @saintfan’s son will be starting in the jazz program there in the fall, so I’m sure they can provide some input on that program.

9

I don’t know anything about bass, so can’t speak to that. What we found, though, is that as we researched and S looked at programs and went to summer camps etc. it started to clarify. Some places started to rise to the top and others fell away. We kept more irons in the fire than S wanted for admission and financial options, but like any other college search one can apply some filters and start to narrow.

S narrowed based on location, then program offerings, teacher and feel or vibe. That list of filters would be very different for other musical pursuits and for other kids. Your list might narrow based on academic admissions and music admissions. It might narrow based on cost. There are OOS publics that grant in-state tuition but many would be very, very expensive.

In the end I found that I really had to learn to let things go, to provide information and guidance but then follow his lead with things. There was a very highly regarded school that would have been a great financial safety but he didn’t like the program or the feel. It was hard for me to trust him and let it go. He also let a high end “dream school” go late in the game based on a gut feeling. On paper it had been one of his favorites.

People talk a lot about the numbers of kids who enter as music majors but don’t leave as music majors for one reason or another. I feel like finding the right fit might have a lot to do with that. Of course, that too is speculation at this point. Ask me again in 4 years. It could be that my kids are just hothouse flowers, too. :slight_smile:

10

Thank you.

S is 15 years and 10 months old, sophomore in HS.

Based originally on internet surveys and rumor, we did select one school to investigate more “deeply”, but now that we have focused on that school for a spell, I wish to zoom back out to make the normal list of 6-7 schools to prepare for, in order to get into one of them.

Once we have the idea that schools on the list are appropriate levels of music instruction and networking, cost will definitely be a major factor, so that we can pay for the BM degree and have money left over for either graduate school or at least a debt-small freedom to put the experience to use without immediate need for a day job that redirects attention away from intended musical pursuits.

11

My son is currently a student at Hartt at the University of Hartford. He started playing electric bass when he was 12 and picked up the upright bass a couple of years later. Our search was a bit different because he wanted to do music business rather than a performance degree.

We narrowed our until list to the following schools:

Hartt
Berklee
U mass Amherst (our state school)
College of St. Rose
Frost/ U Miami
William Patterson
SUNY Purchase

He did not want a straight up conservatory, and he wanted to stay in the northeast.

He eliminated William Patterson because the campus was ugly. Maybe not the best reason, but whatever. He also eliminated Purchase because they did not have music business. Purchase would be well worth a look for your son though. Great program, and the head of the Jazz studies dept. Todd Coolman is a bassist, and is a lovely person. Also the tuition is relatively low.

He applied to the remaining schools on the list, and was accepted at all. Berklee and Frost we eliminated as too expensive. He loved Nat Reeves, the bass professor at Hartt, so he is happy with his ultimate choice.

I would also strongly recommend that your son do some kind of summer program either this summer or next summer or both if you can swing it. Berklee 5 week, Litchfield, or something like that. When my son did the 5 week, the deadline for scholarship applications was March 1.

12

GoForth - My D is a graduate student at Frost. I will send you a PM.

13

Thanks. Speaking of reliable lists, I started to look for more info on tuition costs. A simple google search of “u of miami frost tuition” shows a $43,040 (in & out of state) at petersons.com. I did not see tuition at miami.edu. Is petersons.com the place to go for tuition info?

14

@GoForth - there’s not much use in looking at tuition costs at this point. There’s no way to know what it will cost. For instance, Frost offers full rides for different instruments each year. Your cost will depend on the talent of your son, and your own financial need. The financial aid part you can determine a bit using the Net Price Calculators - but the merit money your son might be awarded will not be known for sure until April of his senior year, and sometimes even later! The only tuition cost you can count now is for a program which offers no scholarships or merit based funding and no financial aid. Not sure there actually are any of those - except for the for-profit schools like Musicians Institute perhaps?

15

@SpiritManager - I think you are right. I was just imagining some column I could add to a spreadsheet. :smile:

16

@GoForth - I realized re-reading your post that you may be asking a basic question on where to find tuition costs? Every university website will have financial information - fees, room & board etc., as well as info on automatic scholarships if there are any, or scholarships one can be considered for - with the caveat that they’re rarely all listed. In addition, it is now a federal law that every school must post a Net Price Calculator - you enter your financial info, and information about your child’s grades and test scores, and you will be given an approximation of the cost of attendance. This is fine for a purely academic admit - but doesn’t work well for music as most admits receive some merit money - the amount of which may vary wildly from person to person, instrument to instrument, and year to year.

17

@SpiritManager - I grew a special attachment to the first/only school we have thought about - UNT. They have a calculator where you can type in your class rank and ACT/SAT to determine the automatic academic scholarship. Then when you receive one of their scholarships for over $1,000/year, they offer in-state tuition, which is such a good deal that there virtually needs to be no waiting to imagine the financial picture there. I would call this a low-risk financial safety. If I had notes that showed a $43,000 annual tuition with unknown scholarship levels, I would know it as a riskier choice.

18

It is important to have a financial safety - unfortunately if one is applying to audition based programs there are very few safeties, unless the program is really not up to the applicant’s level. One thing you can get a feel for are which schools are known to be generous with aid - either need based or merit. But keep in mind, even then there will be exceptions to the rule. So my advice is do not rule anything out yet based on money - wait until April of senior year for that - after all the haggling is done! But warn your son that you’ll need to be able to afford wherever he decides to go and that may mean his top choice just won’t be possible in the end. And, yes, nice to have a school like UNT make things so clear cut in terms of the scholarship end.

19

I have a Jazz Bassist at NEC (now a Junior). Our search was made a bit easier because our son knew Jazz students who were 2-4 years older than him. He knew them through his prep program and through his high school and going to camps, which is why so many of us are recommending that your son do a summer program. The Counselors at any program he does will likely come from a wide range of institutions and by talking to them your son will learn about the positive and negatives of each institution and will be better able to curate a list of schools that is right for him.

Here are some categories to use when sorting any list you create:
Distance from Home (important given the challenges of traveling with a double bass)
Location-big city, small town, university town, country etc…Most students will have some opinion about whether they think they want to live in NYC versus live somewhere more remote such as where Oberlin or Bard is.
Conservatory or Small Liberal Arts School or University
Access to classical musicians/instructors (if important)
Cost (although as Spiritmanager said costs is hard to determine until after one is accepted and seen what funding is offered)
The Bass Instructors - As your son gets closer to making his list he will want to research the Bass faculty at the institutions he is thinking of. He will want to look at what style music they play (Latin Jazz, traditional Jazz, more contemporary music etc…) and also learn a little about them to see if they are people he wants to work with.

FYI my son applied to the following schools
Berklee
NEC
Eastman
NYU
Manhattan School of Music
Oberlin**
University of Southern Maine (his safety - Everyone my son knew who was a professional musician/instructor had high praise for the Bass instructor at USM)

**This was the one school he applied to because of MOM. He was accepted. Liked the Bass teacher and the conservatory program but HATED Oberlin. It was not his scene and the peer group too similar to his high school socially.

He flirted with applying to Frost at University of Miami. He had a prep teacher who he liked as a musician who graduated from that program. But in the end he decided he did not like the heat and it was too far away from home.

Finally as the mother of a Junior in College I just want to say that it is important to not get so wrapped up and crazy in this process. Honestly it is not WHERE your son goes to college but what he does once he is there that matters.

20

@StacJip - We will probably be fairly relaxed about distance from home. Some sacrifice with extra driving, shipping, storage may be worthwhile. S is not afraid of city size or campus size, as long as it supports the overall mission. We hadn’t yet pictured that a conservatory would be the goal (?), just something like a BM from a U. Access to classical music instruction may not be to vital. These answers could change over the next 2 years, which is why I was putting some focus on the raw information gathering at this early stage, then S could re-sort through the data as his mind changes.