I am trying to decide where to attend college the fall of 2019. My top choice as of right now is Belmont University to study Music Business. My next choice would be University of Florida to study general business or economics. I got a 30 on my act and have a 4.0 unweighted and a 5.4 weighted gpa as of 1st semester junior year. If I chose to go to Belmont, I would probably get scholarships but would still graduate with 40-50k in loans. If I went to UF, I would have bright futures which would pay for all of my tuition and would graduate debt free. UF seems like the pretty obvious choice right? However, Belmont has been my dream school since 7th grade and would hopefully end up helping me create connections with several people in the industry I would love to work in and would help me get internships. Is going to Belmont worth 40-50k in debt? Or would it be smarter to go to UF with no debt? Thank you so much for any advice.
Go to UF. Create contacts through internships. Work and save money. And go to Belmont for grad school.
Note: with that amount if debt, imagine if you get a great offer… which you can’t take because of the debt that forces you to live at home with your parents?
Did you get into UF Warrington?
You have a year in which to decide, but University of Florida is a great option for free or for just room & board.
That being said, I do not know anything about Belmont or its job placement & alumni network.
Have you been accepted by both of them? If so, you need to ask each of them whether deferring for a year is possible.
If you are a junior now, and haven’t even applied yet, well then you need to ask your parents what they think about the money issue, and then put together your application list.
Are there any other in state options with a music business industry program? It seems sad that you have to give up your music dream to go to UF, but I agree that 40 - 50K for Belmont is too much debt for a program like that.
If you are interested in OOS, SUNY Oneonta has a program in your major. Even out of state, it might be cheaper and some SUNY’s do give money to OOS students.
I am going to go the other direction and say you should consider Belmont … Majoring in anything related to the music industry is a very unique one, and Belmont being in the heart of music central will provide you with connections you simply cannot get anywhere else. I know of several graduates from Belmont who are doing quite well and it was only due to the connections they made while at the school. I would look into if you qualify for any other scholarships. Also, a general Business major is very different than Music Business so if you go the free route, you might need further education to get to where you want to be.
Internships can help with connections - it doesn’t have to be about the school!
Graduating with no debt is absolutely incredible and a rare opportunity many don’t have
Have you looked at merit scholarship opportunities at Belmont? Have you run the NPC? Are you taking any more standardized tests?
FYI, the OP is a high school Junior.
OP, if you’re a junior, you shouldn’t be stressing about this right now! Apply to Belmont and see if you get any large scholarships. With a 5.4 GPA and a 30 ACT, you might - you’d be in the top 20-25% of Belmont’s applicants.
Why has Belmont been your ‘dream school’ since you were 12 or 13 years old? It’s not uncommon for young students to develop dreams about something they will do many years later, but remember that you have grown and evolved since then - and are more aware of realities and opportunities. Sometimes the things we really wanted when we were younger don’t fit our needs and desires at our current age.
The University of Florida has a program in which music majors can combine music study with an outside field (like business). They also have a four-year [url=<a href=“https://arts.ufl.edu/academics/music/programs/music-and-msm-business-management/%5Dprogram%5B/url”>https://arts.ufl.edu/academics/music/programs/music-and-msm-business-management/]program[/url] in which you can both get a bachelor’s in music and a master’s in management. Florida State’s music department has a [url=<a href=“http://www.music.fsu.edu/programs/commercial-music%5Dconcentration%5B/url”>http://www.music.fsu.edu/programs/commercial-music]concentration[/url] in commercial music, which allows you to learn traditional music but also take classes in the music business.
There are lots of other schools with music business majors, too. Middle Tennessee State University has one and is not too far from Nashville; they may end up being less expensive than Belmont. Syracuse and University of Miami also both have music business/industry majors.
Graduating without debt is probably the best thing that you can do, especially going into a field that often has low entry-level salaries. Having lower debt will allow you to work in a low-paying internship or first job to get your foot in the door of the industry without worrying about how you will repay loans.
I say keep your grades up. Try to retake the ACT. And then apply to both. You won’t know the scholarship offer until you have the offer in your hand.
Don’t take out more than your federal loans ($27K total).
I should have been clearer- rather than put in the form of a question,
Should have affirmed- you need to retake the ACT. Study, prep and get that score up.
I nearly always advise taking the lower debt option, however there are some circumstances where the major is so unique or the opportunity is so great that it pays to take on some debt. I don’t know enough about the music business to know if this is the case. However, you need to remember that your parents will be on the hook for any debt above the 27k you can personally take in federal loans. You need to have a frank discussion with them about how manageable this is for your them. Some families can easily manage that debt and others can’t. It isn’t fair to ask your parents to cripple themselves financially or endanger their own future retirement. But you won’t know this until you have the conversation. Even if you decide that its beyond your family’s ability to finance that amount, you might still choose to apply and see whether you get better aid then you expect. Just know up front that an acceptance is not really an acceptance if you can’t afford it.
The music business major is a very unique one. A regular business major is nothing like that of one specialized for the music industry. There are so many “fingers in the pie” when it comes to music business that you really can only learn that through direct experience and connections where that type of business happens (like Nashville or LA). Sometimes taking on some debt for a degree is worth it if it gives you an advantage to actually working in your industry.
Just want to throw another choice at you that you might know about already but I know someone whose kid is doing something like music business at University of the Arts in Philadelphia… check that one out if you haven’t already.
@aoc377 We went through this exact situation this year. S18 has same GPA higher test score PM me for any specific questions you’d like answered in private
He’s leaning very heavily towards Belmont and we’ll pay more than at other schools because it offers the combination of major/facilities/connections and campus that he needs. Its a personal/Family decision
However, I strongly agree not to exceed the 27K Federal loan limit. This would be tough at Belmont unless you’re getting Pell grants or you parents are willing to pick up a large portion of the cost
Dreams are things that can be converted into fruitful accomplishments later. College is merely a brand-name tool used to achieve a dream. It doesn’t qualify as a dream. The answer is a no-brainer. Go for UF!
The music business may be quite different, but I’m willing to bet that the vast majority of people who are successful in the music business didn’t major in music business/industry in college.
Debt can sometimes be worth it IF the level of debt is repayable with the opportunities garnered from the education. I would never advise someone to take out $120,000 of debt to increase their chances of landing in the music business because even if they did get there, the salary they’d get paid would make it difficult to repay those loans and live at the same time.