I agree that these schools can be costly but both do have scholarships. Plus the parent inquiring is planning to move to wherever their kid goes to college for music…whenever. That’s not free either. And unless Curtis, the college music program is likely not to be free either.
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Another high school residential program at North Carolina School of the Arts.
Colburn is free (college level) Doesn’t sound as if the OP thinks her D is in line for that.
OP, once again, without the instrument or approximate level indicated by current rep, you aren’t getting specific help.
Other considerations for you:
Does she play piano (assuming that isn’t her primary instrument)? If not, start lessons now. It can be a very valuable skill for any working musician in a number of different professional situations. Not to mention that it will be required in college.
If she is a violinist, does she also play viola? Again, very useful professionally.
Have you considered taking her for evaluations from music teachers in addition to her current teacher? There can be advice to be gained there.
Since money has been raised by others, I am personally acquainted with two families that “chased the money” for their kids. Early admittance, finishing high school one year early for one and the other, homeschooled, finished two years early. Both were given full rides to local schools - one a small private with a decent music department, the other a state flagship with a “good” music program. Excellent private instruction (as is often available even at smaller schools), but not the peer group that either student needed to really enjoy the experience. Outcomes - one went to a fine MM program with a top instructor, one went to a lesser MM program, again chasing money. Both are gigging and teaching, married. Both sets of parents expected “bigger and better” professions.
PS. I did homeschool for some years. No one is attacking your choice of homeschool vs private vs parochial vs public school choice.
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Three things give me great pause in this thread.
1.). We don’t know the instrument. If it’s voice or piano, the discussion is very different. So hard to comment about college and acceptance…which is the point of CC.
2.). I don’t care if a child goes to public, private, parochial or home schooling. A kid could be raised by wolves or dolphins for all I care…and start school at 10 years old…the question of acceptance into a music program, however, can be determined by age particularly for voice. I’m quite confident that a VP program would not accept a 13 or 14 year old. That is not “negative”. It’s based on experience, knowledge (development of the voice within the body) and way too many years in music…not an attitude or bias. So, the instrument matters.
3.). My 30 year old kid has a teacher. She also has an MM. I do question how there’s not a teacher or program making “college” the only venue for growth. Still it could be a rural area. But if a 30 year old musician can find teachers and opportunities for growth, how is that not possible for a 13 year old?
I have no skin in the game here. Maybe the OP’s kid simply wants to experience college at a young age. Then go for it. But I would start working the phones to be sure schools and teachers are open to it. And maybe the counseling service would be a good starting point in this case. You’ll have to find a teacher that is up for that…and again there are probably some schools/teachers available.
I don’t feel the comments here are biased against homeschooling…I simply think people are bring up legitimate concerns for a 13 or 14 year old in college. You are free to ignore them and pick up the phone for some colleges and see what they say. They’ll be the experts. I’ll be interested to see how it goes.
Good luck!
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double post, sorry
Right, colleges are not free either. But going to a private boarding school is in addition to paying for college. As a parent, paying for college is something we deemed essential as a college degree is needed to enter the work world in many fields. Private high school or boarding school is not as essential to one’s future career. It would not be something we could have paid for in addition to the challenge of funding our kids’ college educations. Boarding schools have scholarships, but not often does someone get a free ride to them, particularly if not lower income.
Moving to where the child attends college (something I would never consider, as well as have more than one kid) is not free, but by the same token is not necessarily new money spent as the parents have to pay to live no matter where they live.
Your points about readiness are very valid. And again, this is kind of exploratory for us at this stage. Thinking, talking about it but I am sensing it’s very possible she would be ready at age 16. She is mature even for a homeschooled kid. She plays with a great deal of musical maturity at 13; I can only imagine what she is going to sound like at 16. It is really exciting to watch her grow, to be honest. But yes, we are going to keep a close eye on things and make the decision if/and when. Yes, I am leaning towards it happening but I am totally fine for it to not happen if it’s not the right thing for her. We are absolutely not rushing, as I’ve said on here multiple times but everyone keeps making that assumption, lol.
Her teacher will have a lot of say in all of this as well, of course.
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Your points about readiness are very valid. And again, this is kind of exploratory for us at this stage. Thinking, talking about it but I am sensing it’s very possible she would be ready at age 16. She is mature even for a homeschooled kid. She plays with a great deal of musical maturity at 13; I can only imagine what she is going to sound like at 16. It is really exciting to watch her grow, to be honest. But yes, we are going to keep a close eye on things and make the decision if/and when. Yes, I am leaning towards it happening but I am totally fine for it to not happen if it’s not the right thing for her. We are absolutely not rushing, as I’ve said on here multiple times but everyone keeps making that assumption, lol.
Her teacher will have a lot of say in all of this as well.
15-16, not 13-14. Not sure how you got that but these threads are hard to keep up with for sure, lol. And she has a teacher and pre-college music prep program. Based on responses here and PMs I’ve received, accepting younger applicants, if the right candidate, is not that unusual, btw.
There are two kids at Curtis that play my sons instrument. One is 15 and the other 17. Both have been there a while. It is not unusual.
edit, they are both 16, i cant keep track of time!
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I don’t want to share too much personal info here. But I wanted to respond at least briefly given our background and being on the other side of this process. Both my kids homeschooled for the most part (secular, eclectic, a lot of out sourcing). My oldest kid went to 2 years of PS. Was wildly not a fit and he hit the ceiling of their GT screener at 6. He tested solidly college ready via the ACT in 6th grade and was doing concerto competitions on his first instrument by age 12. We live near a major metro near great enrichment, music teachers, amenities.
My oldest graduated on time. He did dual enroll for some time. He did shift music teachers, summer programs, regional auditioned programs, added instruments and composition. It did require out of the box thinking to keep trucking. With his background, he was able to complete a dual degree in 4 years with excellent merit (we paid much less than expected for UG). Placed into a studio with a lot of grad students, had an amazing teacher. He just graduated college and considering next steps, likely to work for a year or two. Covid really messed up summer and internship opportunities for this current cohort. Absolutely zero regrets about his path. He changed and matured in so many ways between the ages of 12 and 16. He has made many great social and professional connections both with his STEM and his music degree.
But I will also say, I have taught and tutored tweens and teens in STEM areas for many years, including many GT kids. What parents sometimes think is maturity and blending with older students, is older students being polite and inclusive. And then they socialize differently with those they consider true peers. Working musicians need more than strong musicianship. You only get one shot at an UG degree to build up collaboration skills, interpersonal connections, networks, etc. I think it is possible to be not ready in all ways, but it really isn’t possible to be TOO ready.
That said I don’t always think it’s the wrong decision. I always thought if one of my kids came to me and pushed for a change in direction and wanting to push ahead, I would be open to it. But I wouldn’t be open to it until at least a year or two after puberty. Because SO much changes those years and you only get one opportunity to be a kid. On the other side of this journey, I would definitely say not to lock in any decisions earlier than necessary. We do know kids that homeschooled and graduated early and chose a path. And some ended up being unhappy with a choice made early. Or ended up being stuck because they can’t get a funded grad program and no one will hire them.
I think this may be an easier choice if you can afford any option. Though a program like Curtis is a wildcard since they do sometimes take younger students and fund all their students. I think where competitive merit is at play having been through the process twice, teachers may be less likely to gamble on an atypical student. This is definitely a different decision process if you’re looking at launching a kid directly to college vs. launching them to a program that is designed to cater to younger students.
One thing I was going to mention that my younger kid who is just launching to a music program this fall and who is not quite as bookish and “prodigy” (I really dislike that word but it was used on my older in a number of music settings) as my oldest kid, but is certainly academicly and musically precocious is she actually was able to dual enroll music at a University. Even if you can’t directly dual enroll, sometimes music faculty at colleges will offer private lessons to precocious high school students for the right fit. My kid did have to audition into this teacher’s private studio and then into the on campus program as a high schooler. If your child is outgrowing a teacher, that might be a direction to take and one I would try prior to jumping to a college program. Both my kids did these auditioned regional programs in our city that some students would literally drive hours to attend. They were so great for growth and musical peers.
Anyway - that ended up being long and maybe isn’t particularly interesting since we did not chose an early grad route when we definitely could have done so but thought I’d share anyway.
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I’ve considered it. I almost attended Interlochen myself. Have been hearing some stuff about Interlochen that is not good through the grapevine. Not sure it’s what it used to be. But even so… I’m not sure that’s the right path. I’m not familiar with Walnut Hill, will have to look into that.
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As I posted previously, before allowing our kid to apply to enter college at 16, I called the colleges to ask if they took students that age and all said they do if the student has earned a HS Diploma. Not sure how that applies to a homeschooler, but my daughter did earn a diploma and had a very successful admissions outcome to all audition-based very competitive performing arts programs.
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She’ll have a diploma regardless of whether she finishes early or later. Good info again, thanks for sharing!
S23 just graduated from one of the schools mentioned in the thread, but not in music. He also almost went to a different school but backed out in favor of the one he attended. He will not be going to college this year, but will be pursuing his art. I will PM you the names of the two programs. Feel free to ask any questions.
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So…
My son is both academically and musically strong. Socially, going to college early would have been foolhardy, and his technical musical skills became much stronger in his last two years of high school.
We homeschooled all the way through. Since we homeschooled, we were able to cover much more. We did two years of college-level musicology. Music theory beyond AP. Etc. One doesn’t need to go to college to learn college-level material.
He has friends who have gone early, but I think they are getting performance certificates rather than college degrees. One is at Oberlin doing a college degree in piano; his family moved to Ohio so that he could do so without being on his own at age 15.
I heard good things about Walnut Hill through the Brevard grapevine.
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More “outside the box” solutions: Basel Musik Akademie, Kronberg Academy.
I’ve known US homeschooled kids who matriculated at both places.
By the way, one of mine studied with a teacher at one of the “known suspects” starting at age 11. Teacher (with much experience of pre-college and professional level teaching) put together a plan based on the accomplishments and development after about a year of working with kid. It didn’t pan out. The development continued, but not quite at the expected pace. Kid showed early maturity, then became more “typical”. Didn’t matter, kid was still more than ready for a major conservatory at age 17. “Kid” is now a mid-30s working professional. Point is, you can’t always predict.
It occurred to me that your goal for her might be a music education, not necessarily a music profession. That would also change the equation. And, there isn’t anything intrinsically “wrong” with thinking in those terms.
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They’re all different. Good for you for figuring out your son and supporting that! Thanks for sharing your experience and feedback on WH.
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Well, all I can tell you is I know my kid. One of my music colleagues told me she’d drop it all at 13. That was several years ago. That most definitely is not happening, lol.
Aware of the music ed option; doubt that’s where this will go but we’ll see, right?
Someone said the the older college students are just trying to be nice to these younger than usual college students and that socially, they are not truly friend/peers so much. Look, many 16 year olds are not ready to mix socially in a college setting. I get it. But every kid is unique. As mentioned previously, my kid entered college at 16, but was very much socially a good fit. She was a leader in the college setting among students through age 22. Her a cappella group chose her to be the musical director when she was just 17. A professor (a Tony nominated play writer, composer, director) who had a premiere of her oratorio in NYC hired my daughter, as she was just turning 18, to be the music director. Everyone in it was older than herself. This was not a problem whatsoever. Nobody treated her as younger. Her closest friends then and now are all older than herself. Every kid is different. Yes, being socially ready for college is as important as being academically and artistically ready.
@CookieJar I have already written at least once that I homeschooled at times. When my kids were in public school, I was told by guidance that she loved the way we operated “out of the box.” There are many ways to do that in any schooling situation, not just homeschooling.
I personally think this entire discussion could wait two years. Thirteen is young.
I had a dancer for whom we went through many of the options discussed here. She danced professionally, skipped the last year of high school and ended up majoring in psychology and giving up dance.
On the other hand, my music kid chose the music path in junior year of high school, and after a summer program wanted conservatory. During senior year she applied to conservatories but also BA programs and within that one year changed her mind a couple of times. She got her doctorate and is still working in music.
The hard part with your instrumentalists is the need to start young, practice a lot, and so on and in that way it is more like ballet.
We all just go by our own experiences and those of folks we know.
@soozievt and @CookieJar we looked into early college for the music kid (who also got into Walnut Hill) but health issues got in the way. In the end it worked out and she was a leader in college. Perhaps she would have been two years earlier.
ps Some conservatories are asking for at least one more contemporary piece in auditions, and works by composers of color or female composers are being featured in a lot of concert halls. I am curious if the repertoire for young musicians is changing at all.