<p>Can anyone give me information about the Eastman School -- the student life, the work load, the atmosphere? I know it's ranked 1st among Juilliard and Indiana's Jacobs School for music schools, but can someone compare the trombone/low brass departments of Indiana and Eastman (and Northwestern because that's my other choice for a college)?</p>
<p>By the way, here are some of my academic stats, so making it into the university itself academically first shouldn't be a problem:
ACT --- 34 (7 on writing... i took it again in June, so maybe my writing will be a little higher than a 7)
SAT I --- a lot lower than my ACT, so it won't be considered by the college
SAT II --- Chem - 800; Physics - 740; Math II - 800
Unweighted GPA --- 4.000
Weighted GPA --- 4.533 (based on 5-point scale with mixed AP/reg classes and cumulative from 9th grade through my 11th grade year)</p>
<p>I will try and answer some of your questions. Son graduated from Eastman in 2006 with a degree in cello performance. I don't anything about the low brass department. </p>
<p>Your stats are fine for any of the schools you are interested in. As you probably know, the audition is the most important thing. </p>
<p>Eastman is seperate from the main campus of UR. It is located in downtown Rochester. The Eastman campus has a combination dorm and student center on one side of the street and a large building across from the dorm housing performance space, class rooms, and studios. A connected building has practice rooms. Eastman has about 800 students - around 500 of them are undergrads. The dorm houses about 375 students, mostly in singles. Students are required to live in the dorm through junior year. It is a pretty close environment. You will be living with, eating with, rehearsing with, performing with, studying with, many of the same people. The environment is intense, but students are very supportive of one another. </p>
<p>Between your individual practice time (my son practiced 3-4 hours a day, but brass players probably practice less), rehearsals and classes you will be very busy. My son found it helpful to his mental attitude to take a class each semester at UR. He enjoyed doing something different mentally. His freshman and sophmore years he also played intramural soccer and ultimate which he enjoyed a great deal. </p>
<p>The advantage that Indiana and Northwestern have over Eastman in my opinion is that their music schools are an integral part of the universities. They do not have seperate campuses. Indiana is a very large state school with a very large music school. I understand that it is easy to get overlooked there. Northwestern has very old and outdated music facilities. They have plans to build new ones, but that won't help you too much. </p>
<p>In music, the most important thing is the teacher you study with. You will need to investigate the teachers at each of these schools as well as some others to discover who you would like to study with for 4 years. </p>
<p>I suggest that you post on the music majors forum to get more information on Jacobs and Northwestern as well as learn about low brass faculty at various schools.</p>
<p>Alright, I'll go to the music major forum.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info!</p>