<p>FluteMomLiz: Yes, I hopped back to St. Olaf primarily for financial reasons. I just got scared of having the cloud of "If you can't find more money, you'll have to transfer" thoughts weighting me down. Mom told me about a friend who applied to Big City Private U and State U and got into both. This friend had always wanted to go to Big City, so her parents encouraged her to go. But midway through her first semester there, her parents called her and told her that they couldn't pay for her next year and she would have to transfer to State U. She was devastated because she was in love with Big City U. Moreover, she then found out that she had gotten a full ride to State U which her parents had hidden from her because she was so excited about Big City U.</p>
<p>FluteMomLiz: Yes, I hopped back to St. Olaf primarily for financial reasons. I just got scared of having the cloud of "If you can't find more money, you'll have to transfer" thoughts weighting me down. Mom told me about a friend who applied to Big City Private U and State U and got into both. This friend had always wanted to go to Big City, so her parents encouraged her to go. But midway through her first semester there, her parents called her and told her that they couldn't pay for her next year and she would have to transfer to State U. She was devastated because she was in love with Big City U. I don't want something like that to happen to me.</p>
<p>Putting finances and reality aside for a moment, I know exactly which kind of college I would like to attend. My dream college would be a blend of the Great-Books discussion and intellectualism of St. John's College, the techie passion for math and science, innovation, and quirkyness of MIT, and the friendly but intense conversatory atmosphere of Peabody. If such a college existed and I could get into it and pay for it, I would be very happy. Unfortunately, such a college does not exist so I have to find the best substitute. CMU attracted my MIT and Peabody sides, though the School of Music was not as friendly as I (and especially my parents) would have liked. I love the slogan in their viewbook: "Where Art is a Science and Science is an Art". However, it's doubtful that it's worth the big bucks and financial uncertainty.</p>
<p>St. Olaf's attracted my St. John's side with their Great Conversations program and my Peabody side by topping Peabody's friendliness by a huge margin - I'm still impressed by how the music faculty went out of their way to make me feel at ease and answer all my questions. However, I do wish that there was a more intense atmosphere in the music department, though I suppose I can make it as intense as I want, and I will miss the opportunity to experience the techie atmosphere. But life isn't perfect, and we must settle for what's feasible.</p>
<p>Edit: Please ignore the incomplete version of this post above.</p>
<p>Bachlover, I don't remember if I wrote this already -- My S has a good friend (they were in youth orchestra together) graduating this year from St. Olaf - plays a brass instrument - and is going on to Arizona for grad school on a full scholarship with a well-known, respected teacher - Is turning down Juilliard for this. So apparently the St. Olaf music program is no slouch.</p>
<p>Totally off topic - bachlover: I'm so happy that I find someone who is just like me! I love the St. John's Great Book discussions; I love the nerdy and "techy" environment of MIT - and applied to both St John's and MIT (which, in addition to my conservatories + universities, may be one of the weirdest college lists ever). I can't say I knew much about Peabody beside as a great music school when I applied, but I definitely love it now. And life isn't perfect for me either - I'm going to miss the Great Book discussions in Johns Hopkins/Peabody...</p>
<p>I'm sure you'll be happy at St. Olaf, especially without the weight of financial concern. Say congrats to yourself that everything is settled now, and think about CMU no more...</p>
<p>binx: Certainly not. I did not mean to imply that it was. All I was trying to say is that St. Olaf is not a conservatory, for all the good and bad that entails. St. Olaf's student body, with few Asians and no graduate students, will create a much different atmosphere than a typical music conservatory. Students should be aware of this before they enroll.</p>
<p>And this ties into my big concern about St. Olaf: that, despite the unquestionably high musical and academic quality there, I'll be bored and/or frustrated. My mom scorns this idea, but I think there is some cause for concern. All through high school I've been frustrated because I have not known any peers who are as passionate about music and mathematics as I am. Will I encounter such students at St. Olaf? Hopefully. I don't know. As much as I love St. Olaf, the caring faculty who would support my endeavours and the friendly students, I did not get the impression that it has the intense atmsophere I would like. I am even more concerned academically. For instance, I've studied quite a bit of advanced music theory. St. Olaf highly discourages people from trying to place out of first-year theory, because the class is a bonding experience for music majors. I fully understand their rationale but - still - I don't want to be yawning through my theory classes. I should emphasize that I in no way intend this as a slur on what is a fine institution, and I hope that my concerns will prove to be groundless when I attend St. Olaf in the fall.</p>
<p>thzxcyl: No way! This is one of those "I thought I was the only person in the world who..." moments. What are you planning on double majoring in at JHU? We really ought to keep in touch. If you're OK with this, sometime soon I'll PM you my e-mail address. I'm planning on sending periodic e-mail updates to family and friends and, if you have any time during your busy schedule, I'd be interested in knowing how your time at Peabody/JHU turns out.</p>
<p>bachlover: I'm absolutely amazed at how similiar we are! We really should keep in touch - PM your email to me and we should keep up with each other how our college lives go. Mathemathics was once my intended major, but I realized that I wanted more than just pure maths, so I'm considering either engineering or science now. But with that said, I love math and will definitely continue taking higher level math classes if not doing a math minor. </p>
<p>I think I understand your concern - it was mine too when I made up my college list and because of it I applied to almost no backup schools. Hopefully it won't be true, simply because of the fact that music and mathematics are two very special fields (unlike political science, or whatever "popular" majors) that not any random person will go in. The odds of you meeting music majors who are passionate about music or math majors who are passionate about math is very, very high. You won't be surround by dedicated musicians like in a conservatory or nerds (of course, in a good sense) like in MIT, but I'm sure you will find some who are as passionate as you are.</p>
<p>Bachlover,</p>
<p>I do not know much about the keyboard or math departments at St. Olaf, but I can tell you that there are a bunch of voice majors there who are very passionate about what they do. They have one of the best choruses in the country (along with one of the best directors). You will not have trouble finding others who take music every bit as seriously as you do.</p>
<p>Regarding the theory class, do you have aspirations of teaching music someday? Perhaps you might think of that class not so much as teaching you facts about music theory that you already know, but rather as one that shows you how to teach others those facts. Having one class in first semester that you can breeze through can be a blessing. You will have that much more time to practice. Bonding with the people with whom you will be making music for the next four years is an excellent idea, particularly if you have not had much of that experience in high school.</p>
<p>The beauty of a small school like St. Olaf is that it can adapt to meet your needs. Give them a semester or two to get to know you and I think that boredom will be the least of your concerns.</p>
<p>The music students as St. Olaf must have a good time. Here's a post from a trumpet website from Manny Laureano the principal trumpet of the Minnesota Orchestra after a performance of Mahler's 5th this past weekend: </p>
<p>Something very cute happened after last night's show I wanted to share:</p>
<p>So, we finished the performance and everybody was hooting and hollering when our second 'bone player, Kari Sundstrom, started laughing and pointing to the third tier, "Check it out!". We looked up and there was a HUGE banner that said "We love (heart) BRASS"! Apparently, some students from St. Olaf had gotten tickets for the front row of the third tier and had this planned for a while. It was very sweet and we got a kick out of it. Thanks, you Olies!</p>
<p>Thanks for your comments. I'm feeling better about St. Olaf now. It has many excellent features and I will probably be quite happy there. Upon reflection, I've decided that my feelings of disappointment stem not so much from giving up CMU or from any particular objection to St. Olaf, but from not making it into Peabody, Eastman, or even IU. I've long entertained dreams of going to one of those schools, especially Peabody, ever since my teacher recommended them as the top three schools in the nation for piano short of Julliard/Curtis. I fell in love with Peabody and Eastman when I visited them in the fall of my junior year. I knew they were longshots, but I hoped that a miracle would happen. I now know that miracles don't happen in music. At least not for pianists.</p>
<p>But I can still hold out hope for graduate school. If I fail again to get into a major conservatory, then perhaps I'll throw in the towel and go into mathematics. But until then, I'll work my hardest and take advantage of whatever opportunities I can find at St. Olaf to improve myself. I will not lose hope yet.</p>
<p>bachlover, I can understand your original disappointment concerning the 2 conservatorties. As you seem to indicate, now it is time to redirect your craft into different waters. I believe in the element of serendipity in life perhaps not miracles. For all of you about ready to embark on the college journey, you are so lucky. You will make it what you will. My very best to you. What fun, hard work and surprises you have in store.</p>
<p>I think in music, all you can do is be prepared so you will be ready if that opportunity comes along and also network every chance you get. A person can grow a lot in 4 years, and you never know what connections you will make. Good luck!</p>
<p>An Update - How St. Olaf is Working Out for Me:</p>
<p>So, I've been here at St. Olaf for over a month now. My overall verdict is that it is a very good place for me. I certainly do not regret not going to CMU (though I do wish I had gotten in to more places...).</p>
<p>Musically, I am almost entirely satisfied. I've really meshed with my piano teacher. From what I've heard, he's the most intense of the teachers here, so I'm glad I ended up with him. My lessons here are possibly the most productive I've ever had, and I feel that I have grown already as a musician. And there is a lot of music to play! In addition to my solo rep, I'm accompanying (of course), in a piano quartet playing Dvorak, in a choir of freshman males directed by who I am convinced must be one of the best young choral directors in the nation, in a voice class, and in a handbell choir. There's so much music around here and many talented musicians - it's wonderful! St. Olaf may not be the best music school around, but for now I'm happy enough.</p>
<p>I'm not as stoked about the academics as I am about the music, but I'm still reasonably satisfied. I was able to pass out of first-semester theory after all (thanks to my study of species counterpoint), which I am very happy about considering the reports from many of the students who are taking it. Thus I'm taking three academic classes: Spanish, real analysis, and the required first-year Bible course. At the beginning of the semester I was worried that my classes would be extremely easy and bore me, but I was able to move things around and get the classes I have now, which I do find interesting. I've formed good relationships with my professors, especially my religion professor. And my math course is a 1-1 independent study, since the course itself was slow for me, so that's pretty neat. I do wish that there was a more intellectual atmosphere here and especially that I had gotten into the Great Conversations (Great Books) program that I so desperately wanted to do. But you can never have everything you want.</p>
<p>Finally, to residence life. I'm in a pretty good situation. I'm in a triple but one of my roommates is frequently absent, so it feels like I'm in a double (and a very spacious double at that). My roommate who is here is a music ed major and - apparently, though I haven't really heard him - a very good trumpet player. We've become good friends. Although he is a very social, popular guy, he thankfully does not drink. I've gotten to know well some of his friends and have been able to form a good circle of friends on my own (mostly music majors, of course). Except for last week, when there was a big party in my dorm and a whole lot of drunks roaming the corridors, I've been able to mostly avoid unpleasant social situations.</p>
<p>In conclusion, although St. Olaf isn't everything I wanted, I am quite happy here. BassDad said above, "The beauty of a small school like St. Olaf is that it can adapt to meet your needs." This is so true. The faculty has been very supportive of my efforts to push myself musically and academically. Although I certainly would have been pushed at CMU, I do not think the faculty would have been as supportive. All in all, I think that my college decision has worked out for the best. Thanks to everyone here for their help during my horribly stressful college decision process!</p>
<p>I'm so glad things are working out for you bachlover. St. Olaf sounds like a great place!</p>
<p>Glad to hear back from you and glad to know that St Olaf is working out for you. Incidentally, I'm also in a piano quartet playing Dvorak, ... hmm.</p>
<p>Thanks for the update, Bachlover. I am so glad to hear that you are making it work for you. Not everyone is as successful at doing that; focusing more on what they don't have. You are to be commended!</p>
<p>I am also grateful for your honest description of the various aspects of St. Olaf, since that is high on my D's list.</p>
<p>Thanks for the update, Bachlover. I am happy that things are mostly working out for you and hope they will only get better.</p>