<p>I am in my final year as an undergraduate Music student in the UK. After some really hard thinking I have decided that I would love the chance to get away from the UK for a year and come to America. I have to take a gap year because of financal reasons so I will be looking to start my Masters in September 2010.</p>
<p>I am not really sure where to start in terms of looking at the various courses though my graduate will be in Composition. I would also perfer attending college in a more urban enviroment as I am currently studying in a quite small city though as I have actually never visited the US, I can not say where extactly I would like to be based.</p>
<p>I also would be grateful if someone could give me a shove towards infomation related to funding for graduate study for international students as currently all I am finding is related to undergraduate study.</p>
<p>I reread the above post I made and I realised that I had really given any suggestions or helpful information about what kind of advice I would like. So, because I couldn't find the edit button, I am sorry to double post.</p>
<p>I have been studying, as I mentioned, at a University in a small city. It is not a music conservatory however and has an intake of 55 students. I am looking for somewhere which is a little bigger than this but not overly large as I would still like to have decent access to teaching staff.</p>
<p>A major downside is that I am not a performer. I dabble on a few instruments to Grade 4/5 so a course which requires me to complete performance requirements as well as compose would not be suitable. Though I do not mind research/thesis writing.</p>
<p>I am thinking I would prefer to be in the Northeast though if there was a course elsewhere which would match my personality and style more then I would have to consider it.</p>
<p>My current course as been a broad Music course but I have tried to streamline my course towards composition but there has been only so much I can do. I am trying to get together this year a decent sized portfolio of works as well as try and get into a summer course to strength my application. </p>
<p>The point I am trying to make, however, is that while I would like to get into Eastman, which I have read is apparently very good for composition, I do not have a strong enough background to support an application there. On the other hand, I do not want to go to a college right at the bottom of the tables and I am looking for an enviroment which will really challenge me for the either time I am there. I would also perfer a course which is more taught than research.</p>
<p>I hope this gives you some more idea about the type of College I am looking for. Right now, I am looking for suggestions to limit the world of choices down to some realistic choices which I can looking to further. I know some of the members here have visited colleges which I could be considering and I would be grateful for any insights you can offer as I won't be able to visit my choices piror to applying.</p>
<p>You can do most of your research online. Go to the websites of the universities and read about the composition professors. You can listen to their music, go to their websites, read their works, if they've published articles, which many have. There is no ranking, per se, for music composition, although, certainly some programs will be much harder to be admitted to than others - and the expectations of the level of applicant will vary. Well respected music composition programs are all over the US - for instance, University of Missouri at Kansas City has a huge program with, I believe, about 50 grad students in composition - many of whom are international. Except for Bard, which does not offer a grad program, any of the various schools mentioned on this site for composition are worth investigating - as well as many more which may have a lesser emphasis on undergrad programs - such as Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Harvard, and many major state universities. And then there are the conservatories. And on and on. There are exciting programs all over the place.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would narrow down the composers whose work and ideas most interest me, and then find out where they teach, if they do. It would be a good place to start. You may be surprised to find out where they are teaching. Listen to new music ensembles and find out which schools they are affiliated with. Find out where young contemporary composers you admire studied, or are studying right now. From your post I have no idea what style of music most interests you - but it should make a big difference in what program you apply to.</p>
<p>Would people recommend coming over for a summer program and if so where would they recommend for someone with little background. I, for some unknown reason, have a desire to look at places near Boston, New York and generally in that region.</p>
<p>I read the Tanglewood's application form, for example, and they need recordings and a list of works written going back 5 years as well as scores over 3 years. My output over the last 5 years has not been huge and my works from the last 3 years haven't been brilliant as I have had lots of personal issues which dented my output and its standard. I don't have any live recordings of these works either. All this leads to a very weak application.</p>
<p>What about a regular summer school session at any American University or liberal arts college where you could take several music classes, hopefully composition, maybe theory, etc? I think it would be easier to be accepted at, for example, the summer session of Boston University (even though it might be large for you) than to be accepted at a leading conservatory. There is NYU in New York City, and also Queens College just slightly outside of Manhattan, which is very well-known for music, but probably has easier admissions. Here is the link to their school of music.</p>
<p>Queens</a> College - CUNY</p>
<p>To follow up on jazzzmomm, I am well familiar with the CUNY Queens program and their Aaron Copland school. Bruce Saylor is the composition teacher there, and is really one of the nations great hidden gems of composers. Queens College itself is an incredibly diverse school with very pleasant vibes, and offers a beautiful distant view from their 'quad' of the midtown Manhattan skyline. However, as a commuter school, I believe that they at the moment do not have any on-campus residential living space, something the OP might be strongly interested in as an overseas student.</p>
<p>NYU usually gets somewhat mixed reviews regarding their music program. Musical theatre at the Tisch school is very strong, but you generally never hear about their classical performance and composition courses being among the better ones in New York. Also, NYU is INCREDIBLY expensive. While I don't know for sure how much their graduate students get billed, for undergraduates at least, it is not unreasonable to expect that by the 2010-2011 academic year, NYU's yearly tuition (by itself) might just approach or surpass $40,000! And that's even before you add the room and board prices and the high cost of living in a prime New York City neighborhood which will surely add another 15K to that bottom line.</p>
<p>The cost of higher education in the states usually is a big sticker shock to students from the EU, where British schools usually only cost around 2 or 3 thousand pounds per year, and French and German schools only several hundred euros.</p>
<p>It's curious that the Aaron Copeland school doesn't get much mention here. Because we live in the NY suburbs I have often heard snippets of conversations through the years about outstanding faculty and people who had good experiences there. I know they have nice facilities. You're right that NYU is extremely expensive, stephmin, and a comparable education can be had for much less.</p>
<p>Stephmin - I understand what you mean about the cost. For undergraduate, I went into University before "top up fees" were introduced and my tuition is about £1400 a year which is paid for me as a grant because I am funding myself. </p>
<p>Postgraduate here is mainly done over one year not two but the price for one year's tuition in the states competitive to the major main colleges here.While it is true I would probably have an easily time paying for a Masters here, I think the appeal of packing up and going elsewhere for my postgrad is that I have only ever been out of the UK as part of a school trip to France - I have never even visited London. So I have a greater urge to get out and see the world.</p>
<p>Welshie,</p>
<p>You should consider the Longy School of Music -- It is in Cambridge, MA (right across the river from Boston) next to Harvard University. It is a small conservatory, but has a very good composition department. There is a lot of collaboration there, so the composition students frequently have their music performed by fellow students. Tuition is lower than most of the other music schools in Boston and they offer a lot of merit scholarship.</p>