<p>“One of the things you D may be running into is that a lot of good conservatories might have a wider range of students then at one of the tippy top tier schools. It has nothing to do with how good a program is, but rather that a Curtis or Juilliard et al tend to attract students who already have experienced things like theory and so forth,”</p>
<p>Not really. Not in voice. Even at Curtis, Juilliard, and Rice they are listening to the instrument and with entering freshman there is a wide, wide range of experience in regards to “theory and so forth”. We have known undergrads and grads at all three and I can not say that any of them were exceptionally strong in their theory or reading skills. But they all learned their share of skills before graduating. However, I do think that this is changing and as school and work gets more and more competitive—the tools any voice student can bring to the table will be to their advantage.</p>
<p>And Sopranomom92…ha! 
No kidding. VERY few VP majors enjoy choir.</p>
<p>My background is instrumental, and the kind of things I am talking about, in ear training and theory especially, a lot of the kids already have solid background, and if they don’t the classes are tiered, so you won’t have rank novices with someone with a lot of background. There are issues with this, chamber music can be a problem, because especially kids who have studied in Asia, they don’t put the emphasis on ensemble playing and many of them have little exposure to it, which can lead to frustrations when you get placed into a group with someone with zero experience. Funny part is it also can be differences in teaching, my S had solid background in solfege, but the programs he has been in did little with transposition, yet the program he is in now has it as part of the training…in terms of musical ability, though, the variance in instrumental is a lot less at the tip top schools then it is at the ‘lower’ tier schools in terms of playing level, which could translate, for example, into less frustration on orchestra for example.</p>
<p>I think that it is so important for undergrads to learn to become self starters. Like Sopanomom92 and Singersmom07’s daughters creating their own recitals while at school. After school you need to have the ability to supervise your own education and career. Especially now with so many YAPs closing completely or cutting back. What happens after school is, more often than not, up to you and your ability to self start.</p>
<p>My D just started BM, but at university, not conservatory. She is busy, but in a good way. I was telling her about a dining hall that is closer to music bldg than her dorm’s, but she didn’t want to hear it. She spends all day at music bldg., packs a lunch at breakfast to take with. Doesn’t want to take that much time out to go somewhere at lunch. She bikes back there after dinner to practice more. </p>
<p>As far as difficulty, some things are easy review, but since she is so busy and there are plenty of other things she’s working on that are challenging, she views it as relaxing breather time. She hadn’t played piano in a couple years, so decided to only prep this summer to test out of first year. She could have tested out of 2nd year as well, but she’s fine in the class, doesn’t mind. She didn’t want to test out of music theory since the class combines aural with written and her sight-singing is very shaky. The written portion of class is stuff she knows, but no matter. There is getting used to being at university and getting to know all the other students. And finally having a good teacher for her instrument and for reed-making. She loves him, is so happy. She has a lesson with him, a joint lesson with a TA and another student, open reed classes several times a week, all kinds of other organized music stuff, I don’t even know what. And her non-music classes as well. But she’s not as advanced as OP’s daughter seems to be, so the situations are not really comparable. </p>
<p>Do you think your daughter might be unhappy about other things also and only telling about the level being too easy? Is she making friends? If it is all about the level, and it could be if she is that gifted and frustrated, then maybe a transfer to a more appropriate place would be best. I hope things work out for her, whatever you decide. People have good suggestions about incorporating extra activities that are at her level. I learn so much here as a non-musician.</p>