I am surprised this isn’t discussed more. It is a huge challenge in terms of developing an appropriate list. Unfortunately, it seems schools don’t regularly give out the information of how many of a particular instrument they are looking for in a given year.
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I’m needing some clarity here. Does your student want to get a school music teacher? Or is this something that is just in the mix because someone feels he needs a more secure income option.
As I said earlier, the “bar” for those auditioning as music education majors is a tad lower than for performance majors….so this might not be an issue.
If your kid takes private music lessons, his private teacher should be able to give him some guidance.
Some do…and some don’t.
One of our kids is an oboe player who wanted to play in a college orchestra and NOT as a music major or minor . Most college orchestras only have one or maybe two oboe players. Our kid contacted the music department chairs and orchestra directors and asked if there would be the option for her to do this.
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I’m not very familiar with music admissions, but would it be safe to say that any school that requires an audition is going to be a reach? And when musical supplements are heard/assessed, is it just to make sure someone meets minimum standards or is it really to only pull the top x% of the pool? So would those be more of targets or likelies, but not a safety?
Personally, I’d probably create a table with information similar to the info below (hate that I can’t do a table here!), and then group them by safety/likely/target/reach and go from there. It seems as though you’d want a very small number of schools to apply to that require an audition, though you could have more that only require a supplement or regular application.
Name of College / Admission Requirement / Type of Degree / Sticker Cost
College X / Audition / B.M. Performance / $45k
College Y / Music Supplement / B.S. Music Ed / $35k
College Z / Regular Admission / B.A. Music / $55k
ETA: And if the opportunity for reduced tuition through the academic alliance is a factor in these, does that alliance indicate which are the more popular colleges, or is it just based on general popularity? Is it just 1/school, or does it depend?
Xavier is very close to where I live so I can speak on the vibe of campus and I know a few people who go there now for music and for other majors. It is a small urban campus close to the city of Cincinnati. Dorm life is nice and campus is small. Some sports like basketball and soccer. Closest college football is University of Cincinnati. Xavier is expensive but they offer lots of scholarships so be sure to check that out. Univ of Cincinnati has a well known music program but of course the university is also quite large, much bigger than Xavier. Might be a better price but will have to investigate.
To throw another thing to think about the SUNY schools are VERY well priced. Many have music programs. My D is in the conservatory at SUNY Purchase. If he isn’t interested in conservatory life do not apply. There is no town next to SUNY everything you must drive to. However, it was cheaper to send my D to Purchase than to Ohio State and we live in OH. Also Purchase is only 20 mins from NYC.
If he is really a bass then most music programs would be interested as that is not common. Auditions are looking for basic talent and if they are teachable so don’t discount audition schools unless he is really not interested in going that route and putting in the time to prepare
He respects his high school music teachers and feels the lifestyle could be a good fit for him. Although he is a pretty decent level flute player, he would likely focus on voice.
Right now he feels strongly he does not want to go into a STEM field, healthcare, or business.
He sings in 3 choirs and plays 3 instruments. Music is his favorite class. He doesn’t feel strongly right now that he wants to do performance or MT but does feel something in music would make him most happy. Thus looking into music ed.
And I agree, anything in music with an audition is never a safety. Thus I’m focusing on “likely, target, reach” for financial and academics first. He has a few months to decide what path he truly may want to start on. His voice teacher is helping him out. He respects her opinion and she understands his abilities and seems to be able to decipher his pros/cons a bit better in relation to post grad options.
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Not sure this will meet your price point, but the College of New Jersey has a well regarded music education program.
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I am not musically inclined at all! However, yes, his voice teacher did say that bass is more uncommon so his competition may be less fierce. I don’t want to be overly confident about anything. Voice teacher feels bass gives him a bit of an up and maybe money. Not sure.
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Hmmm…Lawrence as a “likely” and U of Minn - TC a “reach”? That’s very confusing to me.
For a BM, no, I don’t think so. Lawrence could never be a “likely” due to the audition and reputation. UMN-TC as a reach…idk…it would depend on the audition but should be an easier admit than Lawrence (unless too many Males in your kid’s voice type).
I have to admit that I didn’t read each comment closely so maybe I have missed something. If you are speaking strictly about BA programs (with no audition) OK…sure…maybe Lawrence would be a likely. But for music school auditions, someone else said it correctly…there really aren’t many safeties.
And…can’t help myself…is that St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN? I know many kids who go there for one year and then transfer to UMN-TC once they get their grades up. They are not known for music (that would be St. Olaf). So, maybe, it’s a different St. Thomas? If it is the one in St.Paul, they DO give money to attract a student like yours. I know people that have loved that school. Beautiful area…but not known for music…still it’s hard to see them as a reach…
Maybe you need to add the degree…BA or BM? Then it may not look so confusing to a music parent like me. It’s hard to get past Lawrence as a likely…
@bridgenail Mostly focusing on music ed right now. Not totally leaving out performance but not sure he will want the competitiveness of heavy auditions. He worries about employment after as well.
Our school sends kids to Lawrence and my son has a higher chance of getting reduced tuition there thus making it more affordable. Thus putting it into the more likely camp.
Yes U of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities. Again, in our case, he could have a chance at reduced tuition thus making it more affordable. St. Olaf would be awesome but no way I see that being affordable.
U of Minn-Twin Citites I put as a maybe because he is OOS and money may not add up to being truly affordable. Their music program is better than U of St. Thomas of course. But being that he may go music ed and I have to consider our possible tuition reduction (and or free) possibilities, U of St. Thomas still on the list.
OK. He does need to audition for music ed at a school like Lawrence. Based on my D’s friend, music ed is not music “light”’. Sure the skill set is slightly different…but a talented musician is a talented musician. So that is why I think Lawrence is never an easy school. They are looking for talent AND skills in their conservatory. So I think the music talent and “passion” for teaching music will need to be solid to high for music ed at Lawrence.
Still I do see that your criteria for “likely” is wider than mine…so that is valid. My only comment would be that any audition-required school can be “difficult”. But a good teacher can certainly help with that. I would highly suggest checking with his teachers’ opinions* on the school choice (which you are probs doing already).
*Edit: use his music teacher for schools that require auditions. This is what most music school candidates do. If there is no audition than the more standard requirements of GPA, test scores etc should suffice.
Good luck.
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Friends have a D who was very musically inclined, struggled in HS because of wanting to be creative and not do academics. I personally do not have any inside info about Catawba College but it ended up being one of her top choices. Tuition seems more reasonable than the likes of Syracuse and they do have some scholarship opportunities. Looks like they require an audition but they also have general music, music education, and music business programs. You already have a lot on your list so I hesitate to offer more suggestions but it may tick some boxes.
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Lawrence does have one of the more intense processes to get into music ed. He is being guided by his voice teacher and his choir teachers (one of who is a Lawrence alum). He’s teaching ski lessons this winter to all ages so that should look positive. He’s signed up to possibly do a teaching internship his senior year as well. Lawrence wouldn’t be one of his top choices though as its less than 3 hours from home. However, LU tends to accept more students under the tuition remission process so I hope he keeps it as a contender because it would be an excellent school to get free tuition at. 
We still don’t know if he has a strong drive for teaching music in a public school, or if he is pursuing that due to financial concerns. If the latter, perhaps he could consider applying for performance. Things do tend to work out and many of us know performance majors who continued in music, as well as those who used their degrees to get a job outside of music, go to law or med or nursing school or whatever.
It does sound like a BM program is a good fit if he enjoys being immersed in music most of the time. A BM is 2/3-3/4 music classes and a BA is 1/4-1/3 music classes plus extracurriculars.
It’s nice that he has an avenue for discounted or free tuition at some of these schools!
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Update: We just received an email that Tania Tetlo, the wonderful president of Loyola New Orleans I glowed about, will be leaving to serve as president of Fordham University. Heavy loss for Loyola but tremendous gain for Fordham (Fordham is on my son’s list so maybe we will luck out with her leadership again!)
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I’m not sure it’s entirely true that the admissions bar is lower for music Ed majors. Music Ed majors are heavily represented in top ensembles with performance majors and grad students at my son’s university. We really struggled to figure out the safety/match/reach thing when my son applied, and weren’t really sure we had something that was both an admissions and financial safety until it all played out.
It’s certainly not true that music Ed is an “easier” major than performance. My son has nearly the same requirements musically as a performance major (although this varies school to school)and all the education requirements on top of it. At his university music Ed is a five year degree that it’s possible to complete faster, if you have a ton of AP credit and/or take summer school multiple summers. A friend who is a music teacher described a college semester where she was taking 19 credits and 11 classes. Ensembles are often one credit hour and meet five days a week. It takes some serious time management skills. Those kids that in high school are keeping up with their academics while singing in two choirs, playing in two orchestras, taking lessons on two instruments, and performing in the school musical can do it, but it’s really hard!
Ask your son to think through whether he really wants to teach, have him ask his teachers what it’s actually like to be a teacher. What are the struggles and the rewards (it’s surely not money!) Why do they do it? If he can still see himself in that field, then he should do go for it. We need dedicated teachers, but it’s really not the major to do if you just aren’t sure what else you would like.
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Absolutely he would need to be committed to music ed and nothing in music is easy. It seems with music ed to be less competitive fighting for very few spots like performance or MT seems to be. He knows music ed schedule isnt a walk in the park. But it aligns more with what he likes to do which makes it easier for him.
It sounds like Im on the right track helping him narrow down choices. I appreciate the insights to school vibes and the application process all together!
This! He will still have ensemble requirements, and private lesson and recital requirements…so plenty of chances to perform.
Good luck to him. I think you are on the right track.
The only addition I would make…does he know which state he might want to teach in? It’s more seamless to get that state certification requirements completed if you are attending a college in that state.
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I did note that as a concern up a few threads but yes, state certification requirements further complicate a potential music ed major as a choice. I work in higher ed but am trying to watch what is trending in education overall. It’s a mess out there! (But I work in healthcare which is even worse of a mess so I won’t deter him from doing music ed if that’s what he feels he wants to do.)
Like right now, Indiana is out. That took 2 schools off the list. For him, Texas is a no. Florida, Arizona, and Louisiana are all iffy. But the lure of warmer weather for a few years (and possible ability to not have college debt) may factor in. As a mom, I would love to see him end up somewhere on the top half of the best public school list versus the bottom, but again, the final choice is his but it will be part of the conversation.
If I had to guess how he would rank the schools on the list thus far, I would say below…
- Shenandoah
- Gonzaga
- University of Redlands
- Salve Regina
- University of Puget Sound
- Stetson
- Loyola New Orleans
- Western Colorado
- Xavier
- Jacksonville U
- Lawrence
- Baldwin Wallace
- College of Wooster
- U of North Florida
- Gustavus Adolphus
- DePaul
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Chiming in here. We live in the PNW and don’t hear anything about Gonzaga and music. Lots of kids go there - especially from the local Catholic/Jesuit high schools. Great reputation as a nice place to go to college (especially if you like basketball!) - that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have music, just that we on the other side of the Cascade mountains don’t hear anything about it. UPS on the other hand, is known for a good music program (esp. musical theater).
As far as being in ‘nature’ you really can’t do much better than this part of the country - easy access to good skiing and lots of water/nature.
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