<p>So far, I've been accepted at Carnegie Mellon, Vanderbilt, Boston University, and DePauw (full-ride).</p>
<p>I'm still waiting to hear back from Rice.</p>
<p>Which program is the best for a vocal performance major. I'm a mezzo by the way.</p>
<p>steff, did you visit these schools and try any sample lessons with professors? If not and you can afford it, the month of April is a good time to look at the top 2-3 on your own list and visit them for lessons. The best school is one where you will be comfortable with the professors, their development of your voice and your overall education goals. </p>
<p>DD is a mezzo at Rice and loves it. Which studio did you try for? You should hear soon. Good luck.</p>
<p>steff, You may want to peruse this thread. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/479642-schools-vocal-performance-where-apply.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/479642-schools-vocal-performance-where-apply.html</a> I posted some CMU threads links in post #72 there as well.</p>
<p>DePauw (in Greencastle?) is pretty good for voice. If you got a full ride, that is hard to pass up. They usually don’t give much financial aid to female voice, so you must be good! Carnegie Mellon is hard to pass up too.</p>
<p>you all have been so helpful!! I have another question, if any of you are parents of current voice majors, how did your daughter or son go about finally choosing where they were going to end up?</p>
<p>D made her decision for her undergrad school based primarily on the teacher and this time around(as a grad student), the decision is based on money, opportunities, connections within the school and of course the teacher.</p>
<p>Hi Steff: Our D visited all the schools before applying and had several voice lessons at each one. One of the schools had changes in faculty, so we’re having to make another trip back. We are in the process of developing a whole bunch of other criteria so that we can systematically decide which school. The teacher will be driving factor, but in case there’s a tie there, these criteria will drive the decision – things like non-music requirements; ability to meet those requirements at school close to whom; stability of the school; quality of other faculty; facilities; opportunities to perform on and off campus; overall reputation of the school; whether other students like it; ability to get done in four years; language requirements;etc.</p>
<p>For our daughter first consideration is the teacher…have been to several schools where the teacher was good…(but just not a match for her)…also looking at the curriculum and whether she thinks she could be happy at the school…Cost to attend.</p>
<p>Town surrounding Depauw was a deal breaker for DD…(she loves a big city)…but for you it might be perfect? Could you be happy there? When we visited DePauw it was a wonderful campus, friendly staff, student giving us a tour was very happy there…school has a good reputation…and if they’ve offered you a full ride…they must really want you (so likely to take good care of you…they’re invested)…lots of pluses there if you think you could be happy…coming out of school without loans would be a great thing…see if the teacher is a fit.</p>
<p>How does it compare to your other choices…teachers, cost, location…all things to think about.</p>
<p>We are making trips to 3 schools in April before we will nail down the decision…It’s hard…It’s time consuming…and it’s expensive…but for us we have to do it before we can make an informed decision.</p>
<p>If you’re not able to travel you can learn alot about the teacher and whether your personalities might fit by exchanging emails…also ask for emails of past and present students and find out as much as you can from them about teaching styles, personalities, and how they have fared in the studio…</p>
<p>Good luck…May 1st will be here soon and then we can all relax…the decisions will be made</p>
<p>DD also made 3 April trips to the top contenders, money and other factors considered. Unfortunately for me, the results of that trip knocked out the top financial contender. After the sample lessons it come down to 2 teachers in 2 very different environments. She chose the university environment in a larger city. But that suited her personality. </p>
<p>BTW - despite what others may say. I also interviewed the top contenders. After all the research I had done, I wanted a different insight into how they managed young voices than DD was necessarily considering. I did not travel to one of hers, but when it became her number one choice ,the teacher and I talked for about 45 minutes on the phone. She also offered to talk to DD’s then current voice teacher. DD’s voice teacher helped me make sure I was getting the info I needed, too. DD and I compared notes and agreed on her final 2 top selections. I was satisfied both would be excellent teachers for her. After that the choice was hers. I am out of it now. I am not a helicopter parent now that she is in college. </p>
<p>If you cannot travel for a lesson, you might want to do the phone interview. It won’t be the same but it may give you some comfort with the teacher selections if you have already had some interactions with them. April is a very different focus. You are no longer the applicant, they are now pursuing you. They want you to go there, or they would not have offered you the spot. Now you become the shopper. Take advantage of that opportunity to ask the tough questions and settle in your mind what you want.</p>
<p>You don’t mention whether money is a factor for you.</p>
<p>For us, money will play a huge role in son’s decision. With money at the forefront of our minds, general college “fit” will weigh in next, along with his preference for a voice teacher.</p>
<p>For my son, it’s really, really important to feel like he’s in the right place – that “fit” that people keep talking about. And he thinks that there are great voice teachers at all the campuses he applied to, so voice teacher comes in as a close second to fit. He’s heard the wisdom that voice teacher should be first. But he wants fit first.</p>
<p>I just think that for his chosen career, getting the best undergraduate education he can get, for as free as he can get it, is the wisest thing to do. For you, DePauw has an excellent reputation for voice – and you can go there for free! That’s got a lot of draw.</p>
<p>Son has had lessons at all seven of his schools, and then some, and we have found lots of outstanding teachers! But I must admit, he does not have a perfect match at every campus yet. We’re going to do what other posters have said – make a few more trips in April to choose a voice teacher at each of the schools that rise to the top of his list due to scholarships awarded.</p>
<p>Right now, there are two schools that have offered him full-tuition. We’re floored. And so very grateful. And unless there are others that come in with that kind of money, he will be going to one of those two. He loves them both anyway. But neither were his very favorite, which is Oberlin. It has been at the top of his list since the first time he visited. He LOVES it. So far, it’s still too expensive for us. Chances are looking slim.</p>
<p>SimpleLife, understand your situation. We had to eliminate DD’s top choice because it was too expensive. She knew that going in, if the $$ did not work out it would not stay on the list. She is where she belongs and is thriving. I am not sure now that her former #1 would have been nearly as good for her. </p>
<p>Good luck and best wishes as you make your way through the final decision.</p>
<p>Thanks, Singersmom07. I’m so glad to hear that your daughter loves where she is and is thriving! These things do seem to work out.</p>
<p>Sounds like your family and mine handled it the same way. Son has known since the beginning that money HAD to come first, period. Like you, if the $$ did not work out, the school was off the list. </p>
<p>And, like you it seems, my son was very careful in selecting his schools – if he couldn’t picture himself thriving at a school, musically, academically, and personally, then it didn’t make the final list. That way, the ultimately “cheapest” school would be “good enough” in the end. We’re so very grateful for his generous scholarships. They’re a God-send!</p>
<p>Steff- Our son made a tour of the schools he was most interested in (which accepted him) after hearing and reversed the process by interviewing the teachers. The money (fairly generous) was about the same at all 3. He ended up liking the teacher best at IU even though he would have loved the Oberlin experience. He went with the teacher and it doesn’t seem to have been a bad choice. He is in a studio with other students that he can really relate to musically and he loves the program at IU. If he had it to do over again, he wouldn’t change his decision. For him, it was all about the teacher and he’s learned so much this year from that teacher.</p>
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<p>If your daugther goes to Depauw on a full ride, you will have extra $'s to send her to the Summer Opera Workshops in Italy.</p>
<p>Hi OperaDad!
I think steff is, herself, the student – the one with the free ride to DePauw. What a great deal for her!</p>
<p>My son’s free rides are to two other schools.</p>
<p>Forgive me if you and steff had previous dialogue about her intentions with Oberlin in Italy. But, if you’re referring to the fact that my son was trying to swing Oberlin in Italy this summer – well, he’s since declined the very nice offer. He decided that (1) the experience will be more meaningful and enriching for him once he has more college experience under his belt, and (2) we really can’t afford it either way – the cost would be coming from his room and board and/or tuition costs. So we decided it wasn’t the smart thing for us to do right now. But, oh, what a great sounding program!</p>
<p>Hope all is going well for you and your son. By the sounds of it, it is! Congrats on all of his fine acceptances!</p>
<p>Money isn’t really a factor for my family and I. the only draw back from DePauw for me is that it is literally in the middle of no where. Performing is very important to me and I feel like there wouldn’t be a lot of opportunities at a school that isn’t located in/near a big city. also, does any one have any opinion about an undergraduate only program versus a program that involves both undergraduates and graduate students?? What are the positive and negative sides of both??</p>
<p>Regarding the undergrad vs. undergrad/grad question- those that have both usually tend to concentrate time, money and attention on the graduate side of things. The opera roles go to them because many schools have a, for lack of a better term,“point system” whereby the Doctoral students have to have “x” number of leads and the Graduates their “x” number- guess where that leaves the undergrads? Hint, there are always people needed to hand out programs at these performances! For those who don’t have a burning desire to perform and who feel that they learn best by watching, such an arrangement may be perfect; if you jump at any chance to stand in a spotlight, you might want to look elsewhere.</p>
<p>From my experience, the opera directors at most schools could care less what opportunities any student needs…no guarantees for any graduate students…they cast who they want to use in the roles. If a graduate student cannot win the roles, and if they are required to do so, they will not get the degree…there are no promises. Teachers have veto power over what their own students can do, and that is the only line of defense for most undergraduate singers, who should not be doing most roles if they are typical undergraduate ages.</p>
<p>We also are desperate for help deciding! This discussion addresses many of the same questions we have about where to go for undergraduate vocal performance. Perhaps you can comment on our particular situation. My D wants a college/university setting and an option to pursue a double major or degree in English or communications. We don’t qualify for financial aid but will consider the scholarship offerings especially in today’s economy. She is accepted at the following:</p>
<p>Northwestern - Bienen (scholarship to arrive soon if any)
Vanderbilt - Blair (some scholarship)
Lawrence Conservatory (nice scholarship)
U of Miami -Frost (very generous scholarship)
University of Wisconsin (generous scholarship)
There are fine teachers that she has met and would feel comfortable working with at all of these schools.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your advice!</p>
<p>Operadreamer…just wondering about the possible choice of a double major affecting some merit aid. When D got her merit scholarship from her undergrad LAC, it disallowed her from pursuing a secondary major. Did you discuss the double major with the teachers she would be working with?</p>