Help narrowing down the search....

College Majors Music Major
1

Hi all, and thank you in advance!

I would love to get some input on narrowing down the list of colleges my daughter is interested in applying to. Here’s a quick snapshot for background: my daughter is going into her senior year, she’s been studying with her classical voice teacher for a few years, and we’re preparing her repertoire for college auditions.

She, sadly, has not done any summer programs for voice, but she has for her other instrument, horn. She will not be studying horn in college, however. This year she was invited to participate in the all state festival. She is singing alto for that, but she is a mezzo and that is how she will apply to school.

I have been all over the forum, trying to gather as much information as possible- my concern is that we will likely need some merit aid, so I’m trying to cast a wide net without completely exhausting ourselves in the application process. I know she has some pretty selective schools on the list, so I’m looking for some balance with that. I have also learned that, since VP is so subjective, it’s impossible to predict if/how much a school might be willing to offer, but i know some are just historically more generous than others. Also, she is open-minded regarding the schools she will consider, but I think she would definitely prefer an urban setting, and she wants to stay in the Northeast. She also firmly wants to study classical voice performance, with a goal of someday singing opera. She is not interested in musical theater or jazz. I should also mention she has strong grades and good SAT’s, and is very well-rounded with extracurriculars.

Here is what is definitely on our list so far:
-New England Conservatory
-Syracuse University
-Ithaca College (even though the setting is not her favorite, she really liked the school)
-SUNY Fredonia
-SUNY Purchase

She is also considering Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and maybe Berklee (they’re separate applications, right?) but I’m not sure if they focus as much on classical VP.

We also were considering adding some of the following:
-MSM
-NYU
-Rutgers Mason Gross
-Hartt
-Peabody

And I’m debating whether I should encourage her to look at some conservatories within liberal-arts colleges, in case she might be eligible for merit or academic scholarships. In that case, she was considering:
-Oberlin College
-Baldwin-Wallace

I would welcome any suggestions about any of these places we should be considering, as well as about any other schools you think we should add to the list.

Thanks!

2

Here’s are strictly amateur impressions- please take them for what they’re worth, I’m just a parent who went through the classical VP admissions process a year ago with my kid as an advisor/chauffeur-

From your list, my belief is that the strongest schools for classical VP performance are NEC, Purchase, MSM, Oberlin, and Baldwin Wallace. Boston University would be a better fit than Berklee/BOCO, and you probably should also look at Eastman and McGill.

Good luck!

3

You may also want to compare the VP curriculums at the schools you are interested in as the process unfolds and see what looks like a good fit for your student’s interests.

Once my daughter had narrowed the field to the final 2 schools, she learned that one school required one year each of Italian, German and French Language and one semester of Diction classes for each language and the other school only required Diction, if I remember correctly. This was an important difference to her. She’s finding it’s much easier to fit language classes in when everyone in her VP class has the same requirement.

Keep in mind that vocally most female VP students are not ready for professional work after undergrad - most get a Master’s degree, so for many the goal is finding the best affordable undergraduate option for your family.

Enjoy the journey! Oh and don’t worry about summer programs. If she is well-prepared for auditions and is a strong academic student those things typically carry more weight than summer programs and competitions.

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@NYCMusicDad - thank you so much; I really just wanted someone else’s opinion, so thank you for taking the time to respond. You are confirming what my gut was telling me, so that is great!

And @buoyant- that is great advice- thank you so much! We’ve been skimming the websites and requirements for each, but I think comparing them side by side would be very helpful. And yes- we are planning to be careful about the cost, because she is already planning to attend grad school for her Master’s. Thank you for your help!