Hopkins/Peabody vs. Northwestern

So, results are finally in for me; I narrowed it down to these two double degree programs for performance and an academic discipline.
I’m having the time of my life deciding between the two!!
I’m sure that Hopkins/Peabody is the better choice musically (I got my first choice studio), but the program is really difficult…kids im the program are so bright and hard-working, and I’m not really sure if I can keep up. Even though I am at a very competitive public high school, I’m afraid that Hopkins/Peabody might stretch me too far. I’m not really interested in Hopkins if not for this program, so dropping may not be a possibility.
On the other hand, there are far more double degrees at NU, and it seems significantly more do-able. I know that they’re making improvements in my instrument programme that sound extremely promising, but I just don’t think I’ll get the musical rigor that I would get out of a conservatory education at Peabody.
The other thing is that I’ve been warned by a very important mentor of mine about the musical caliber of Peabody…she said that I’d be much happier at other schools that I’m not considering with weaker academics and stronger musical programs. But, she also said that Hopkins was a great school! Conflicting
Any thoughts? I’m going to visit both and take lessons, I think

Sorry for the wall of text; it’s a lot of thinking

What instrument?

@thumper1 vla

Vla? Ok…what’s that?

I’m only asking because depending on the instrument…one school could be stronger than another.

@thumper1 Sorry…want to protect my identity!
Viola

Peabody’s campus is not near Hopkins, while NWU Bienen is a conservatory within the university. This proximity would make logistics easier at NWU.

I agree with songbirdmama regarding logistics. Also, when my daughter (also a string player) was considering Peabody, where she really liked the teacher, she received the same warning about weakness in the overall program and how it could affect orchestra, chamber, etc. That said, she has friends who did have a great experience there.

@glassharmonica Yeah, the relative strength of my peers is pretty important to me since I’m so involved in chamber music currently…
Is Bienen far better musically, do you think? Aside from the Jensen cello studio, of course

My kid applied to and got accepted at Peabody. He liked the school, but wanted a broader exposure to other classes. He got his undergrad at BU. But if he had applied to NU and gotten acceoted, he would have chosen that, I’m sure. He is a brass player. Their brass studio is very strong.

He chose his college cased on the private studio teacher. He was acceoted to Peabody, NE Conservatory, U of North Texas, The Hartt School, Dusquesne, and Boston University. He chose BU because the private teacher there was terrific and he wanted to be in a large city. He really liked the teacher at UNT as well…but not the location.

Your kid needs to look at the whole package. As a string player…look at the strength of the orchestra as well. And the orchestra conductors. And my kid also,says…look at the chamber music opportunities.

Another thing that you might do is listen to the student performances from each school on youtube - senior recitals, orchestra concerts etc… if you have concerns about the quality of the program.

@thumper1 I am the kid…
Peabody, I feel, has a more established program, but I don’t know the level of my peers. I’m visiting soon, though.

That music schools NU is fabulous…and very well established. But I don’t know a thing about their strings teachers.

I have read on this forum that Peabody has a much higher acceptance rate than other top conservatories and music schools, so I guess it’s inevitable there will be more variability in the students. For voice, when someone called them to ask, the acceptance rate was quoted by Peabody as being something like 30% of applicants (including the prescreen process).

To be honest, I wouldn’t dismiss Bienen like that, Northwestern is a place where a lot of kids who are musically talented but also are academically up there go to get a dual degree, a number of the kids from Juilliard pre college for example end up in programs like that. I can’t speak to the viola faculty at either school, but I think you would find that at Northwestern you would see a lot of top level players, it could easily IMO (and it is that) rival Peabody.

Not saying to go to Northwestern or Peabody, just saying don’t assume Peabody is necessarily better musically, I suspect that Bienen is likely as a whole as good or maybe even better than Peabody at this point on average. Obviously, factors like the studio play into it. I have also heard the JHU/Peabody program is not easy logistically, and that should factor into things.

Wish you luck, if it were my son I would tell him to treat the two programs as if musically they were on the same level, and make the decision on things like studio, the campus and so forth.

Northwestern offers a dual degrees opportunity for students to earn double degrees in 5 years. I would say it is a really great advantage for undergrad students attending Bienen. I don’t know much about the strings, but I know that the brass program in Northwestern is one of the best in the US. And I would consider the music environment also. Northwestern has a close relationship with Chicago symphony, and the training program of CSO, the civic orchestra, would be a great opportunity for you. In addition, the new building of the Bienen school is magnificent.