How to decide the best place to go?

College Majors Music Major
1

Now that acceptances are in, I am trying to work out my best course of action for undergraduate music performance. I started studying my main instrument later than most of my peers, and although in many ways I caught up, I am not quite at the “top tier” level. But I was accepted to several highly regarded programs, and I am trying to work out which would be best for me.

My criteria when applying included teacher, location, and size of program. One thing I am wondering about now is – looking ahead – how much where you go for your undergrad degree can influence where you might get in for graduate study.

What insights do people have? I’ve been led to believe that you can go to a good second-tier program and if you work hard, you can have a legitimate shot at a top program for grad school. Or are you always going to be one step down?

2

The key thing for graduate study is going to be how well you are playing coming out of undergraduate, period, if you go into the audition and play well, teacher wants you, you get in, where you went to school itself isn’t going to mean much other than how well you play (there is some truth, obviously, that if you apply for grad school at the school you went to UG, it will likely be easier to get in, especially if you stay with the same teacher, but in your case you would be going to a different school).

Another key factor is, how far are you behind the kids who were good enough to get into the ‘top tier schools’ and what instrument you are. On instruments like violin and piano and flute and cello, the bar to get into the top programs is extremely high, as is the competition, and starting late like you did can be more of an issue, because violin and piano and cello students start much younger than let’s say a brass player, and as a result it may be a lot harder to ‘catch up’ on strings or piano in your UG to those who have been playing a lot longer and at a high level, whereas with brass or woodwinds it may not be as big a gap and easier to make it up.

Then, ask yourself what drives you personally forward and what environment best suits that? Do you need to be surrounded by a lot of top level players to help push you? Then pick a program that seems to have a solid studio on your instrument and good teachers. If you are someone who might be distracted by being in a city area, might be better to go to a school with less distractions, if you are someone who feels you would moult in a rural area, maybe a program in a city area would be better.

The biggest factor is going to be the teacher, and I recommend highly, if at all possible, to do sample lessons with potential teachers and see which seems to be the best fit. If you can’t do that, then you may want to talk to your primary teacher now, or try and do research on the department to see who you might study with. That is probably going to be the single biggest factor,with the ultimate question being, what drives you (as a person) forward the best, and since teaching music is not like teaching calculus, that fit is critical.

3

You do not mention your instrument, so it is hard to say. I would go with your gut and pick the school that seems like the best fit where you feel the most comfortable. I would be careful about picking a school just based on reputation. You want a place where you feel you will grow the most. There are many other factors to consider besides just the teacher (although I agree that is important). Here is a list of things we asked when our son was making his decision.

PEERS: I would look at the peer group and what the other students are doing. In my son’s case his peer group (granted he is a Jazz major) has been almost as important to his development as a musician as his teachers. Why? Because when he plays with other musicians who are super talented it forces him to improve and get better. And the intellectual dialogues he and his peers have about music and where it is going has shaped him as an artist.

LOCATION: Are you a city person or country person? These things matter. If you hate cities and land in NYC and have to deal with crowded dark streets in winter and a minimum of green then you might get depressed and that will affect your art. If you love people and crowds and going out and doing things then being in the middle of nowhere might drive you crazy. Weather? Hate the cold and snow…well this winter in Boston was brutal so maybe New England is not the right place. Hate the heat…I was told it was 91 degrees in LA recently so then maybe So. Cal is not the right place.

ATMOSPHERE: Are you the type to excel when you are a small fish in a big pond or are you the type to excel when you are a big fish in small pond? Does competition push you forward or shut you down?

DISTANCE FROM HOME: Have you lived away from home before? How do you feel about travel? Have you ever been sick with something major like the flu while you are on your own? What circumstances would result in you wanting to see your parents? How practical is it for them to get to you where you decide to go. How does this effect the cost? Many parents and children do not think about this as an issue, but it is a REAL ISSUE. I have known many a child to get into trouble because they were too far from their support network of their parents and not yet ready to be as independent as they thought they could be.

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES: What other programs does the conservatory have? Can you take courses at other schools? What are the limitations and constraints on doing that? What ways can your musical career be supplemented and what other learning opportunities are there.

Hopefully this helps

4

StacJlp, this is such a wise post!!

5

@stacjp nailed it, Those are all factors, and in the end it comes down to the combination of factors adding up to what will motivate you best. There are tradeoffs with any decision, and if you decided to go to a school that was in a warm climate and near beaches primarily because of that, might do wonder for your tan, but musically…seriously, it is a combination of factors, there are great music schools my S wouldn’t consider because they are in rural areas, others might find Boston in winter tiring, as my S certainly has this winter:)

6

For DD we sorted the 3 most finically feasible options and did another visit with lessons. She had not done lessons before. In the end she looked around and said that the one she chose felt right - the right teacher ,the right studio, the right school. The rest had compromises. Sometimes it is just a gut feeling.

7

There is an old expression, always trust your gut, and I think it is really, really valuable. Music is not logical, it isn’t done by rational thought per se, so while rationality (like cost) plays a role, in the end, you go with your gut, too.

8

I would add one more piece of criteria: “What does the typical career in your instrument look like?”(ie Are graduates hired directly out of undergrad? What sort of career are you after? How is the market changing? Where do you want to work?) Granted, much of this is hard to predict but digging up this sort of information might point you in the right direction and help you with some of your financial planning along with your choice of school.