<pre><code> I've been looking for a good school for awhile now and I really can't find one that fits me well. Maybe you all can steer me to some schools to look at if I give you a few things I am looking for:
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<p>I want to go to a good music school(especially for vocalist)</p>
<p>I don't want to go to a conservatory- i want to be able to study other things besides music</p>
<p>I don't want to go to a school in a really small town- I want to be near a big city</p>
<p>I don't want to go to a huge school like UM or FSU-</p>
<p>I want to be able to get a minor in a foreign language-Rice doesn't offer minors </p>
<p>This is about all i can think of right now.</p>
<p>Rather than give up, perhaps you should change your mindset. It seems you are looking for perfection, and that is hard to find whether you are looking for a college or a spouse! Instead of seeking to find all of those qualities in one school, you should rank the importance of those qualities. For example, is an urban location more important than school size to you? You may be thinking in one direction now, but visiting a school may change your mind. As we searched, we found that there were no perfect schools out there. Each one had its strengths and weaknesses.</p>
<p>When we began our search, we got a copy of the College Guide for Performing Arts Majors by Carole J. Everett. An updated version of this book will be released Oct. 1 and is available for pre-order at Amazon. This book was helpful for us as we began our search, although you should never rely on a guidebook alone. It's best to plan a roadtrip to visit schools large and small, urban, suburban and rural, public and private, etc.</p>
<p>You can't give up, lol! Try Peabody at Johns Hopkins, Tufts w/NEC, Cleveland Institute of Music with Case Western, Frost School of Music at Miami U, McGill in Montreal, the list goes on...</p>
<p>What about USC (Thornton School of Music) or DePaul (Chicago). And as far as a language minor---most classical voice undergrads are required to take so many language credits (German, Italian and French) you are just about
a de facto language minor.</p>
<p>Look at Emory.
Big city - Atlanta
double, even triple majors very easy to do, usually in 4 years</p>
<p>We toured Emory last Sunday - our tour guide was a voice and theater double major. School bills itself as a "small LAC in a large research university" - which gives you that small college feel, but opens up tons of majors and opportunities. Lovely campus.</p>
<p>Smaller school, big city, good vocal music, offers minor in foreign languages.
How is that "looking for perfection"? Those sound like pretty broad, reasonable criteria.</p>
<p>Don't give up. I am sure there are schools that fit your criteria. I think that, perhaps, you need to do more fine tuning. You say you want to be near a big city. How big? Big like New York or Atlanta, or moderately big like Cincinnati? Do you want to be in a bigger city for the social scene, or because of the arts offerings? Some moderately large cities have a lot going on. Cincinnati, where I live, has a major opera company, a symphony, a ballet company, a major regional theatre company, and professional baseball and football teams. Many major theatrical productions tour here also. If what you are looking for in a big city is more of a social scene, remember, larger schools in smaller places tend to have a lot going on because of the sheer number of students.</p>
<p>You say that you do not want to attend a large university such as Florida State or Michigan. Is it because you fear being lost in the crowd? Many students feel that way. I want to point out that as a music major in a large university you are likely to feel that you are part of a much smaller school due to the fact that such a large percentage of your courses will be taken with other music majors. I attended a very large university as a music major, yet always felt like I was part of a small, intimate group of students. For me, it was the best of both worlds. I had a very large number of courses to choose from through the university as a whole and had the small school feel in the school of music. My D is getting very much the same sort of experience at FSU. I'm not saying that the large school/small department is the answer for everyone, just something you may not have thought about.</p>
<p>I'll 2nd taking a look at Carole Everrett's book. It is a good jumping off point. Take a look at the schools that are located in places that meet your size criteria. Then I would suggest a look at each school's website. See if it is possible to do a minor. When you have a preliminary list, try to visit some of the schools. Talk to current music majors, especially the voice majors. Try to set up a lesson with a voice teacher. If possible, attend a vocal performance - a recital, an opera, or a choral concert. Tour the campus to get a feel for the school. </p>
<p>Try to keep a reasonably open mind at this stage of the game. You may find that you like schools that are larger than you think or schools that are in a smaller city. Remember that you do have to get through an audition at better schools of music. The school chooses you just as you choose the school :)</p>
<p>Other possible schools that are not too large and in urban locations: Duquesne and Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, Southern Methodist U in Dallas, Vanderbilt in Nashville. I don't know whether they would offer minors or anything about their voice programs, but they have decent music programs.</p>
<p>I would echo dancersmom...I have two daughters at FSU now. Even at a big school like FSU your area can be quite personal. The professors do get to know you in those specialty classes.</p>
<p>I agree with dancersmom about keeping an open mind at this point. My son thought he wanted a small to medium college until he visited Indiana University along with a couple of smaller schools and found he actually liked being at a big school. And, as was also mentioned, being in the music school makes it feel like you are in a smaller school much of the time. (My son loves IU.)</p>
<p>I agree that a school of music is a school within a school and can give a smaller "feel". As a music major, you'll spend the majority of your time in the music building(s) anyway. There aren't many smaller or mid-size schools with large schools of music, and a large program may offer a greater choice of teachers, etc. Also, a large school can sometimes have a smaller feel depending on the layout of the campus. For mid-size, Emory, Vanderbilt, SMU (among others) have good music programs. Emory, MIT, Duke and many other schools have wonderful choir directors. And schools with smaller programs may still have plenty of opportunities for singers because of the large numbers of students (non-majors) who participate.</p>
<p>I second the thought of the school of music within a U giving a smaller feet.
I wasn't thrilled with our son's choice to transfer to Rutger's at first. The enormous size seemed overwhelming.
But he's spending most of his time in the music buildings at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Cook campus. It's really a school within a school.
He hasn't even had a chance to find a high school friend who is over on College Ave. I'm sure he'll explore the whole U eventually, but for everday life, he's found his home.</p>
<p>Asking ever more detailed questions on this board will not save you the work of figuring out for yourself what schools are available that fit your criteria.
Step one should be to list schools that offer good voice programs and the option of a liberal arts minor; be careful to note that some schools permit a double degree, but not a liberal arts minor in a BM (ie Oberlin)
Step two is to categorize by location-- regional and size of city-- and school size.
Step three is to start considering individual characteristics of the schools and deciding what you like and don't like.
This way you eat the elephant one bite at a time.</p>
<p>Definitely, look at University of Cincinnati. Their music program rivals that of Oberlin, Rice etc. It is a conservatory within a university. Trust me, Cincinnati is very highly ranked in most musical and vocal areas.</p>