First for some background, I have basically no money and my parents aren’t going to help me out. I had a 3.3 unweighted GPA in high school, 33 ACT and then I did one year at BYU in Provo (which was a mistake because I already didn’t really want to but I was being pressured to get out of the house by my parents and didn’t know where else to go). I did terribly there, studying something I didn’t like at a school I didn’t really want to go to. I failed half of my classes.
What I do want to study is music, at a somewhat selective school. The problem is my GPA makes me look like an idiot, but I got an almost perfect ACT. Especially with my recent college record I’m not sure I could attend anywhere that doesn’t already accept most applicants. So I have no idea what places would consider me. Especially given that I’m not incredibly knowledgeable in music. I have some talent, I understand some basic music theory, and my main instrument is singing, with a little experience in piano and guitar. But it always seems like only the super talented people get accepted into halfway decent music programs. I’m very unsure of what to do.
For the money problem, look mostly instate at public universities. Look for which of these universities have good music programs. No harm in applying to get in to their program.
Your problem is that you’re not a first time frosh and you have a GPA problem. You’ll have to start where you can, maybe at a CC, and then transfer once your GPA is repaired.
Once my GPA total is repaired or once I demonstrate a lot of improvement? Because even if I got a 4.0 next year at a CC my GPA would still be something like 2.5 or less.
33 is a fabulous score. But is is far from perfect. And you are right - the most prestigious music schools will require some type of audition. A 33 is not going to offset a great audition
I’m going to have to get student loans. I’m comfortable that my singing is good enough that I can do a good audition piece, but there’s more to it than singing a prepared piece, and I’m not sure I’d do as well on the other parts.
Also, is the two years thing a rule for transfer students or is that just to boost my GPA? The community college here has no classes in anything I want to study (not even computer science), so I’m not sure what I’d be learning for two years.
If I do the two years at CC, and assuming I get straight A’s, will I still have little or no chance of getting into a prestigious school because of my one year at BYU? I don’t necessarily mean extremely selective, but I would much prefer to go somewhere that is fairly selective. My recent GPA doesn’t show it but I am fairly intelligent and I wouldn’t really like a place that is extremely easy to get into.
You can only borrow a limited amount on your own ($5,500 freshman year, $6,500 soph, and $7,500 jr & sr years). Merit scholarships are hard to come by if you are not an entering freshman, and need based aid also often isn’t as good for transfer students.
What is UCM? Your best choice given your situation may be someplace you can commute to for a couple of years to repair your GPA, but it would be best if you could take music classes there, too.
UCM: University of Central Missouri. The CC near me is State Fair.
I knew there were limits but not what they were. Right now I’m working two jobs and by the time next year rolls around I should have 2-3 thousand saved up before I start CC.
And when I say audition I’m talking about university music program auditions, not professional singing auditions. I’m not going to go into debt assuming that I will get a career as a performer.
Anyway, with the auditions they usually want you to have a main instrument or your voice and something prepared, as well as doing some things like sight reading I believe. I was saying I believe I’d do well with a prepared piece but I don’t have too much experience sight reading, and I only know basics on piano and guitar but I’m training to get better at those. I was just hoping somebody might have more insight on how I should prepare for it so I’m ready when the time comes.
Also, no one really answered my question about transferring from CC to a more selective school. I don’t mean like Yale, but I don’t really want to go somewhere that has an 80% acceptance rate either. I’m just wondering, if I do well in my two years at CC, what are my options? Is it uncommon/difficult to transfer from a CC to a fairly selective college? Would my grades from my first year of college still be held against me even if I got straight A’s in CC for two years?
Your grades from your first year will always be a part of your record. There’s no way around that. Even if you tried to pretend that they didn’t exist, a school would uncover those grades because colleges use a “clearinghouse” that shows everywhere a person went to college during their past.
If you do well the next two years at a CC, then you might be able to get into a pretty good school. PAYING for that school will be an issue since you said that your parents wont pay. A school isn’t going to give you more aid just because your parents won’t pay.
Right NOW, concentrate on getting the best grades you can at a CC. That’s all you can do right now. Then see what your options are after that.
I never said anything about making the first year just go away. I was only wondering how much weight it will carry if I do very well for two years at a community college.
As far as focusing on doing well at CC, I understand that, but first I need to figure out which CC to go to that will prepare me for my chosen major. And to answer one of your previous questions, I don’t believe State Fair has performing departments, but I will check again to be sure.
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I never said anything about making the first year just go away. I was only wondering how much weight it will carry if I do very well for two years at a community college.
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I know that you didn’t say anything about that. I was just stating that in case you or someone reading this in a similar situation might think that was possible.
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As far as focusing on doing well at CC, I understand that, but first I need to figure out which CC to go to that will prepare me for my chosen major. And to answer one of your previous questions, I don't believe State Fair has performing departments, but I will check again to be sure.
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Don’t dwell on the past. You need to just focus on doing what you need to do this next 2 years. Is your major going to be a performance (voice) major? If so, you need to make your mark with that, so that any school that accepts you as a transfer two years from now will do so based on your proven talents.
But upon further inspection it doesn’t seem very comprehensive at all. There are a lot of GE classes and then only a few that would be focused on music, and none of them seem like they would help me learn more than I already do about music. It’s mostly just music history and some performance groups, which I took a lot of in high school. I would prefer classes more along the lines of music theory, sight reading, voice/instrument lessons etc. I don’t see how music history and basic choral groups prepare you for a comprehensive 4-year music program. Are there community colleges that offer more in-depth programs or am I just going to have to learn this stuff outside of class?
I was thinking more of doing music theory as my actual major, and having an emphasis on voice as my main instrument, though I’m not 100% sure yet. But it’s between music theory and a vocal performance major; those would be my first choices.