<p>I'm new to this board but know you can help me.</p>
<p>My son is a HS soph and he wants to major in cello perf. We're starting the college search now. One question: how does one decide (or find) which college professor is best for you? Everyone says that's the "key" to your best college match. We've been told to disregard all other criteria. </p>
<p>Also, academically, he is a B+ student so that will be a financial disability & probably lack of scholarships. But he has always received A+'s across the board in all orchestra & band (Fr. horn) classes. Is 2nd chair in the Honor's orchestra & 4 years in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. </p>
<p>I'm just not sure where to even begin the search. Thanks for any insight! :)</p>
<p>Assuming you live in the Chicago area, there are some very fine cello teachers available. Does your son currently study cello privately? His teacher can guide him. If he does not have a teacher, conversations with other cellists in his youth orchestras will be helpful. Other parents are wonderful sources of information, too, if you have a chance to visit with them during rehearsals. There are esteemed summer programs where he would have time for intense study and practice, and surrounded with other aspiring and talented young string players. He will learn a great deal about the different schools and cello pedagogues from those acquaintances. Good luck to the whole family!</p>
<p>There are many fine cello teachers out there. Reading BassDad's post that he referenced is a good place to start over all. The teacher is the thing you want to focus in on most. But your son also needs to decide what kind of environment he wants. Does he want a conservatory, a university? It is also hard to make recommendations not knowing how strong a player he is. What does his private teacher recommend? </p>
<p>One of the best ways to find out about teachers is to go and visit and arrange lessons with them. It is also possible to meet teachers at summer programs.</p>
<p>Putting all of that into consideration, here are some schools with strong cello teachers at the moment. They are listed in no particular order. </p>
<p>Northwestern, Michigan, Eastman, Peabody, New England Conservatory (NEC), Indiana, Oberlin, Juilliard, Mannes, Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM), Rice. A couple of schools that are a bit less competitive but still have excellent teachers are Cinncinatti Conservatory of Music (CCM), DePaul, and Baldwin Wallace. </p>
<p>Grades will not be an impediment to scholarships at most schools if he has a very strong audition. Again, his grades in orchestra won't mean much either. The audition is pretty much the whole ball of wax when it comes to music school admissions. </p>
<p>For the record, my oldest graduated last spring with a degree in cello performance from Eastman and will start his MM at Mannes in the fall. Feel free to PM if you like.</p>
<p>You should use S's private teacher and CYSO director to help steer you towards schools with appropriate teachers and level. They are the best source of "objective" information.</p>
<p>If S is set on a conservatory, don't sweat grade impact on scholarship, it dosen't mean anything. Merit scholarships are usually awarded on the basis of the audition.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone so far. I will also plan on reading the "So you want to be a music major" thread. </p>
<p>He has taken private lessons for 1o years. His teacher does not seem to be too up to date in that area for some reason. I have a call in to his 2 different orchestra instructors, so we will talk next week to see where they can suggest for his level at his age - - sort of a "future forecast." </p>
<p>I don't think he cares about unver. setting vs. conservatory; large vs. small; locations are open. He just says he wants to go to college (very enthusiastic). </p>
<p>We think we will at least visit Jacob's S. of M. at IU.
Lawrence U. in WI (pricey tho).
Baldwin-Wallace
St. Olaf
And even Cornell College in IA
& Univ. of N. Texas</p>
<p>Just a quick note about Lawrence. It is expensive, but they also meet need, which IU and many others do not do. Academics CAN help at Lawrence, since you can apply to both conservatory and university, getting scholarships for music and academics. I think Lawrence would have been the cheapest for us of those colleges to which my son applied (as a trumpet performance major). However, he wanted a larger college with more opportunities to both hear and perform good music, and he ended up at Indiana. (which has turned out to be a wonderful fit for him)</p>
<p>Since you are close, a LU visit should definitely be on your calendar next year. They have a good financial aid department and do meet need. They have a wonderful tutorial program and great academics in and out of the conservatory.</p>
<p>After spending much of the A.M. reading different threads, I am VERY worried about my son's GPA, etc. He is in all regular classes, (only 1 AP - algebra), no honors. He has a weighted 4.5 GPA, but after reading here today, most feel as tho their chances are slim of being accepted to practically any college with a 3.5 GPA.</p>
<p>Rudysmom: Take a deep breath. CC is a wonderful community and it is a great place to get advice. The music majors forum can be particularly helpful to those of us trying to figure out all about auditions, conservatory vs. university, etc. HOWEVER, CC is also a very skewed group. Many of the people posting here have exceptionally high aspirations. It is not unusual to read comments such as "If I can't get into an Ivy League school, I guess I am stuck going to community college!" We all know that there are a great many wonderful choices between Harvard and Podunk Com. Col. So take much of what you read here with a grain of salt. </p>
<p>There are many schools that will be happy to accept your son with a 3.5 GPA and his regular classes. If his goal is to audition for a Bachelor of Music program, grades will be less of an issue, depending on the schools where he applies. The audition will be a big thing. If his decides to go for an academic degree instead of a music degree, there are still many fine colleges out there that will love to have him. </p>
<p>College Confidential can drive you crazy. The more you read, the more you think you will never be good enough. But realize that there are over 3000 colleges in the US. The vast majority of them accept over 75% of their applicants. Your son will be fine.</p>
<p>If you do the conservatory route - it is the audition that matters. Nobody seemed to care inour case about grades. Just that my son was graduating from high school.</p>
<p>I have no direct experience with cello, though my kid has played duets with some cellists...but having just gone through the application/audition process, I suggest that you might want to look at which schools give merit scholarships, and good financial aid, which will be based on the audition and application, but where grades may not be a big issue. Oberlin, for one, does give merit scholarships and has some excellent cello teachers -- Darrett Adkins, for one, who also teaches at Juilliard. Michigan has Richard Aaron; I saw a master class he gave at Aspen last summer and thought he was terrific -- funny, smart, engaging.</p>
<p>rudysmom-
The advice above is accurate.....GPA is not very important if applying for music programs. The audition is (almost) everything.</p>
<p>Our son had 'only' a 3.8 High School GPA without even one AP class.
He was focused on his music and the TIME involved with rehearsals, practice, auditions, practice, and more practice was just incredible. We saw no point in pushing for AP classes though he would have been capable.</p>
<p>He auditioned at 6 schools and ended up with 3 choices. He's a college junior now, on Dean's list, loving life. Looking at grad options after next year.
So, academics mean not much at conservatories.</p>
<p>We did find it amusing that Juilliard required an academic teacher recommendation the year he applied (in addition to a private music teacher).
He had no difficulty providing a rec from a wonderful English teacher who thought he was a terrific writer (he is!).</p>
<p>Oberlin does not do much in the way of merit. About the grades: the Northwestern cello professor told me that he could get kids in with C's, but that D's are a problem. It sounds like your son is fine on that score. It is more of an academic admission in the early stages at Michigan. At Oberlin, the academic admission is important, too. The main thing conservatories within schools need to know is that the musician can be successful in his or her academic general core classes as part of the mainstream of the university. If a person had 400-500 on the SAT verbal and writing tests, it would be questionable. Juilliard requires no test scores, but it does require a recommendation from an academic teacher. Hang in there, you have lots of good advice and guidance coming your way, and it is coming from folks who have trod this road with the same trepidation and concerns. Good luck.</p>
<p>Oberlin does give merit scholarships, this year, for example, I know of applicants who were offered up to about $16,000 per year for up to 5 years (for double degree students); not everyone gets one, of course. According to what they tell you when you visit, admission is based 80 percent on the audition; unlike Michigan, it is a conservatory full stop, so grades are not as important, and they say that on their website and when you visit. Conservatory students can choose any 8 courses in the College. Juilliard gives scholarships based on a combination of merit and financial need; they do not give it on merit alone -- you must file a FASFA, etc. -- you don't have to file anything at Oberlin and you can still qualify for merit aid (it is a "Deans Scholarship). If your son is interested in a double degree, both Michigan and Oberlin are highly selective and a 3.5 might make it a reach.</p>
<p>Well, I'm hoping by the next 2 yrs upon HS graduation, he will have bumped his gpa up and do well on the SAT (or ACT). He also has a PT job (12 - 15 hrs/wk.) so I'm guessing that will help on the app. too.</p>
<p>Actually, rudysmom, I cannot imagine that he can afford the time away from practice and school work for a part time job. It will help him not on bit at a conservatory audition. Most kids interested serious music auditions have to downgrade their academics a bit and limit other ec's. Some go to half time their senior year, some are homeschooled and take on line courses, some leave the more demanding honors and AP courses. It would be very hard to do all of that. </p>
<p>In the past Oberlin has been quite parsimonious about merit....glad to hear it has changed. A young friend visisted there before her senior year, a NMS semi-finalist, and they told her the most merit anyone could get was $2000 a year. It may be that if one can prove need, they give more in terms of grants instead of loans...I do not know.</p>