LAC with music program for BM in voice

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>I'm a junior preparing my college list, and I keep on hearing about how great the LAC environment is for vocal performance majors. I want to make sure I consider them thoroughly as I am leaning more towards an LAC or small private university. I am considering conservatories, but I've heard so much against them for undergrad. I want to know about LACs and small private (or hey, small public) universities I might want to consider. Right now the only ones on my list are pretty much Oberlin and Lawrence. Private universities I have include Chapman and Southern Methodist University, so if you know anything about those two, please drop your two cents! </p>

<p>My trouble with big schools is that I don't want to feel like a number, and I'd prefer for most of my classes to be smaller than my current high school classes of 30 to 40+ students. I want to feel "at home" when I'm at school, not like I'm totally in a place that's way bigger than me. At the same time, I love being in the city.</p>

2

<p>There were a lot of vocalists auditioning when my D looked at Gettysburg a couple of years ago. They have a conservatory that’s not as well known as some others, but they support the double major concept.</p>

3

<p>Shenandoah - may be more of a Music Theater Bent, but it’s not far out of DC.<br>
Bard - Lots of good stuff on these boards
Appalachian was recommended to my D as a nurturing school with a serious voice program. We never visited, because she was a one school girl (WCC).
UMaryland College Park - honor program, great facilities
Are you looking at LACs because you want to maintain the academics or because you’ve heard bad things about conservatories?</p>

4

<p>Umd and Shenandoah are bm conservatory programs, may not be the kind of environment op is looking for. Depends on ops reasons for wanting lac or smaller university. </p>

<p>Perhaps elon or james madison are worth a look as well.</p>

<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>

5

<p>Shenandoah is really an hour and a half outside of DC. Not exactly close. The schools I would consider are: Rice (Houston), Northwestern (Chicago), DePauw, DePaul (Chicago), University of Maryland (DC), Vassar, Wheaton (Chicago), USC (LA).</p>

<p>Oberlin, Lawrence and SMU are also good options. You could also look at Baylor.</p>

<p>Also, you may want to rethink Chapman. A lot of vocal parents here in LA don’t have a very high regard for the quality of the program. At least among the people I’ve talked to and our own impression when we visited, my D and I were not impressed. The program seemed to be very “slack”.</p>

6

<p>If you’re willing to consider a BA instead of a BM, I would also add Bard College to the list. (Except for the wanting to be in a city part…)</p>

7

<p>You could also look at Baldwin-Wallace, it is just outside of Cleveland. You can do a BA or BM. The conservatory is small about 200 students but it is competitive for voice.</p>

8

<p>Thanks so far! </p>

<p>I am looking at LACs based off of things I have read and what professionals have told me. I know that it is important for singers to be well rounded. I absolutely want to be in a BM program, and I have no interest in doing a double major. I am very interested in conservatories and will apply to a couple, but I want to have variety in the schools on my list. My first two choices are Rice and Maryland already, and I also have bigger schools like McGill and Michigan on my list. I think I might like LACs and private schools more because I tend to feel overwhelmed around too many people, and like I said, I want to feel at home during my undergrad years. </p>

<p>I eliminated Shenandoah from my list early on in the process - I don’t remember why, but I’ve read lots of unfavorable things about it. I also eliminated Baldwin Wallace for similar reasons. I also definitely want a classical emphasis, so schools where they do a lot of pop or musical theatre kind of turns me off. I’ve seen a lot of that from USC, so that one is on the fence. </p>

<p>I have average academics, so I don’t want to apply to too many academic reaches (3.6 GPA, 2100 SAT, yet to take the ACT. I will have taken 5 or 6 APs by graduation.) This is something that makes me very nervous, so I’m not sure about wasting application fees on schools lie Northwestern that may have a problem with my academic performance.</p>

9

<p>When you’re looking at schools, I really suggest you look at a sample class schedule. That helped both of my daughters pick schools that fit them well (very different from each other). There are many ways to become a well rounded individual. Access to museums and cultural events, community service, reading - all those can sometimes be more effective then having to choose from a limited selection of classes that fit in to your schedule. Take a harder look at some of the conservatories - they often have some quite rigorous academic requirements or at least rigorous options. The basic premise of a Liberal Arts College is a Liberal Arts Education - You might not get the focus on performance that you seem to seek. I might be wrong (so please don’t slay me!).</p>

10

<p>If you are ok with So CA. Check out Univ of Redlands. LAC with school of music.</p>

11

<p>If you’re looking at Oberlin then you should also look at CIM. Yes, it’s a conservatory, but there are gen Ed requirements as we’ll as the languages, diction, theory and music history classes that VP majors must take. Academics are taken on the Case Western campus- CIM sits on a corner of their space. Classes are very small, the whole conservatory has about 400 students, including undergrad,grad and AD students. And you’re a short walk from Severance Hall too.
Don’t rule out BW so quickly. They’ve just opened their brand new conservatory facilities this school year and are attracting new faculty. It’s far less isolated than Oberlin is and has a very different vibe. It would give you 3 schools all within 45-60 minutes of each other to compare.
PM me if you have any specific questions…</p>

12

<p>^^^

</p>

<p>I think you’re wrong, but I’m not going to slay you, lol. :)</p>

<p>Many LACs have strong music programs. In our experience, BM Vocal Performance programs looked roughly the same when we reviewed course catalogs years ago. Same courses and requirements across the board, pretty much. Same number of hours required for the degree. They may have varied slightly – more or less piano, more or less foreign language, etc – but as a whole, the degree requirements were roughly the same. BA-Music programs, on the other hand, did vary more from college to college. So, the trick was, we presumed: find an LAC that has a school of music that offers a BM in vocal performance as opposed to a BA in music.</p>

<p>My son looked only at colleges that offered strong music programs AND a liberal arts education. He wanted the academic core curriculum. And he insisted on the BM over the BA. He loved ALL of the schools that were on his final list and had trouble deciding between them in the end.</p>

<p>Alphabetically, his final list included:</p>

<p>Gettysburg
Lawrence (WI)
Oberlin
Rice
SMU
TCU
UNT</p>

<p>All but UNT were very personable and small. All offered an excellent musical education AND an excellent liberal arts education. All offered that core academic curriculum that he was looking for. He couldn’t have gone wrong with any of them. (He loved the music program at UNT, but wasn’t a huge fan of the academics and general ‘college scene’ there, to be very honest. But he would have gladly attended for the music.)</p>

<p>Hopefully you know that the private LACs will be significantly pricier than state schools. If you really impress them though, you may get scholarships that considerably offset the cost.</p>

<p>SMU’s program is fantastic, btw! Any specific questions?</p>

13

<p>Since you had mentioned the University of Michigan, I just would like to toss out how pleasantly surprised (ok it was love at first sight) when we visited the campus 2 years ago. We Californians would have never thought to visit such a huge campus in the frozen tundra part of the country. We just thought we were too wimpy. </p>

<p>For those who are not aware, the layout is mainly on 2 campuses, North and Central. Most of the liberal arts classes are on Central Campus, in an area covering about 2-3 small city blocks. This area is walkable in about 10 minutes or less, and is a beautiful, bustling campus. The academic offerings are vast, including over 60 languages being taught. There is an undergraduate research program which is very popular. There is a fantastic career center and plenty of academic support. North and Central are connected by a huge fleet of shuttle buses that constantly go back and forth covering the 10 minute ride. In contrast, North Campus is more woodsy and serene, and is the location for the music, engineering and art/design/architecture buildings. In fact, the music building is somewhat isolated from the others. There are about 800 music students and it definitely feels like a conservatory. Aside from the large lectures for the basic classes such as Musicology (about 200 students) the other classes generally have fewer than 30 students. The professors are all committed to teaching and have regular office hours where they welcome students and love to get to know them. It is a very supportive environment for undergraduates. The administration is also committed to working with students and counseling resources are knowledgeable and friendly. The main dorm for the freshmen music students is a 4 minute walk from the music building. The campus as a whole has multiple living/learning communities as well which further help to make the experience “small”.</p>

<p>By the way, if you don’t like football or sports, not to worry, because many students don’t and no one will think you are weird. Also, the music program is strongly supported by the general administration and the performances are well-advertised, and well-attended by students and the surrounding community. </p>

<p>We were also surprised at how much UM seems to be a crossroads of the universe. Nearly every week there are famous authors or celebrities on campus. The Chicago, London and San Francisco Symphonies, Phillip Glass, and Wynton Marsallis will all be appearing or have appeared this year. President Obama stopped by a few weeks ago. </p>

<p>The greatest thing about UM is the energy and enthusiasm of the students. There is a sprit de corps and love of learning that is intense, not in a nervous way but in a happy, passionate way. Collaboration and mutual respect are the norm. This is a school that is definitely worth considering for any music student who wishes a liberal arts education.</p>

<p>(Will just add parenthetically that I know nothing about the voice program except that we saw a performance of “The Magic Flute” 2 years ago and it was fantastic, including whoever that gal was who sang the Queen of the Night and just NAILED those high notes.)</p>

14

<p>^Wow. You make Michigan sound amazing! It will probably be on my son’s final grad school list. When he was applying for undergrad, he thought only ‘HUGE’ when thinking of Michigan. It didn’t make that list. It sounds lovely the way you describe it. :)</p>

15

<p>It is truly an amazing (“amaizeing”! as they like to say) place. Just want to clarify in the interest of full disclosure that the aerial view of the University of Michigan is indeed massive, taking into account the huge medical center which sits on the east side of campus, and the sports complex which is on the south side. Also, will state the obvious that some of the entry level liberal arts classes like Psych, Econ and Chemistry are very large lectures (have heard as many as 600 students) but these classes always have small discussion sections. For the music student, the bulk of the experience is going to feel much “smaller”. </p>

<p>Just a few more thoughts that occurred to me to mention. While the state of Michigan is recovering economically, the city of Ann Arbor is doing very well. Google recently opened up a large branch there. The Detroit airport is beautiful and for you Californians there are numerous daily direct flights from SFO and LAX, making it easier to get there than say Santa Barbara to Sacramento. (Not cheap! But easier).</p>

<p>We almost ruled out Michigan sight unseen based on its size and other factors, but I am so glad we visited. I felt like I needed to get the word out instead of just “lurking” on the boards. Thank you.</p>

16

<p>^ Sounds great! My son will be sure to check it out. :)</p>