LACs for Potential Music Major (BA Voice)

College Majors Music Major
1

My D, a junior, is pulling together her list of potential colleges, and could use some help adding to/refining her list. We’ve spent a lot of time reading through the posts in the Music Major forum, which have been extremely helpful. She’s decided she’d like to major in music, with a vocal performance emphasis, but focusing on a BA degree in a LAC environment, rather than a conservatory. Her interests besides music include communication disorders and foreign languages (has studied Italian, is interested in Spanish and possibly Arabic).

Stats: 3.9 GPA, 3 APs so far, 2 more next year. 28 ACT, taking it again in 2 weeks (and possibly again in the fall). Numerous music and theater ECs - supporting roles in h.s. musicals and dramas, several select choirs in school and community, cantor (paid) at church since 9th grade.

She would like a LAC or small university (under 10k) with a liberal arts feel, preferably with little to no Greek life, politically moderate/ not very activist student body. Preferred location is Northeast or Midwest.

She LOVED St. Olaf, and really liked College of Wooster. We are on the East Coast though, and would like some options closer to home. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks!

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Muhlenberg in Pennsylvania
Wheaton in Norton MA
Clark University in Worcester MA

Bard College
Skidmore
Roger Williams University (Rhode Island)
Bates (not sure about their musical theater program)
Trinity College
University of Hartford (Harrt Conservatory)
Ithaca College
University of Vermont
Bennington College (Tyrion from Game of Thrones went there)
Emerson College

3

Great list above, adding Sarah Lawrence, Vassar, Dickenson, Goucher. Marlboro is interesting but very small, not sure about resources for voice though there is a music festival there every summer.

Bard, Bennington and Marlboro are rural and have a little more alternative “vibe.” Skidmore, Emerson (good for theater and speech/communication, downtown Boston), and Sarah Lawrence have an artsy vibe.

Clark has some interesting majors that she might find interesting, and a good music department. Some don’t like Worcester but Clark does a lot for the community and has a very good relationship with it.

I am sure you have seen the Colleges that Change Lives website and book. (Wooster is on it, as well as Clark, Goucher and Marlboro.) http://ctcl.org/ I like Pope’s other book too, “Looking Beyond the Ivy League.”

To relieve stress over scores, there are a number of great schools that are test optional (including several above):
http://fairtest.org/university/optional There are many top top schools on this list.

For merit aid, you sometimes need scores at some of these schools, but not for financial aid.

With the interest in pursuing voice, it will take a little deep research at any school that comes up and is of interest. Voice lessons can be done at the school or in the community, if the school is in a community with access. For performance it is often important to have access on campus. Most music departments have good classes in theory, history, composition, ethnomusicology and the like so the real criterion in choosing may be voice- and the usual factors of location, size and “vibe.”

Are you in the northeast or further south?

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I don’t actually know anything about it except I’ve heard their orchestra is good, and I know they have a strong Classics department - but for someone who likes St. Olaf, wouldn’t Holy Cross be worth a look on the East Coast? http://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/music/about It looks like they have a strong music department, and even offer scholarships. Their faculty list is deep, and they have some celebrated professors - such as Osvaldo Golijov for composition.

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Holy Cross is a possibility but is Catholic, and St. Olaf has a Lutheran background:

“One of the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges, St. Olaf College offers a distinctive education grounded in academic rigor, residential learning, global engagement, and a vibrant Lutheran faith tradition”

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Thank you for all the suggestions – and for your comments about some of the schools listed!

@compmom we are in the northeast. As you surmised, we are familiar with the CTCL book, which is where my D first read about St. O and Wooster. I’ll encourage her to look up Clark, Goucher and Marlboro too. Also, thanks for explaining voice lesson logistics in the LAC environment. Do you have any thoughts re how to evaluate the strength of voice instruction within a LAC music department? The number of profs with voice training seems to be one thing to look for – does it matter if voice teachers are profs vs. adjuncts or “lecturers”? Also, should we be looking at their bios to see where they received their training? If they have performance backgrounds but not vocal pedagogy graduate degrees does that matter? Sorry for all the questions – I don’t have a music background, and have been trying to get up to speed. This forum has been so valuable in doing so.

@SpiritManager thanks for mentioning Holy Cross! We are Catholic, but D goes to public schools, so we had not thought to check out Catholic colleges. Holy Cross’s music program sounds interesting – we’ll look at it more closely. Are there any other Catholic colleges (or smaller unis) with good music/voice programs? Am wondering about Fordham, maybe Providence?

Thanks!

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Have you checked out the Catholic University of America? (in DC) Their VP program is pretty strong.

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My D participated in an acting summer intensive at Catholic last summer, which she enjoyed. She didn’t really like the area around the university. She’s looking for a campus with more green space, as she likes running and is somewhat outdoorsy. It’s worth taking another look at though – I don’t think she realized their VP program is strong.

9

I’m assuming your D is going to be applying this fall then?

As of tomorrow (later today), I will be a graduate of Lawrence University and I am currently pursuing my masters at Oberlin Conservatory so feel free to message me if you want more firsthand knowledge of the whole music at an LAC experience. Both of my schools are particularly strong for voice and while I’m less familiar with Oberlin’s “musical studies” major, I can tell you that the BA in music at Lawrence is probably best done with voice, since there are a few extra requirements for that major that only apply with voice as the main instrument which make it more similar to a performance major than other BA in music programs.

Also, while the campus activism thing can get annoying/crazy/dramatic at times, it’s not going to make or break a college experience because it’s really only central to your time at school if you go out of your way to make it that way. (You can Google the crap that’s gone on at both Lawrence and Oberlin in the past year.) I would say it’s rather short-sighted to eliminate a school based on having heavy Greek presence when you’re talking about LACs because Greek Life looks extremely different at small schools than at state schools, which is honestly where we draw all of our stereotypes about Greek Life from. I am a member of both Beta Theta Pi (a national social fraternity) and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity, so I can attest to the benefits of Greek Life, which is another aspect of campus life that is really only important if you concern yourself with it.

Hope that all helps.

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Thank you for sharing your perspective, @PianoDude12 and congratulations on your graduation from Lawrence and acceptance to Oberlin!

Yes, my D will be applying in the fall. I shared your comments with her re campus activism and Greek life, and she now wants to visit Lawrence – strength of the voice program is very important to her, and other aspects of the school are very appealing. She’s still in the midst of finals, so I will PM you with some more specific questions once she finishes up. Thanks again.

11

We visited Holy Cross and listened to the orchestra rehearsal. It is a small orchestra but the music was great - we did not want to leave because it was a pleasure listening to them. Add Vassar as a reach and maybe Susquehanna as a safety. Try to visit rehearsals to hear what works for you and get the vibe of the group.