LAC's with good Music Programs

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Hi. I am looking into LAC's with good music (vocal) programs.</p>

<p>Here are my stats.</p>

<p>SAT's = 1100 (first try), Verbal 610, Math 490. </p>

<p>(I just took the SATs again last Saturday, and I used a SAT prep book to see what my scores probably are, based on how many questions I remember answering, and how many I am pretty confident I got correct, and my scores range from 550-560 Math, 620 - 650 Verbal, so I may get anywhere from an 1170 - 1210. I will also be taking the ACT's next weekend.)</p>

<p>GPA = 94.7 ish (I think that is a 3.6 or a 3.7 unweighted.)</p>

<p>Class Rank = 7/222 in a competitive public school in Maine</p>

<p>EC's=
Select Chorus
School Musicals
All State Chorus (2 years so far)
District Chorus (2 years so far - I missed the sign ups soph. year...I don't even remember why...)
Community Musical Theater
School Newspaper (periodically write articles)
Vocal Lessons
Dance Lessons
Piano Lessons</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule:</p>

<p>AP Biology (insanely hard for me)
AP Spanish
French II (With no previous study)
Honors Precalculus
Advanced English ( was Syracuse U. Project Advance, but my school did not fulfill the quota so it won't be for college credit unfortunately.)</p>

<p>AP's =</p>

<p>AP U.S. History = 4 (took last year)
AP Spanish = expecting a 4 or a 5
AP Biology = expecting (hoping for) a 3</p>

<p>I am currently looking into.</p>

<p>Lawrence University
Connecticut College
Bowdoin College
Dickinson College
Smith College
Ohio & Illinois Wesleyan Universities
University of Rochester
Kenyon College
Skidmore College
Wesleyan University
Sarah Lawrence College</p>

<p>My faves are</p>

<p>Lawrence, ConnColl, Bowdoin, Smith, U.Rochester, Kenyon, Wesleyan, and Dickinson (8 schools - I will need to narrow my list down. I am working on the common app. now, so I don't have to know yet exactly where I am applying.)</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>~ Court</p>

2

<p>You might also consider Vassar which could be a reach; also look at Ithaca College and Oberlin.</p>

3

<p>Thanks. Someone recommended to me College of Wooster. Is that school good for languages, as well as music?</p>

4

<p>Decent languages at Wooster. Another college that should be on your list is St. Olaf in Minnesota- excellent music program and very good language program. Lawrence is excellent overall, the closest match on your current list. Also look at Unviersity of Redlands in California (probably a match), Lewis & Clark in Oregon (SATs optional) and the Unviersity of the Pacific in CAlif (a match).</p>

5

<p>Court: Wooster is terrific. Their senior capstone, or Independent Study, is one of the best in the country. Look at their Cultural Areas Studies program, as well as their various language departments.</p>

6

<p>I have looked at some of my college books, and narrowed, divided up my list more.</p>

<p>Favorites:
Goucher College, Kenyon College, Lawrence University, Skidmore College, Smith College, Vassar College, Wesleyan University</p>

<p>Middle:
Sarah Lawrence College, St. Olaf College, University of Rochester</p>

<p>Okay:
Bowdoin College, Connecticut College, Muhlenberg College</p>

<p>My reasoning.</p>

<p>My middle schools are middle schools because I am afraid that St. Olaf may be too religious and conservative for me, that Sarah Lawrence may be too artsy and liberal with too many drugs, and that University of Rochester may be too preppy, and scientific, with too much prof. emphasis on research and not students. Are these worries reasonable?</p>

<p>My "OK" schools are only OK because Bowdoin and Connecticut are both too preppy and snobby with lack of racial tolerance which I don't think I can stand, and Muhlenberg is too religious and conservative with too much emphasis on Greek life. </p>

<p>I am looking for schools with BM in Vocal Performance but with broad study possible, or a great BA in music. How are the my top choices in terms of music? Particularly Kenyon, Goucher, Skidmore, and Wesleyan?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>~ Court</p>

7

<p>Court - your reasoning seems sound to me. St. Olaf is definitely on the conservative but my daughter's impression so far is that it's not as religious as it appears at first glance.</p>

<p>One caution about Goucher - it's a great school but check very carefully about how many music classes are actually offered and available each semester. When we did our tour last summer, I don't remember seeing extensive music facilities at Goucher (it's a small campus and we spent time in nearly every building there, including going back to several on our own after the tour) You do have the opportunity to take classes at places like Johns Hopkins and Towson BUT the adcom told us that it is on a "space available" basis and usually limited to one course a semester. Again, Goucher is a good school, but ask for specifics about classes, enrollments, etc.</p>

<p>One thought - there's a Goucher interest group on Livejournal.com - you might go there and ask some students for their input on the music program. Good luck!</p>

8

<p>I was curious so I took a look at Goucher's class schedule - looks like they have ample music selections and that the classes don't fill up too quickly. Not a guarantee of quality, of course, but a very good sign. If you want to check out a couple of semesters of offerings yourself, here is the link (this is good to do at all schools):
<a href="https://campusweb.goucher.edu/web.asp?web=CLASS.SCHED.SEARCH%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://campusweb.goucher.edu/web.asp?web=CLASS.SCHED.SEARCH&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Goucher is my daughter's number one choice right now - she absolutely loved the atmosphere there when we visited and felt it was a very creative, exciting school. Hope it works for you as well!</p>

9

<p>Rice has one of the top music schools in the country. Plus, there are lots of performance opportunities for non-music majors. It is tough to get into. If you want to major in performance, you have to audition to get in, but you can have a lower SAT if you are talented enough.</p>

10

<p>KAren, yes, Rice has a great music program. But the poster is specifically looking for LAC's, not universities.</p>

11

<p>My son is working on his BM in music performance at Eastman and his BA in Political Science. UR is not so focused on research that they don't have time for undergrads. They don't have that many grad students so there is a strong emphasis on the undergrad program. </p>

<p>It is possible to pursue 2 different degrees at Rochester, but difficult because of the fact that Eastman and UR are on 2 different campuses. My son is resigned to the fact that it will take him 5 years to complete both degrees. However, when he is done he will have degrees from 2 very high quality programs. You can also get a BA in music from UR if you decide to go that route, while still having access to the wonderful music program at Eastman.</p>

12

<p>Smith may be a reach, but it has a superb music program. There is no performance major. However, vocal music is headed by a leading soprano who has sung in operas directed by Peter Sellars, and is well-recorded. There are lots of choruses - glee club, chamber choir, etc., tons of a capella groups, and a new Five-College opera consortium. </p>

<p>My d. is first-year music major there (a composer), and has music every day of the week. (and also sings with a Five-College Early Music group that meets at Mount Holyoke.)</p>

<p>You should also know that the Admissions Office at Smith has received direction to strongly de-emphasize test scores. Your essays, interview, evidence of strong passions, and academic record will count much, much more than your test scores.</p>

13

<p>what is the 5 college opera consort and what schools are in them my daughter is aclassical vocalist and would be interewsted thanks</p>

14

<p>Investigate Ithaca and Luther College</p>

15

<p>Just this year, the 5-colleges -- Smith, Mount Holyoke, Amherst, Hampshire, and UMass (with Smith in the lead) -- have started an Opera Consortium whereby students will get to study, sing in, stage, and play (instrumentally) in opera. My daughter is the research assistant attached to the Consortium. Currently, she is working (with the Five College Professor of Early Music, who is based at Mount Holyoke) to put together a performance edition of the first opera ever written by a women (Francesca Caccini in 1626). Next year, they will be performing it and Ravel's Les Sortileges des Infants. All 5 colleges will be contributing performers and orchestra members. Amherst already has a small opera workshop course. Smith has two well-known vocal profs, and Mount Holyoke has one as well. There are also opportunities in Northampton to perform with Commonwealth Opera (this fall, they are doing Carmen.) It is expected that there will be academic offerings at each college in support of the program (my d. is currently taking a wonderful course on 19th century French opera and its literary roots with the world's leading expert on Hector Berlioz, who teaches at Smith.)</p>

<p>My d. was accepted at a whole range of schools, and was especially recruited by Williams, but found the range of opportunities the 5-college LACs to be much broader than those to be found anywhere else (among LACs).</p>

16

<p>Re:So any other great schools with good music programs in a lib. arts context?</p>

<p>Consider Concordia College, in Moorhead, Minnesota. Good sized LAC: around 2700 students. World renowned choirs, BA and BM in Music, music faculty are great (vocalists are WOW!!), strong Spanish department and major, with international programs in Spain and Mexico; overall a strong LAC. They also run the "Concordia Language Villages" in a beautiful lakes area of Minnesota (probably not unlike some areas of your home state), and their "May seminars" program of travel/study in many parts of the world. Well known through Midwest for academics in general, more widely known for music programs. Reputation for affordability, too.</p>

17

<p>St. Olaf is not as conservative as many people think who have had no contact with the school. There actually is a good range of students from conservative to fairly liberal. I am an alum and know many kids there currently as well. You won't find a lot of kids with unusual hair colors or multiple piercings so if that is you it might not be a good fit. </p>

<p>It does have a very strong music program and is fairly well regarded in languages as well. I think it compares with Lawrence University quite well so if you are looking at that school I think visiting St. Olaf might be a good idea. </p>

<p>One of the posters also mentioned Concordia in Minnesota. Academically, it is a much weaker school that most of the other schools you are looking at. It also has generally poor financial aid compared to a number of the other schools you are looking at. St. Olaf meets 100% of need while Concordia averages much less with more loans.</p>

18

<p>Comparing costs at Concordia and St. Olaf--that may depend on how "needy" you are. Concordia, last I checked has a sticker price about $10,000 lower than St. Olaf. I was shocked last year, when S applied to St. Olaf, at how expensive it is getting to be to go there! So if you don't qualify for need based aid, Concordia could turn out to be much cheaper. I agree that academically it is not as strong as St. Olaf, but their choir is amazing. It is easier to get merit aid at Concordia than St. Olaf. My nephew was offered a $5,000 merit aid scholarship there, though he ended up deciding to go elsewhere. </p>

<p>My S was concerned about St. Olaf being too conservative and religious, but decided after a visit, that he would have been okay there. He ended up at UChicago, though.</p>

19

<p>I say go to Bowdoin. Your credentials are excellent! Also, Bowdoin doesn't require SATS so that 1100 doesn't matter. Its a great school for music. I'm applying ED to Bowdoin. I think it's a great school. good luck in your decision and I'm sure you'll be happy wherever you decide to go.</p>

20

<p>You're absolutely wrong about Connecticut college being preppy, Court. My friend goes there and loves it. She is so far from preppy it's not funny. They're like clean hippies there. Good school, too.</p>