I’m not sure what to think of this. D has been in correspondence with the person in charge of her instrument at her first choice college. D mentioned that she did not want to major in music but wanted to pursue a Music Minor. The person in charge replied with a very warm and welcoming response but also stated “the School of Music does not offer a Music Minor” and went on to suggest that she consider a BMA degree.
The School of Music at this college DOES offer a music minor! It’s very well documented on their web page and it’s nothing new. The person my daughter has been in contact with has been at this university for several years so I’m finding it hard to believe that she doesn’t know that the School of Music offers a Music Minor. This has put my D in a difficult position, she doesn’t want to start off on the wrong foot with this person. How can D politely correct her? She was advised by her GC to contact the the dean of the School of Music to verify that they do offer a Music Minor but I’m concerned that this might be seen as “going over her head.” Suggestions???
It’s really weird, there are published requirements for a Music Minor and the first is that students must audition and be accepted into their studio. It’s hard for me to believe that in all the years that this person has been teaching at this college, no one has ever auditioned for a Music Minor in her studio?
Just have her respond nicely with the link to the info about the minor, and say that this was the minor she was considering. Say something like, “Thanks for your response. To be clear, I am interested in the music minor described at this link… and I am wondering if it is still possible to enroll in this minor.”
What is the point of the conversation with the faculty member, and why does it have to happen now?
If the college offers a minor, it offers a minor. That’s not likely to change. And so what if it does change?
If the particular professor is hostile to minors, he’s going to be hostile towards what your daughter wants, whether it’s legit or not. She’s going to have to deal with that (including, maybe, by going elsewhere) sooner or later. But how does it advantage her to push the issue now?
Is she asking the professor to support her candidacy? Then (a) she ought to do what he wants, and (b) this is the wrong time to pick a fight with him.
@JHS The point of the conversation was to set up a sample lesson during our visit in the next few weeks. She was instructed to do this by both her private music teacher and her high school music teacher. The fact that she could minor in music on her instrument at this school is one of the reasons it’s her top choice. If this is not possible it’s better to know now.
She absolutely is not looking “to pick a fight” that’s why I’m looking for advice on how to handle this tactfully. It would be a bit different if she had said “I don’t admit Music Minors into my studio” rather than saying “the School of Music doesn’t offer a Music Minor.”
If she can’t do a Music Minor in this studio there is no point in the sample lesson during our visit.
I don’t think of this question as “picking a fight” and it’s perfectly reasonable to ask a question about a discrepancy between what a college actually offers and what its website claims is available. I do know that some businesses believe that a website is something that you do one time and never look at again but it’s important to be clear about these things before someone commits time and money to a school. It’s a purely informational issue and if the professor sees it as a challenge to authority then it’s also good to find out what kind of environment this is.
Another thought,kind of throwing it out there. The school does offer a music minor but the teacher is not interested in accepting anyone into her studio who is not majoring in music. If it’s a very popular instrument (say flute) the teacher has plenty of students interested in majoring and therefore would not have any room for a student who only wants a minor.
I see you have already thought of this option. Not sure why professor says there are no music minors.
Perhaps you could inquire to the curriculum advising office, as to whether there is indeed a music minor offered. This way you would have the information without troubling the music department. If the answer is yes, go ahead and schedule the sample lesson, and enroll for classes accordingly. The professor really has no way to know what the students ultimate trajectory will be; so many students change their minds during the course of their studies.
Could the minor only be available to certain majors, like a minor in flute if you major in music, or if you are otherwise getting a BFA? A minor might not be available if your major is a BA or a BS, just a BFA. I’d do as suggested above, point to the place you found the minor listed. I’d also contact the admission counselor and see if he/she can straighten it out.
My kid attended Boston University. Students could do a music minor, but it was a BA kind of minor…not really part of the actual music performance degree programs. For example, only performance majors could play in the music department ensembles. But there were other ensembles for students who were not music majors. Only music majors studied privately with the applied faculty…but music minors were able to take lessons, usually with music major grad students.
It is possible that a music minor is not really done through the music performance part of the music department, but is maybe done through arts and sciences or something like that.
And it is possible that your daughter’s school does not permit non-majors to study privately with the applied faculty. This is very common.
My DD did not want to major in music but did want to continue playing and taking private lessons as a non-major. This was THE hardest criteria to fulfill of any on her list.
Can your D contact someone else in that dept and ask for clarification w/o mentioning THIS prof’s name? She can state what it is that she wants, and ask if this minor would work.
Thanks for all the advice, this is a large state college and I think their website is up to date but that it is something to check on.
I’ve spoken to D and I think she is going to take @CheddarcheeseMN 's advice and as politely as possible, send her the links on the web page.
I looked at the requirements for the BMA that she suggested and the required music classes are identical to the minor expect it has 4 additional more advanced music theory classes, 4 additional musicology and music literature classes and 9 more hours of performance electives for a total of 28 additional credit hours. So I guess she could start off as a double major and then drop the BMA if it gets too much for her? The requirements posted on the web site for the minor also state it is open to all undergrad students at this university except music majors.
I was curious about “if this is a popular instrument” idea, and I remembered an article in a publication dedicated to this instrument that listed every college that has a program for this particular instrument and information about this program size, degrees offered, etc … and this school only had 6 majors on this instrument last year which is a little small, similar sized schools that D has looked at have 9 to 12 students with this instrument as a major. Another interesting fact is that in this article it explicitly states that this school offers a Music Minor for the instrument! I know the head of the department for this instrument at our state flagship, I know that all the info for this particular article had to be supplied directly from the department head, we actually had a lengthy discussion about it when it first came out. I’m beginning to think she’s telling my D there isn’t a minor because she wants her to declare it as a major or this is a very recent change.
@thumper1 - this is where my D’s at too, I thought we had found the perfect school, depending on how this all shakes out we may have to take it off the list:-(
@mom2collegekids it a very small department and she is the only prof in the department.
To reiterate what @Thumper said.It may very well be that that particular teacher does not accept music minors into his studio. When my D was a grad student (music) she taught more than a few students that were undergrad music minors. Very few of the full time faculty ever took on music minors for performance lessons.Thats pretty common.
It is very possible this has to do with number of ensemble seats. If both the major and minor students need to play in an ensemble, and there aren’t enough seats to guarantee a spot for all, they might want to offer those on,y to those who are majoring in music.
My daughter ran into this at one school. They told her, they could not guarantee an ensemble seat unless she majored in music. Music miners could be shut out. Since most orchestras only have one or two on my kid’s instrument, she knew those seats would go to the music major. She didnt apply to,that school.
This is why the email is so puzzling! Here are some excerpts:
“We do have an active studio with … plenty of ensembles to play in…”
"The School of Music doesn’t offer a minor in music, although you might check out the BMA…
“Either way, I’d love to have you as part of our studio”
Like I said it was a very warm and welcoming email. I certainly understand that the majors would get first pick on ensembles but it sounds like they have lots of ensembles spots. The minor only requires 3 credit hours of performance ensembles. Like in Thumper1 's situation, most orchestras only have one or two of this instrument but I could easily see where they could have more ensemble spots than they can fill.
See, she said the School of Music doesn’t offer a minor. Is the minor listed on the website in the School of Music? Could it be in the college of fine arts? Arts and sciences? A BA and not a BMA?
You could ask to talk to an admissions person in that department. I am in correspondence with 2 admissions people, one general admissions (who is helpful for scholarship questions and stuff about campus tours, that kind of thing) and one specifically for engineering, who helps me with transfer credits and that kind of thing.
Yes the minor is listed on the School of Music’s web page, apparently the School of Music is part of the of the College of Fine Arts. Under the School of Music it lists these undergraduate degrees:
The BMA is a Bachelor of Music Applied…and it is a music performance major.
My bet would be that the music minor is a BA type of minor…maybe offered through the college’s of arts and sciences…or something like that.
When my son was in undergrad, he played in several ensembles, not just one. Even though it may seem like that’s are plenty of “seats” for your kiddo’s instrument, it is very possible that music majors play in multiple ensembles.