<p>I'm a parent with no musical background/experience. My D has been accepted as a soprano in both programs (mcGill & NEC). As far as I can tell, they are both top notch. She is having a hard time making up her mind. Her decision is pivoting around which would best position her for a career in opera, and only secondly which would she prefer personally. </p>
<p>Anybody have feedback on this that might be helpful? Thanks</p>
<p>Does she have a teacher preference? Is money an issue? Those are the two variables you should be looking at.</p>
<p>She has good teacher options at both. None that push her decidedly in one direction v another anyway.</p>
<p>I’m trying not to make money an issue, but NEC is about $25k more per year. So question in my mind is NEC worth $100k when the 4 years are over…</p>
<p>THAT’S a lot of money. Think of how far she could stretch those funds with summer programs, travel to auditions, additional coachings (the list of spending opportunities goes on and on). And McGill has a highly regarded voice program.
At even money, plenty of musicians would pick McGill over NEC.</p>
<p>Emcshane, I have included your daughter’s acceptances over at the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1045522-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2011-a-63.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1045522-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2011-a-63.html</a></p>
<p>If she has any more acceptances, we would like to add them to the list even if she has removed those schools from consideration.</p>
<p>Has she visited both? NEC is a great school but it’s physical campus is not the best and not a “typical” college campus.</p>
<p>To Bassdad, she was also accepted at Ithaca</p>
<p>Yes. She is much more in favor of McGill from many perspectives, but in her mind she thinks that NEC carries such weight that if she goes there it will open comparatively more doors. Not sure if this is true or false thinking.</p>
<p>Even if the name NEC carried more weight than McGill (personally, I don’t think that that is the case), it is ultimately about her ability to sing well after four years. That outweighs virtually everything. And don’t forget about grad school. Very few singers are ready after senior year.</p>
<p>I have nothing against NEC whatsoever and if you are one of those fortunate families to whom 100K is meaningless…well I was going to go on and on
about perceptions, but basically ,can I have some? ;)</p>
<p>The extra doors that might be opened at NEC would probably not be worth $100 000 (and I realize that it is impossible to put an exact dollar value on an open door–sometimes going through the door is worthless and other times, for a singer that is 25 year old and on the cusp of a career, the door makes all the difference). Those doors are more important for older singers at the graduate levels. Your daughter should apply for and attend as many summer programs as she can where she can make a variety of good connections; I don’t think that McGill will limit that.</p>
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<p>Why are you trying not to make money an issue?</p>
<p>It is part of the decision-making process, certainly when the differential is this big.</p>
<p>Have you discussed the finances with your daughter? </p>
<p>If the $100k is not used for NEC, will she have access to that amount for grad school, summer music programs, recreational travel, travel for auditions, a nest-egg while she’s looking for employment?</p>
<p>Honestly, having a D who is a VP major, at another school, but who knows kids at/from both of the schools your D is considering, I can say that the “name” of neither NEC or McGill is going to “open more doors”. Singers develop more slowly than instrumentalists simply because their voice is a living, growing entity. What a youngster sounds like now may not be at all what she is next year, not to mention 4 years in the future! She may change fach entirely, or even decide that she wants to go in another direction entirely with her music. Don’t look too far ahead…
Honestly, your D should be most concerned with finding a teacher with whom she “clicks”, and who has a studio where she feels comfortable and secure. Going from HS to a conservatory is a big jump, and those kids who were the “best” at home are suddenly surrounded by many others who were all the “best” in their schools. Campus tours are great, but actually living day-to-day at a school will be a different matter entirely.If she has not had lessons with teachers at each of the places, do everything you can to make that happen before she has to sign on the line.
Of course, everyone has pointed out the financial matters. If you’re a Canadian resident and can take advantage of the tuition break there, AND if the teacher arrangement is suitable, that makes the most sense. But, if she truly prefers a teacher at NEC, then I wouldn’t let the money be a deciding factor if at all possible.</p>
<p>Thanks folks</p>