<p>Hi,
We just got back from Univ. of Delaware and we are exhausted and overwhelmed by the process ahead of us. We live in Fairfax, Va. not far from you. My daughter is a Junior and wants to major in music education/voice. We loved Delaware. We know all about Indiana and will appy there. I do not know if she has a good enough GPA for any of these schools. Her Choral Director thinks that she has enough talent to get into the music schools. She has other things going for her (tri-M, started first a-capella group-leads in musical- student director etc…) It is very upsetting because it looks as though most decent schools are extremely competitive, and most music schools other than James Madison you can not really re-audition or transfer into at a later semester. So where does that leave you? What other options are there for a student who really knows what they want but has to consider a different field becuse of a so so gpa? I don’t mean to sound like I am complaining about the GPA requirements becasue it was obviously her her responsiblitly to do well, however, even Christopher Newport Univ. is only accepting 2 soprano’s next year due to funding cuts and she doesn’t even really want to got there. Any thoughts?
Sorry about the spelling- I am sooo tired.
School Shopper</p>
<p>If your daughter is transfering as a College Junior into a music program (music ed), she will be really far behind. It takes a while to get through all the sequence of classes. Fortunately, as a music major, grades are not as important (except for music classes). It is more about talent.</p>
<p>If you are willing to come out to the Midwest, check out Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. The Music Ed program is in the Conservatory, so she will have to audition. You might want to check out if the College has its version of an Education Degree with a Music Emphasis.</p>
<p>School Shopper - if your D is talented, the music department at JMU has some pull with admissions. Admission is competitive, however. Overall, the music department accepts about 25% of applicants so sopranos will be lower than that. I wouldn’t rule JMU out based on GPA automatically though.</p>
<p>Thank you for your responses. Today we went to JMU. We already know the campus. My son is a student there but we met with a grad student in the music dept. My D would love to go there and we would love it also, given the IST. I can not say why, other then cost, why we don’t consider Midwest. It just seems logistically complicated. If she can not get into Delaware, JMU and she will apply to Indiana we might need to consider Towson or another liberal arts school and try to transfer after one year. JMU seems to offer numerous audition opportunities. That might have to be the back up plan. Many of you have talked about Indiana. How does that stack up with other schools in terms of compettion for music ed/vocal applicants? Again tuition will be an issue and I doubt she would get any Merit Scholarship money. Also, I hope that might be true about JMU and the pull. Her choral director, who will provide her with an excellent recommendation is a graduate of JMU, and knows the faculty very well. Maybe that will help.</p>
<p>School shopper - I live about 5 minutes from Towson. It has a good music department, beautiful new facilites and a well-thought of faculty. There are a number of performance opportunities and graduates who go on to very prestigious graduate programs. My D’s high school voice teacher went to Towson and later received his DMA from Peabody. I happen to think Towson is a very nice area but I’m a bit biased. I’m a bit confused about Delaware and Indiana. I thought Delaware was harder to get in academically than JMU and Indiana and JMU stats are pretty much even.</p>
<p>For some reason her guidance counselor thought that she had a better chance at Delaware because it would be out of state and I guess they are always looking for extra money. Also more students from her HS, with her GPA got into Delaware. As far as Towson is concerned, I am having to encourage her about looking at it as a possibility. My husband and son saw it. (He ended up at UMBC and later transfered to JMU). They also said it was a very nice school. Do you think that it is a “suit case” school? I hapened to think the social aspect of college is a factor to consider (which was one of the reason my son transferred). You must also know about Univ. of Md. College Park. I did grad school there many years ago and probably wouldn’t be able to get in there now.
One last question-Being new to this site could you explain what a Senior Member is?
Thanks-</p>
<p>Got some good news today in an email from Jacobs. S got a small merit scholarship after first being told he was not getting anything. Chairman of dept. called S last week to see if he was coming to IU. Told S he ranked very high in audition rankings and would call admissions to see if they could offer any scholarship $s. Made a huge impression on all of us. We mailed our check in today!</p>
<p>Congrats to you and your son pukadad! Sit back and enjoy the stillness!</p>
<p>Congratulations, pukadad to you and your son. I hope he enjoys every minute!</p>