So I applied to a bunch of schools as a composition major, and I heard back from Michigan a few weeks ago and they offered me a great scholarship, so I was pretty much settled on going there.
Then a few days ago, I find out that I was accepted at Yale, which I did not expect at all! I realize that Yale only offers a BA in music and not a BM, but looking at their website it seems like they seem to have a lot of opportunities for undergraduate composers. They also haven’t offered me any type of scholarship, so that means the cost of attendance would be about twice as much as Michigan
Anyone have any advice or suggestions? This whole scenario was completely unexpected and I feel kind of at a loss at what I should do.
At Michigan you’ll have a choice of working with a wide range of composers, working in many different styles. At Yale, there are only two professors (or that’s the way it was a few years ago) plus grad students teaching composition. There is no crossover, beyond the grad student teachers, with the School of Music - although you could attend the concerts and the open to the public composers’ seminars. At Michigan you’ll have a more traditional conservatory experience - at Yale more of a liberal arts experience. Any idea which would suit you better? Do you want to focus mostly on music, or do you want to continue with lots of different academic classes?
I think you’ll have a good experience both places - but it will be different. At one school you’ll be a composer - at the other you’ll be a student who composes. Both work!
Spriritmgr pretty much nailed the distinction you need to make between the BMus, which is akin to a professional degree at a school of music like Michigan’s, and a liberal arts powerhouse where ultimately the music focus isn’t likely to be as intense per se.
Both degrees from these particular programs carry prestige in their own ways, so don’t let the ivy phenom factor in for external reasons (though internal reasons, such as if you’ve always loved Yale and wanted to attend, are completely valid ;))
What I mean by this and what I noticed in my son’s case is sometimes music students get a lot of external and uninformed comments like “you chose Michigan over Princeton?!” because non-musically-informed people don’t realize that getting into a SOM program at Michigan is statistically the equivalent of getting into an Ivy
So you have really great choices by two sets of standards and it will come down to which path suits you best. Study both school’s course sequence to get a feel for what your days might look like and if you haven’t visited Yale and you’re able to, perhaps that would help you in your decision. (And if you do, try to meet with one of the comp profs.)
I can’t comment about Michigan, but my son was a composition major at Yale (actually, a music major with a composition concentration), and he liked it very much. He had a lot of opportunities to get his music played, and he got along very well with the composition teachers. He is now finishing up an MM at Juilliard, and found that he was well prepared–except that he wishes he had more ear training. We wanted him to have a broad liberal arts education, so we discouraged him from applying to conservatories. He ended up with a good education, but he also took a lot of music courses.
