<p>Hi to all,</p>
<p>I applied to Pomona hoping to get in as a music major. Now, if I atually do end up getting in (highly HIGLY UNLIKELY,) would it be worth it to go here or is it not the best music school? Thanks :P</p>
<p>lookie, we got a shy bunch! 70 views and no comments. and i know you write all those papers...</p>
<p>It's going to be a matter of coming across someone who is familiar with the music department, I'll ask around...</p>
<p>thank ya brassmonkey! That would be terrific :P</p>
<p>I think that unless you're going to go to a place like NEC, Curtis, Julliard, Oberlin etc, the name of the school isn't going to give you a huge leg up in terms of music. BUT, that doesn't mean that people don't make it into top music grad schools coming from schools without names in the music world. Just work hard and you'll have a great shot at a good grad school.</p>
<p>Pomona's Music Department is first-rate. We know several successful professional musicians who did their undergrad there. My son applied as a music major. Big reach for him, but the reputation in music was too great not to take a chance.</p>
<p>Skie, could you name any other good music departments at California colleges? Could somehow compare/rate them?</p>
<p>Myau, I only know a little about a few schools and couldn't rank them, but I'll give you my sense of things: USC has a top music school, ranked right up there among well-known conservatories. UC-Berkeley is first rate for academic music (musicology, theory, composition, etc.), good but not great for performance. UCLA is very strong all around. UCSB quite strong academically in music. Cal-Arts at one point had very good ethnomusicology and decent performance but that was 30 years ago. Those are the only schools I'm familiar with.</p>
<p>UC Berkeley does not have theory as a subspecialty. UCLA is somewhat unique, at least among the UC's, in having separate performance and musicology and ethnomusicology, the latter in a different school (School of Arts and Architecture) with separate admission procedures.</p>
<p>i am a potential music major currently attending pomona and am absolutely in love with the department. there are so many opportunities at pomona, and if you take advantage of them you can really go far. graduating seniors this year are going on to attend amazing schools and do great things with their degrees. i would recommend the school with the warning that you will have to help make things happen for yourself. but if you have the drive and the ability, the program will provide you with everything you need.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any info on what performance opportunities are like for non-music majors? S is interested in continuing with trumpet; likes orchestra and jazz best, but will not be a music major.</p>
<p>There are bands and orchestra that are afiliated with the school, and then a lot of kids start their own bands to play parties/recruit freshman to be in their ongoing band. There's a few good student run Jazz/jambands too</p>
<p>ha i got rejected it does't matter anymore lol.</p>
<p>Pomona has both a symphonic orchestra and jazz band at Pomona that your son could join, and you don't need to be a major to participate in these groups. Both are quite good too, considering the size of our school.</p>
<p>I just checked out this site for the first time this evening, and I'm glad I did! I was a double major at Pomona in English and music. There weren't very many music majors in my class (there were only 4), but the program is fantastic and the faculty is more than wonderful. While I went on to an English program post-graduation, many of the majors in my class and the year following mine successfully went on to graduate schools and/or earned research fellowships in music. At Pomona, you'll get terrific one-on-one instruction, attend top-notch classes, and get the chance to participate in many ensembles. It's also easy to create your own senior project--my friend and I did a joint recital (which four of the faculty members helped prepare us for), while others created a recital of their own composed music or performed an opera. I really can't gush enough about Pomona, or its music department.</p>
<p>Please feel free to PM me if you have more questions.</p>