<p>I am a high school junior, planning on a degree in classical vocal performance. I am just starting my college search, and want to narrow down music programs at public schools. What should I consider when looking at public school programs? Out of my list, which are the positive and negative standouts? Should any of these schools not be on my list? I plan on applying to maybe only two or three public schools, and mostly conservatories otherwise. Because of out of state tuition, I am curious as to which schools are actually "worth it". Thank you in advance!</p>
<p>My list in no particular order. Please let me know anything possibly helpful about these programs. </p>
<p>University of Washington
University of Maryland
University of Michigan
University of Wisconsin - Madison
University of North Texas
University of Texas - Austin
University of Houston
University of Cincinnati
University of Connecticut<br>
University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign</p>
<p>Why are you only focused on public schools? Do you have other criteria? It the reason is financial, you should know that many private schools give excellent financial aid … some will even make the public school tuition look expensive. Also, if your talent is high relative to the incoming pool, scholarships can also greatly help the financial story, even if you don’t qualify for much financial aid.</p>
<p>The poster (OP?) isn’t just focusing on public universties. She (?) is seeking specific information on a number of public universities.</p>
<p>I only have dated information. I studied music at the University of Washington years ago. A friend of mine there went on to a wonderful career in opera, including the London opera. But I’m sure the same can be said for any university.</p>
<p>As an OOS student, I would take UT, UConn, and UW off the list. The musical training at those schools is not sufficiently close to conservatory caliber to merit the OOS costs.
For a vocalist, the standouts on your list are CCM, UH, Maryland, Illinois, and Michigan.</p>
<p>UNT has a good vocal program. And for talented OOS candidates with a high GPA it can also be a bargain. Moores at Houston is good for voice, but I’m not aware of how generous they are.
Are you in fact looking for a degree in VP? I know that the voice dept at U of Washington (Seattle) is in a sorry state right now.</p>
<p>Yes, I am a soprano looking for a degree in VP, and I am a Washington State resident - which is the only reason UW is on my list. I am strongly considering taking it off because I am not too fond of what I know of the program, or what I have seen of the facilities, but I am hesitant to do so because it is my state flagship school.</p>
<p>You might want to check out ASU Herberger through the Barrett Honors program. Barrett students get great financial aid, all kinds of individual attention and there are some fantastic voice teachers there.</p>
<p>As musicamusica mentiones, UNT is known for being generous in giving in-state tuition to good applicants. The program is huge and therefore has more range in ability levels.</p>
<p>I noticed that Indiana University is not on the list. There may be a good reason for that, and the vocal program there does have its detractors, but if its omission is an oversight, then you may want to look into IU. It is a large program like UNT and has a fairly wide ability range, but generally the performance level at IU is very high and it does produce some very fine musicians.</p>