Music Conservatories

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Hey guys!</p>

<p>This is my first thread on the forums, so I apologize in advance if this is in the wrong section. :)</p>

<p>Well, first off, let me start with some background info about me:</p>

<ul>
<li>I'm a highschool sophomore in California about an hour out of Los Angeles.</li>
<li>I have studied/played the cello for about 9 years now with a private teacher.</li>
<li>I play in my high school and local youth symphony both of which I'm the principal chair.</li>
<li>I'm involved in a quartet; we play in competitions, and occasional gigs - ceremonies, school prom, etc.</li>
<li>I play the summer musicals in my high school and local amateur theatre group playing several shows, notably West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, and Secret Garden</li>
<li><p>I have a deep passion for music and here is my plan (dream?):</p>

<p>~ Attend a conservatory preferably on the East Coast (New York - ideal)
~ Play in pit orchestras in Broadway/Off - Broadway productions
~ Play in symphony orchestra (2nd option)
~ I'm NOT interested in a soloist career</p></li>
</ul>

<p>I'm beginning to work on audition repetoire for college with my teacher, (Saint-Seans concerto 1 in A minor) but haven't really talked to my parents about school yet, so I thought I'd ask for advice here. Some of my questions:</p>

<p>1) I recently received several letters in the mail because of my PSAT scores which were fairly strong 189 (about a 1900 on SATs) most notably University of Rochester, or the Eastman school of music. I did some research into the school and have found VERY positive results. It obviously would be a great college to attend, but how or at what point does a college gain serious consideration. In other words: Eastman is just an idea to me right now, what steps can I take to make the school a viable option to attend</p>

<p>2) How did you, as a parent or student, find the right music college? And how many final choices did you have? (I've heard reccomendations of anywhere from 6-12)</p>

<p>3) Did you visit the schools before auditions to meet the professor of your desired instrument? Do you reccomend a campus visit?</p>

<p>4) Once I have selected, for example 5 schools, what is the audition process like; especially considering I would have to go across the country to audition. Are the dates spread out (requiring multiple trips) or confined within several weeks (requiring one trip) - assuming my choices are in relative distance to each other. (not spread across the country)</p>

<p>5) Any other useful tips or information you could give me?</p>

<p>Like I said before, I haven't really discussed colleges with my parents yet, so I feel kind of lost and alone with all this research and I have NO idea what I'm doing :P</p>

<p>Your feedback is GREATLY appreciated</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

<p>an aspiring musician</p>

2

<p>Elegie - Welcome. The forum for you to visit on College Confidential is the Music Major forum where there are many helpful folks to answer questions and give you guidance on the coming journey. But the very best place to start is with this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html?highlight=so+you+want+to+be+a+music+major[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html?highlight=so+you+want+to+be+a+music+major&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Thanks! I’ll check it out!</p>

4

<p>Here’s a much better version of my link - without all the highlighted search terms! <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>Elegie, I’ll take this one step further than SpiritManager. I have requested that the moderators move your thread to the referenced forum. Follow the additional links in BassDad’s thread, and also read the threads under featured discussions, and scan the pinned or sticky threads at forum top as well. The more you know, the less confusing the process is. All the questions you’ve posed have been asked and answered, so do a bit of background reading in the forum. This will help you find things <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/892168-search-tips-other-insights.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/892168-search-tips-other-insights.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Plenty of folks with students in and out of programs that will be happy answer your questions, and offer advice and options.</p>

6

<p>In hindsight, two additional points need to be addressed:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I strongly urge you to involve them in this process now. There is a learning curve here for parents as well, and unless either or both of your parents or a close family member has a background or experience with high level audition based admissions and the options, there is much to learn and absorb. It’s also critical that you and they have valid, objective professional input as to your current level of talent and potential for further growth and success. And honestly, the search and selection process is on a different timeline than for standard academic pursuits. </p>

<p>Your background appears to indicate that there is some reasonable level of parental support in your musical endeavors, but without them knowing your goals and aspirations, or you their willingness to support these efforts (logistically, financially, philosophically) both before and come audition/application time, there is the potential to be at loggerheads. Knowing where you stand and their concerns will make this process easier on everyone. You may or may not have the best cheering section in the world behind you. The more that you and they know will allow you to know what potential options and paths can be open to you.</p>

<p>You’ve identified yourself by name. Depending on how much specific background info you divulge, you may make your identity fairly transparent. The world of audition based admissions is fairly small in comparison to the general academic pool. I’d urge you to hit the “report problem post” button and request a moderator edit out your name from your post, especially as it is a bit more identifiable than “John” or “Bob”.</p>

7

<p>I’m sorry, I probably should have elaborated more:</p>

<p>My parents are aware of my interest in a musical career, but so far, all of our discussions about college have just been “talk”, and little has been done to actually take steps towards applying, researching potential schools, planning campus visits or auditions, etc.</p>

<p>We do have an appointment scheduled with a highly accredited college planning company; they plan on estimating our EFC, finding a list of colleges, etc.</p>

<p>I didn’t mean the discussion hasn’t been brought up, more as it isn’t a priority (like it should be). I think, perhaps, they don’t understand that admission to conservatories requires A LOT more work than academics. </p>

<p>Anyways, thanks for your guidance. I’ll be reading through the links you’ve posted and browse through the forums a bit. If I have any more questions I’ll post a new thread.</p>

<p>Thanks again</p>

8

<p>Concerning the college planning company - very few of them know anything about arts related fields. You will not be evaluating Schools of Music at universities or stand alone conservatories using the standard metrics with which such companies are familiar. Calculating your EFC is one thing (and not hard to do yourself - there are a number of online calculators available) but making a list of colleges for a cello performance major is something else entirely.</p>

9

<p>Wow good job for taking the initiative so early. I took basically a 3month trip last summer visiting schools, I went all over the midwest and other ares and probably saw 10 or so schools. Many, luckily, were concentrated around the same area which was great for me. Finding the right school, and the right amount, is tricky but you kind of automatically know once you visit a place whether or not you would want to attend there. I had a top 5 in mind and then I started compiling data on them and doing a spreadsheet. I ultimately applied/auditioned for 6 schools. my last one was actually kind of last notice but it was my first acceptance so you never know how things like that turn out. </p>

<p>Bigger schools have regional auditions, I never went farther than an hour and a half plane trip to my auditions. But the smaller schools usually don’t go very far, if at all so you may have to shoot some DVD’s which is fine as well. but i strongly encourage every school you may, or even may not be interested in. Some schools I really didn’t know too much about but once I saw them it was great and I loved them. Since you live in the LA area it would be wise to bang it all out in one trip, just go to the east coast and work your way to multiple schools. I suggest looking at all the great NY schools, Juilliard, Mannes, Manhattan, Eastman, then New England area schools like Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Curtis in Philly, also for your particular interest Jacobs school of music (indiana) and the Cincinnati Conservatory (ohio) have very large musical theater/opera programs so those would be obvious choices for pit orchestra work. Also Oberlin (ohio) may not be exactly what you’re looking for but they definitely have one of the best programs out there</p>

<p>good luck!! and again I stress it’s so great that you have started it all early, I knew I wanted to go to the Berklee College of Music but that was the only place I really knew of until last year when I started going into college overdrive :stuck_out_tongue: It’s a crazy arduous process but it CAN be done, I am pretty much wrapped up with it all now and now it’s the waiting game. It’s really been the craziest experience ever but I couldn’t have been more proud of myself.</p>

10

<p>Once again, I’ll second what SpiritManager has said. At you next or first meeting, have the counselor detail what they know about and their experiences with talent (audition based) awards/scholarships. What they reveal will be indicative of their base of knowledge about the audition driven admit process. </p>

<p>You may want to take a read through this <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/868660-college-counseling-music-major.html?highlight=college[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/868660-college-counseling-music-major.html?highlight=college&lt;/a&gt;, and show it to your parents as well.</p>

<p>You can get calculators for both FAFSA and the CSS profile online, a well as exceptional general financial aid advice here [Financial</a> Aid & Scholarships - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/]Financial”>Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums) for free. There are numerous music scholarship threads in this forum as well. </p>

<p>Unless your parents have deep pockets, my take is the money paid to a college counselor could be better spent on your musical development.</p>