Music Ed Major on a Budget

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Hey, everybody. I see a lot of questions asking about the best music schools for performance or education or otherwise, and I see a lot of responses involving schools with price tags as big (or bigger) than the names, like Eastman, Juilliard, Berklee, or even public schools like Michigan and Indiana with big out-of-state prices.</p>

<p>Here's where I am: My family income is too high to qualify for hardly any financial aid, but my family never really saved any money for college. I'll be going to a community college in my home state (Mississippi) for two years completely free. But after that... not sure.</p>

<p>Before I ask the obvious question (Which out-of-state public schools are both good for Music Education AND not grossly expensive (nothing over $30,000 a year, please)?), I will say that the University of Southern Mississippi is possibly the best in-state choice and it has a decent music school. But I don't really intend to teach in Mississippi and I'd like to see what other options are available first. I'll keep USM as a decent financial choice.</p>

<p>So any ideas? Also, if any school of music offers scholarships for music majors (specifically out-of-state transfer students like I'll be), that'd be great to know. I hear out-of-state transfer scholarships are RARE, so I'm not optimistic about that part.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Look at ASU (arizona state). Besides being a fantastic music school if you have good grades now or in CC, it might qualify you for the financial benefits of the Barrett Honors program. Also… I know that a good audition in performance may qualify you for in state tuition at UNT…not sure if that applies to Music Ed. Worth checking in to. Also, be aware that not every music credit will transfer (that you take at a CC or a top music program for that matter) So if you transfer from a CC you will more than likely be looking at more that 4 years of school.</p>

3

<p>Thanks so much. I will look into ASU and I’m familiar with that tuition waiver at UNT. If it comes down to it, I’ll stay in state. But hope it doesn’t have to be that way. Thanks again!</p>

4

<p>Have a look at the College of St. Rose in Albany NY. They are have generous scholarships for entering students. Not sure about transfers. You might freeze to death your first winter there, though!</p>

5

<p>One thing to keep in mind about Bachelor of Music degrees is that there are not nearly as many general education requirments as most other degrees. You may find that your second year of community college is a total waste for a BM degree, and that even though most of your first year will transfer, you may still be behind a year on a BM degree due to the sequencing of classes.</p>

<p>I’m assuming that your primary instrument is sax. At most larger colleges that have marching bands, you will be required to perform in marching band. At my son’s college, they have to do marching band a minimum of three years for a BM in music ed (all wind and percussion students). So right there is a requirement for at least 3 years at the four year college. Plus, you have to take a minimum of 4 semesters of music theory and aural skills, and there are some classes where completing that sequence is a prerequisit to other classes, such as the two semesters of conducting classes (again this puts the minimum time at the 4 year college at 3 years). Then you are going to run into scheduling conflicts, and some classes only being offered over other semester or even every other year.</p>

<p>Thus, unless your community college has a lot of music classes (or offers an associate degree in music), you might find that it ends up taking you 6 years to get a 4 year degree going the CC route. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, there can be some advantages to this, like being able to take a lighter class load, and thus have the time to work a job while in college, or getting an associates degree in a different field, or having a minor (or two) at the 4 year college. The more education the better, and the more diverse the education the better. BUT, you are probably not going to save any money in the long run doing that.</p>

<p>We have a CC just a few miles from our house, I would have loved it if my son could have gone there for his first couple of years, but they only offer one music class, and that class is considered remedial for music students at my sons 4 year university, so it wouldn’t even count towards his BM (education) degree.</p>

<p>You have been posting on here a good while, but I suspect that you missed the boat by not going ahead and applying to a music school. It may be too late at this point to get accepted into a “popular” music school for next year since you are already a hs senior. You really should have checked into the transferability of two years of CC into a 4 year music program.</p>

<p>Another realistic option is that you could do the 2 years at CC just like you are planning to do, and then transfer into a music BA program. BA degrees in music are not nearly as concentrated in music and you could complete a BA in music with two years of CC plus two years at a 4 year university. You will most likely not be qualified to teach with a BA in music, but to qualify yourself to teach, you would most likely have to get a Masters of Art in Teaching with a specialty in music ed, which could be done in an extra year or year and a half. The upside to this is that most school districts pay more for teachers with masters than teachers with bachelors, so you could recoup the cost of the additional year of college.</p>