<p>My son is a high school junior who loves music. He plays sax and piano and is in 7 bands (4 jazz, 2 of them big bands; plus a ska/punk band and a gospel music group). Feedback from his music teachers is that he is an exceptional musician with an enormous ear, and has the talent, discipline and temperament to make it as a professional musician. He is also a very good student. Two of his music teachers are suggesting that for college he should pursue a liberal arts education at a challenging place where he can continue to develop his music...and then exclusively pursue music at the masters level. My daughter is Wes 09 and we like the school very much. My question is this: are serious musicians (who will likely pursue a masters in music) happy/fulfilled at Wesleyan? Does the curriculum, requirements, supply/demand and sometimes challenging registration system allow a musician to take enough music? Aside from courses, what other opportunities exist for musicians at Wes? What do you hear about the quality of jazz and sax in particular? And last, do you have any friends (who resemble my son, interest-wise) happy at other schools you might recommend? Thanks!</p>
<p>You might want to try Oberlin or NYU. Both have strong academics and music programs, and the former is a liberal arts school.</p>
<p>oh boy. well, i'm not going to major in music, but it is a big part of my life. i'm in the jazz orchestra (basically a small jazz band) and in weswinds, the wind ensemble. jay hoggard, who teaches the jazz orchestra, is amazing. that band sounds fantastic, and jay is amazing at conveying the mood of what we need to be playing. i'm incredibly excited about that group in particular. in general i haven't heard of many problems getting into music classes. those legendary issues, in my experience, seem to be confined to first-year initiative classes (capped at 20), and the most popular social science classes. and as far as extra curricular stuff, there are tons of student bands, some remarkably good. and since EVERYONE plays guitar, a talented saxophonist will have a really good opportunity to be in multiple groups if he wants. i would actually caution AGAINST going to oberlin, or any other school with a separate conservatory. i have several friends in those environments, and it is extremely difficult for them to balance music with other academics. dual degrees are an option, but from what my friends say, it's hell trying to get two degrees in the time of one. also, they say that the social life can be very segregated between those in the conservatory and those not, so that might be an issue too. i think your son would do best looking at liberal arts schools with strong music programs, but NOT conservatories, if he really wants the liberal arts academic experience. just my two cents, feel free to message me if you have any more questions.</p>
<p>Quick aside: the click registration system has been retired and starting this semester registration is a based on an algorithm system where you rank your class preferences and the system reserves spots for people based on seniority, number of times you've tried to get the class before, your major (if you're a junior/senior), and so on. It's supposedly going to be a lot better than the click system in terms of ensuring equity of access to courses, but that remains to be seen.</p>
<p>I have a daughter at Oberlin and, although she is just in her first year, she reports that balancing the music and academics (plus working five hours a week in her co-op) has not been all that bad. It would indeed be very hard to do two degrees in four years, but it seems to be possible in five. In fact, about a quarter of the students in the conservatory are currently in the double degree program. </p>
<p>She has friends in both the conservatory and the college, but probably more from the college. From what I can tell, she has no complaints about the social life there. Conservatory students are not housed separately and even those not in the double degree program average at least one course per semester in the college. I have not seen evidence of segregation, either social or academic, between conservatory and college students.</p>
<p>Oberlin is not everyone's cup of tea. If you need a lot going on beyond the campus, you probably want to look elsewhere. For someone looking for excellence in both a liberal arts program and a music program, it is very much worth considering. For those interested in Jazz, Oberlin just got a $5 million dollar donation specifically for building a new home for the Jazz department.</p>
<p>Another school with a 5 year dual degree program (conservatory and liberal arts) you might want to look at is Lawrence in Wisconsin. A friend of my D's is a freshman there in the dual program, is not finding it overwhelming, and is pleased that she will be earning both her BM and BA. And loves Lawrence.</p>