Music major/minor rankings anyone?

<p>i HIGHLY suggest northwestern university. feel free to ask any questions.</p>

<p>Shadia - you have alot of great choices for highly competitive grad school vocal programs, but these are the top of the heap:
Curtis (free)
AVA (Graduate School only)
Juilliard - JOC (Juilliard Opera Center)
Yale (free)</p>

<p>If you are thinking about music education/music therapy you definitely should look at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. They have very well regarded programs in both music education and music therapy. They also have music technology and performance majors within their music department. Pittsburgh is a great city, and many of their private instrument teachers are affiliated with the Pittsburgh Symphony.</p>

<p>yay pittsburgh.</p>

<p>cmu rocks at music too! too bad its getting harder to get into the fine arts programs every year.</p>

<p>after pittsburgh, what other colleges would be good for music therapy? would an undergrad in music performance and psychology help? or is it relatively unnecessary?</p>

<p>It actually happens fairly frequently that studio teachers change schools. I know of at least three such situations in recent years just in my D's circle of musical friends. It can be a big problem, but I can't give any advice on how to avoid it.</p>

<p>I don't think the problem of studio teachers changing schools CAN be avoided. It happens and is a big pain to the students who are affected. The hope is that the teachers will be professional about it and try and at least let the auditioning students know that they are leaving, but the students who are already studying with that teacher are the ones most affected. Some teachers try and take as many students with them as possible, but this requires applying to, auditioning for, and being admitted to another conservatory all over again. The fact is that people change jobs and there is not much you can do about it.</p>

<p>Shadia, people we have talked to highly recommend Indiana or Boston U. This weekend I also heard Julliard's grad program talked up. There are many others as well. It also depends on your fit with the teacher and if you can get accepted into their studio. Doesn't matter if you are at a great school, if you don't study with a teacher you want.</p>

<p>hi, i'm peyton and a junior in high school, and i'm really starting to look at where i should go for college... i'm really wanting to major in music (probably performance), and i'd like to know of some really good choices (universities or conservatories, it doesn't matter to me)... i've been looking at IU Bloomington, Northwestern, and Eastman a lot, and i'm kinda leaning to Northwestern right now... any feedback on these three or any other schools would be fantastic... thanks a lot!</p>

<p>It very much depends on the individual instrument or voice and the style or styles of music that you want to pursue. We on CC can offer better suggestions if you will tell us a bit more about yourself.</p>

<p>i play tenor trombone, and i want to go to a school with a good trombone professor, naturally... i know that Northwestern has Michael Mulcahy and Charlie Vernon (i know he's more of a bass trombonist)... Eastman has Mark Kellogg and John Marcellus... Jacobs School at IU Bloomington has Dee Stewart (and 1 or two others i think)... i favor northwestern's music school the most because it's the smallest, so there's more potential for individual attention bet/n students and teachers... and it's still one of the top music schools in the U.S.... i really like the fact that it's also close to the Chicago Symphony and to Chicago itself... the thing that's straying me away from IU is it's location... from what i've been led to believe, there isn't much out in bloomington... it's a town of about 60,000 with about 40,000 of those kids going to the university... i have 9-10 more months before i have to send in all of my scholarship applications etc etc b/c i'm still a junior in HS, so i have time to weed out my choices... is there anything else that you need to know to help with my question? thank you</p>

<p>Michigan, Penn State and University of North Texas have been cited as strong schools for brass players as well.</p>

<p>Again, as BassDad has mentioned the more we know the easier it is to point out options.</p>

<p>How long have you been playing? Are you studying privately (and for how long?) Are you interested in classical, jazz, or other genres? What is your level of play, your current goals and aspirations, do you see performance (or another music field) as a career or as a source of pleasure and enjoyment?</p>

<p>I know, lots to think about. And there's more... small versus large student body, public versus private institution, urban/rural, conservatory, conservatory within a university setting, music school within an LAC or university; financial aid/costs.</p>

<p>If you haven't already done so, take a minute and read the great overview thread here <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html&lt;/a> and follow some of the links.</p>

<p>i've been playing since 6th grade, so this is my 6th year playing... i'm studying privately with a college professor at UCA in Conway, AR... i've been bouncing around college professors for a few months now and have just recently gotten together with him... Classical and Jazz music particularly interest me... i made the Arkansas All-State Jazz and Concert Bands last year as a Sophomore... right now, i'm looking heavily on a performance degree (i'd like to get at least my MM degree... and if i have the time/money, i want to go for my DM)</p>

<p>for me, private vs. public isn't too much of a deal for me... private intitutions usualyl cost more, but i wouldn't be swayed for or against a school based solely on being private or public... i'd prefer a smaller student body... not too small... like northwestern has 8000 undergrads, and i like that (also, considering its undergrad music department has 400 students vs. a school like IU that has about 750 undergrads in its music program)</p>

<p>for the urban/rural aspect, it depends... i wouldn't mind being in a smaller town as long as it's relatively close to a larger city... Bloomington (IU) has about 60,000 people there, and there's not too much around it... Evanston, IL (northwestern univ) has ~70,000 people, but it's 12 mi from Chicago, and i favor that about NU</p>

<p>as far as conservatories vs. universities go (and conservatories within a univ), i don't place too much importance on that... i always visualize myself more in a university, though, but i had been accepted to a conservatory, i could see myself going there... in this instance it depends on the school/conservatory</p>

<p>costs is higher up on my list of importance... i think the maximum cap-off would probably be a school like NU where the total cost is $50,000... and in order to go there, i'd probably have to get scholarships/financial aid/federal loans of at least $25,000-$30,000 in order to afford going there... i'd rather stray away from student loans because i don't want to have to pay that pack after college... my grades are good (i have a 2040 SAT, 30 ACT, and a for my culmulative GPA (9th through 11th grade right now) at my school (based on its H/Pre-AP/AP credits and all) is about a 4.6... and i'm taking the ACT/SAT about 3-4 more times b/c i want to get to at least a 2150 SAT and 32 ACT for scholarship purposes)... that's the financial situation and all</p>

<p>anything else you need? thanks again!</p>

<p>A couple of pertinent points in selecting schools for consideration. Again, many of these are addressed in BassDad's epic tome, and there are some topic specific threads you can access by using the "search this forum" function. </p>

<p>From a performance study standpoint, the single biggest criteria should be selection of private instructor. It's important to select an instructor whose playing you admire, and compatiblilty with their teaching style and your personality. It's also highly recommended to actually have a sample lesson with instructors you've identified prior to auditioning.</p>

<p>The institution size is important, and this is really a personal choice. Larger schools tend to have more faculty, and occaisionally tiered orchestras and ensembles. Size of studio, and the quality of your peers is important as well. </p>

<p>If you need or require strong academics, you would be best served in places you've mentioned, and consider options like Rice and Oberlin where you can have access to high quality instruction in both music and aademics. A strict conservatory has minimal academic requirements and may not be the best choice for one with strong academic leanings.</p>

<p>The cost of private versus public can often by offset by merit and/or talent awards. Publics are structured to focus their financial aid resources to instate students, and normally do not offer large merit or talet based awards to out of state students. Almost all music school scholarships are audition based, and the better your audition, the bigger the $. Amounts vary widely by school, instrument, and the level of competition. As an aside, Northwestern historically has not been noted for their generosity in scholarship or talent based aid.</p>

<p>Your stats appear to place you in a position that would get you some merit based aid. This is always school specific, and may or may not be combined with a performance based scholarship depending on the school's policies.</p>

<p>I'd suggest reading through some of the threads in the forum. You'll have a better perspective and understanding of the processes and options available.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>Petyoncline, you might consider Boston University. The trombone professor is great and he has excellent students, and a good deal of merit aid is available. Boston, of course, is hardly a small town, but it's much smaller than New York or Chicago.</p>

<p>What about the top trumpet teachers and universities? Thanks.</p>

<p>Hello,
My son is applying to music schools for theory/composition. The posts under this thread are quite old, and I'm wondering if anyone has more current info on the better music programs out there for that? We have been focusing on schools with liberal arts programs - as well as conservatories and/or good quality music schools. Here's what's on the list so far:</p>

<p>He has applied to
Lawrence Univ, WI
St. Olaf, MN
Oberlin, OH
U of WI Madison, WI</p>

<p>I wish he would have also applied to
Peabody
USC
NYU
Princeton</p>

<p>UT Austin
Eastman
Duke </p>

<p>met people doing theory/comp at the above</p>

<p>What do you think of Curtis? I'm looking at majoring in violin performance, do you think it's a worthwhile school to go to?</p>

<p>Curtis is good (most profound, huh?), but one of the most, if not the most, selective school and you're applying in with one of the most competitive instruments...</p>