<p>Does anybody here have any idea what it's like to be a music major at the "party school"? I mean, serious music study requires more of self-discipline, especially for those who tries to do double-major or double-degree. So, if some college, in general, has the reputation of "party school", "their students almost never study"-type ((c) Princetone Review), BUT, at the same time, has the strong music department or the School of Music - is it too much to expect that music students there might be, on average, more serious about their studies and not the typical "party animals"? Can it be that the non-stop party atmosphere of the place wouldn't affect some of the departments? </p>
<p>Namely, I suggested to my daughter to take a closer look at UCSB (her state school with B.M.) and Indiana University, Bloomington, which has an excellent School of Music and strong program in languages, which is her another interest. Both of them make the Princetone Review list of top party schools. We have never been to Indiana and have no idea how it feels there, but our friends who traveled to UCSB say "that place is not for study - everybody are in swimsuits 24/7" ;-). My D preffers to avoid such places, but I wonder if it might be different for musicians.</p>
<p>Leave it up to your child. If your daughter is the dedicated musician you've described, then she has the tenacity and good sense to avoid the "par-tay" behavior. </p>
<p>My D was accepted to Jacobs (Indiana), but opted out for a variety of reasons, but one important downside in her mind was having to take some required classes with "normal" students and not having dedicated music major dorms. </p>
<p>She had had enough of "party kids" in HS and wanted to be as far as possible from said students. Her immersion with musicians and artists at Interlochen over the previous summer further cemented this need to be isolated from people who didn't share her passion for music and the arts.</p>
<p>having to take some required classes with "normal" students
and not having dedicated music major dorms</p>
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<p>Oh, thanks, ImperialZeppelin, that's what I also wanted to know about - the possibility of "self-segregation" for music-nerdy students from the "normal" ones. :-) Apparently, there is no such possibility at IU ...</p>
<p>Who knows anything about what it looks like for musicians at UCSB?</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong as I think IU is a great music school. IU has accomdations like special "arts floors" in selected dorm(s), so there can be some physical isolation by floor, but at IU, a dorm is a dorm so you may have to walk past some over-partied gastric ejecta in the stairwell on the way up to your floor...</p>
<p>That being said, they arguably have one of the best conservatories in a public instution in the country and with that comes nice "value" pricing even for out of state students. My D followed the "Matriculation Corollary" to "Murphy's Law" which states Your child will want to attend the most expensive college offering the least amount of scholarship money.</p>
<p>One advantage to a separate conservatory is the culture. There is a lot of fun, excitement and fellowship in a community of musicians. At least the conservatories I have seen are also intense and very focused.</p>
<p>sounds as though your daughter is hoping to avoid the party school atmosphere rather than participate in it. It's never fun to feel like one of the "nerds" so I agree with Imperial Zep: listen to your daughter. IU may be easier for grad students who are already "above it all" (or for a musian who loves to party!) . A friend's son is there and really feels like an "outsider" as a fairly quiet, non-partying freshman musician.</p>
<p>Myau, we've "talked" a bit already on another thread. Your D will not be able to segregate herself from non-music students if she intends to double major with languages. She will also not be able to attend a straight conservatory program, because they don't offer language majors there.</p>
<p>So you're stuck looking for colleges and universities that have a decent music program and a decent language program, and fewer parties. You'll probably be eliminating all the state schools because they generally have more of a party atmosphere. That says to me that you should probably be looking at smaller, more conservative LACs. I have no idea which have great languages and music, as well as a non-party reputation. I know St. Olaf has great music and languages. Lawrence has good music - anybody know about languages or parties? Swarthmore has good languages and great music but no merit scholarships; only need-based. No idea about parties. Bard is working hard on their music program and requires that music majors double; no idea about languages or parties. Anybody know about Northwestern's languages or parties? </p>
<p>One more comment about IU -- Their music department is well known and respected around the world! You don't get a music dept. of that caliber if all the students are drunk or stoned all the time. Before you cross it off your list, you might want to have your D visit.</p>
<p>I hope, it's not the case for all the UC's. UCSB has very "special" party reputation among them all. But I'm not sure which of them would be really strong fit for D's interests, except for Berkeley and UCLA, wich are nowadays are reach schools for anyone; btw, my D also eliminates from her list UCI (another, supposedly, musically-attractive UC campus), for the opposite (compared to eliminating of UCSB) reason: "too boring, socially-dead place". </p>
<p>You see, she doesn't want a huge party scene at college, but she does want to have some social life ... musically-nerdy-style. ;-)</p>
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[QUOTE=""]
<p>about IU --
Their music department is well known and respected around the world!
You don't get a music dept. of that caliber
if all the students are drunk or stoned all the time. </p>
<p>NorthwesternW has great music and it is easy to socialize with musicans, language majors, journalists and theater types without being into the heavy frat-style party scene (which seems to be at the other end of the campus) Languages are also top notch. Sounds like a good match, but don't think about the weather too much (especially if you are comparing it to California)
Swarthmore's music is great, but the dept. (like the rest of the school) is tiny, so performance opportunities are limited. Party scene there consists of doing extra reading in the library til 4am...(just kidding)</p>
<p>DS goes to a large university with a small conservatory type music department. The truth is, he seldom spends time anywhere but in the college of fine arts building. His three roommates are all music majors. In fact, his roommates have all been music majors. His wing of the dorm his freshman and soph year was mostly music majors. The school itself has a party rep...they ALL do. But the music majors have their own kinds of fun and know when they can party and when they can't. For example, we were at the last university symphony concert and most of the orchestra students were planning to meet at a local pub after the concert. The reality is that a music performance major is going to have most of their classes, and other college obligations within the music department, not the college at large. We have noticed that the music majors are a well disciplined group...and how many others have "dress up clothes" and an iron in their closets?</p>
<p>My son is a sophomore music performance major at Indiana. He has been affected to some extent by the party atmosphere, but his good friends are all music majors, and he is very serious about music. Some of the music majors are into partying, and my son flirted with it a bit his first year. He said it was hard not to, with the atmosphere there. This year, however, he has made a strong effort to spend more time practicing and less at parties, and he has found roommates for next year that are not partiers. A person can find a group of friends who are serious students; it just may not happen overnight.</p>
<p>He loves the music school at Indiana and feels he is learning so much and developing in his musical skills and knowledge. Despite the party reputation, he would not want to be anywhere else, because of the terrific education he feels he is getting.</p>
<p>Myau - did you mention what music discipline your daughter will be majoring in? I think most on this site would concur that the teacher is the most important consideration. Since your D is interested in some less-popular languages, that will limit her choices. But I'm sure you'll find that perfect fit. Start by listing some of the better known teachers, academically challenging programs and language offerings. Once you have your 'short list', you can start eliminating possibilities.</p>
<p>IU does have an Honors dorm. My son lived in it his freshman year. However, he said it was NOT a quiet place to study. It ended up being quite the party dorm. There are some dorms that are quieter. If interested in finding out which (since I don't really know), you can check on the Indiana University section of the alpabetical listing of colleges on this site. That has been discussed there from time to time, and some students do say that their dorms are pretty quiet.</p>
<p>My best friend is a Music Ed. major at Indiana... he lives in the HRC (honors dorm). He's a freshman, yet he doesn't drink, doesn't party, etc. because that's not his scene. And he's still happy as can be and says no one has pressured him to participate in that kind of thing. Plus the school is amazing and he's being confronted with incredible opportunities right and left... so don't write off Indiana right away. I also am acquainted with several professional musicians who got there undergraduate degrees there (my teacher included) and then became successful performers.</p>
<p>I know a couple of kids at conservatory (Eastman) who have had trouble with partying - so my guess it's up to the student to be disciplined and make the "right" friends.</p>
<p>D chose to be a music performance major at what was the #1 party school at that time (ASU). She picked it for the studio teacher,the facilities,performance opportunities, and the ability to double major or minor in an area far removed from music. She decided she didnt want to live with only music majors so chose an Honors College dorm setting.She wanted to attend classes and be exposed to ideas from people other than music majors as well.
Each student should look at the different atmospheres available and make their decision.She was able to "survive" and function perfectly well within the party atmosphere..which really in retrospect,wasnt quite as bad as it was made out to be .</p>
<p>Myau, Is your daughter interested in Music as a career? Because students usually choose a Music Performance major [ Bachelor of Music] if that is their primary goal in college- to have a career as a musician. Someone who is interested in doing a double major - music plus some other field, because they aren't quite good enough to make a living from music alone, but can't give up performing in college, or because they have equally strong interests in other fields, usually earn a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree, which requires less single minded commitment to music, and allows more time for other interests in college. Conservatory's [ such as Peabody, Northwestern, Oberlin, etc]-generally are geared toward those interested in Music as a career.</p>
<p>Conservatory's [ such as Peabody, Northwestern, Oberlin, etc]-
generally are geared toward those interested in Music as a career.</p>
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<p>But don't they also allow double-degree to people with 2 equally strong interests - music and something else?</p>
<p>My daughter is not sure about her ability to make a living from music alone - as well as she is not sure how she would be making a living with her other interest - languages. Therefore, she tries to find colleges with the euqually strong opportunities in both fields ... and to see, what would come out of it. ;-)</p>