<p>I was just wondering how the music program at University of Oklahoma is. I know it won't be as good as say Northwestern or UNT but how is it compared to other public universities?</p>
<p>I’ve got some friends in the music program (specifically, a percussion player and a saxophone player, plus a few in the orchestra). Any specific questions you want me to ask them?</p>
<p>@WoolScarves Just the overall quality of the music program. For example how many bands they have, how many jazz bands they have, how competitive the top group is, whether or not they go to national competitions, how serious the musicians are about music and their instruments, how many concerts they have a year, etc. I would appreciate any information you could give me.</p>
<p>They have several bands. My roommate is in two of the jazz bands (I think there are three of them). My friends who are musicians vary in their commitment and seriousness. My roommate practices for several hours a day, even though he isn’t a music major. I have a friend who plays cello for about six hours a day. I also have a percussion friend who seems relatively bored. He’s a freshman and he’s already in all the top ensembles. I think he’s freakishly talented, but he seems to regret not going to a more competitive music school. From what I remember of the concert schedules, there are about two concerts per semester for most of the groups. As far as competitions, I haven’t heard of any travelling, but that might change second semester once football season is over.</p>
<p>I suggest you contact the music department directly as they’ll be able to best answer the questions you may have. From what I know, OU has a relatively strong music department with solid jazz offerings, especially compared to most other public flagships.</p>
<p>My HS junior son is a probable NMF in 2015. He loves marching band and wants to continue in college. We read some things about unhappiness and protests regarding the new director this past fall. Anyone have direct experience with the situation? Right now OU is not on his list for this reason.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, there is an incredible amount of unhappiness and strife within the band. The students I know in the band are upset that he is the director and have organized motions to try and get rid of him. I hate to tell someone not to come to OU (since it’s an awesome place) if marching band is important to your son, he might want to look elsewhere, unless the director is removed. </p>
<p>Thanks for the honesty, WoolScarves. It’s really too bad. However, since DS is only a junior, we will be watching to see if anything changes before next fall.</p>
<p>Good Luck STEMFamily - He must have a great PSAT and resume to be certain of NMF already. S1 is a probably NMF for this year but we only think so because he is a NMSF and supposedly the rejection letters have already gone out to the unlucky 1500. Rumors are that he may be notified in the next few weeks. He had a 230 on the PSAT. After that though, the PSAT score does nothing other than get you into the SF category. I work with a guy that is a NMSF who had a 2340 on his SAT and still did not make it. Not trying to rain on your parade, but make sure your son does not start coasting assuming NMF is some sort of guarantee.</p>
<p>Torveaux… Letters have gone out for this year this week. Your son should be receiving notification in the next couple of days. I have read on the NM board on this site that you can call NMSC and, since letters have gone out, they will give you confirmation over the phone of finalist status. Also, the only thing that would stop someone from getting NMF (based on trends from the past few years) is more than a C or two (at most) on semester grades, a non-qualifying SAT score, bad recommendation from a school counselor and possibly a bad essay, although I’ve heard/read that the essay really doesn’t factor in much. </p>
<p>I appreciate your comment Torveaux. We have gone through this before and I am very aware of the NMSC requirements, but S has all A’s so far with no discipline problems, and our high school knows the process because they regularly have several NMF’s. I know that kids can change and things can happen and that is why I said “probable”. And I am sure we will be anxiously waiting for that letter next February just like everyone else.</p>
<p>Thanks all. We have been very out of our element with this. There are so many benefits that can accrue with the difference is status and we simply cannot afford to pay for his college, so NMF is his ticket to higher education.</p>
<p>Torveaux…I completely understand. As I stated on a post in the National Merit Scholarship forum here, the difference between NMSF and NMF for my son means college debt vs. no college debt. I get tickled when I hear people say that NMF isn’t that big of a deal and that few NMF actually get any scholarship money. Those are kids who choose not to go to schools that offer great packages for NMF. I get why some would choose that, but with so much offered to NMF at some schools, it just didn’t make sense for my son to go anywhere else. BTW, I see you’re somewhat new to CC. Have you checked out the NM board here? Lots of great info there. :-)</p>
<p><a href=“National Merit Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/</a></p>
<p>Sad to hear about problems with the new marching director. We met him last summer on D2(15)'s tour, it was his first week on campus and he said she was his first prospective student interview. We had met with Dr. T previously during D1(13)'s visit and I could see where this was a significant change. D2 wants to go to OU specifically because of the quality of the engineering program and she wants to march. Any information on the situation there would be appreciated. </p>
<p>I’m curious - are there any updates on the band director situation? Does this involve only the marching program, or other ensembles as well?</p>
<p>The band director will be the same moving forward. From what I’ve gathered is that money is involved in some way or another. Either from a donor’s influence or because there’s a large buyout in his contract. Whatever it is, it seems that he’ll be here for the foreseeable future. I believe he’s only in charge of marching band, but I can’t confirm that. I know he’s not in charge of any of the small ensembles or jazz bands, but I’m not sure about the larger symphonies/bands.</p>
<p>I had heard it was donor influence. </p>
<p>I have met with several parents of current marching members as well as generational legacy’s and my conclusion is that those most concerned are those who are influenced by years of attending games and watching The Pride. The issues stem primarily from changing traditions and if you have not already embraced those traditions you won’t know the difference. </p>
<p>Is one of the traditions being able to hear the Pride play during half time? I went to almost every home game, and rarely could I hear them playing. </p>