<p>Hi I was just wondering if anyone knows a college that is easy to get in with music (or in another words, an easy music program) with a prestigious standard of academics. I am declared a music major as of right now (Im a senior in high school) and I have not so hot grades in school but Im pretty confident with music (cello). and Im probably going to get into a good college thru music auditions but change my major to something academic, probably biology, when I get in.</p>
<p>So you want to take a music slot from someone and then give it up ?</p>
<p>not really. all I have is music right now and I’m still going to continue learning music as at least a minor but I really dont think Im going to keep going as only a music major. and so I dont want want to go to a school that exceeds in music but sucks in academics if you know what I mean</p>
<p>Internal transfers from a music school, all of which place low weight on GPA/SAT scores, would look at your stats and evaluate them as if you were transferring from another institution. You won’t be able to fool anyone.</p>
<p>soo its that hard to switch from a music major to an academic major?
welll its just my school grades that are bad…like I have okay sat/act scores.
sat: 2250, act: 34</p>
<p>At most universities, admission standards vary by school e.g. if you are admitted to Penn Arts & Sciences you cannot show up at orientation in August and say you want to enrol in the Wharton School. A school would usually require you to complete freshman year in your admitted major and if they figure out that you are trying to get around their admission rules, it will not be good for you.</p>
<p>In the case of music, the admission criteria are quite different than in any other program.</p>
<p>Just how bad are your stats? </p>
<p>Even as a music major, you need to meet the academic bar the university sets for admission. Yes, there is a bit of slack and some programs bend it for serious performance or music ed candidates. The reality is that with the exception of the straight conservatory programs there are general academic degree requirements for a music program within universities or LACs. For reference, a BA is more academic heavy than a BM.</p>
<p>If you have a history of relatively poor academic performance, changing majors may not be so easy. You will need to pull solid grades for the first year to be considered a viable candidate for certain majors. </p>
<p>College students do change majors for any number of reasons, but this does reek of gaming the system.</p>
<p>If you play a stellar audition, your h.s. GPA is considerably above 3.0, you have a shot at a good college or university. If when you get there you take strong academic courses, i.e. biology, and do very well in the classes, with A’s, you would be considered to transfer as a major in those subject areas. Most likely, however, your (underachieving?) grades are the result of poor study habits, and required music theory courses are very difficult. Get it together now…figure out how to be a good student. If you cannot put it together now, chances are you will not manage later. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>If your grades are your most serious issue, why don’t you go to a community college to jack up your grades and play in a community orchestra to keep your musical chops intact? That seems preferable to applying to a music school under false pretenses and, as pointed out above, taking a spot from someone who’s actually interested in studying music. It’s also a lot cheaper.</p>
<p>Okay, I’ll take a stab at answering your question - presuming I understand it well enough.</p>
<p>I don’t know where you live. But the first school that comes to mind is Allegheny in PA. Their music program is small, but they want to beef it up, so a strong string player would be of interest to them. Their academics are good, and they are a “College that Changes Lives”. They are fairly expensive, and scholarships aren’t extremely generous; don’t know how much that matters. They require a major and a minor (or two majors) in different programs, so if you’re interested in, say science, it would be perfect. (Their music program is part of their humanities, so music and English, for example, wouldn’t meet their requirements.)</p>
<p>Another option is to look at state universities (not necessarily in your own state). Miami (in Ohio) is where my D goes; academics are very good there, and again, music may help you get in. Double degrees are possible, depending upon how demanding the other program is. They also offer BAs in music, or minors. And non-majors are also welcome.</p>
<p>My advise to you is to think about what other program you might want to study. Then research schools that are strong in that area. Make a list of possibilities, then start studying their music pages. Probably what you will want is a music program where they are not extremely strong, but in a “program-building” mode. Look for programs that welcome non-majors into their orchestras. Those are the programs where they might be willing to overlook lower academics in order to strengthen their music department.</p>
<p>I’m from Pittsburgh and can highly recommend Allegheny. Also, I’ve know a number of students who have received nice scholarships.</p>
<p>In Ohio, you may also want to consider Bowling Green. Nice music department and school.</p>
<p>I visited Lawrence U with my D about a year ago. It is a great LAC with a great conservatory. We were told that an applicant has to be accepted by both. Same is true of Oberlin. This requirement prevents a dummy from getting accepted solely for his music skills, and once in, dropping the music for something “better”. So if you have lousy HS grades, forget about doing the bait and switch dance.</p>
<p>Not precisely. At Oberlin, students who only wish a degree from the Conservatory do not have to be accepted by the College. The Conservatory admissions department has stated that they will not admit anyone whom they believe to be incapable of passing their elective courses taken through the College, but that is not the same standard that Oberlin College uses in making admissions choices for its own students. While the two institutions share a campus and most services, they are separate from admissions, curriculuar and degree-granting standpoints.</p>
<p>A student who is accepted by the Conservatory may apply to the College at the same time if interested in the Double Degree program. Each of those applications will be judged on its own merits. It happens very frequently that a student will be accepted by one but not the other and then attend the school that accepted them. </p>
<p>A student may also start in the Conservatory and request to transfer into the College, but that request is not automatically granted. The transfer procedure requires that the student has already demonstrated academic capability in courses taken in the College and has gotten recommendations from two different teachers of courses they have taken. </p>
<p>The Oberlin website documents that average SAT scores are somewhat lower in the Conservatory than in the College, and I have heard admissions reps there say that the Conservatory accepts some students with high school GPAs that would definitely be on the low side for the College. The Conservatory also grants Artist Diplomas for those who wish to concentrate solely on music with very few academic classes required outside of music. The artistic standards for that program are quite high, but the audition counts for nearly everything for admission to an Artist Diploma program. For the normal BM, I have heard Conservatory admissions reps state that the audition weighs in at about 80% and academic concerns at about 20%.</p>
<p>I want to highlight Lorelei’s message - Low grades with High SAT’s send up red flags to most schools. A classmate of my older daughter was a National Merit Scholar, but was turned down from every school except our State School (rutgers) because she had a C+ average. Her college life has been more reflective of her study habits - not the potential of her scores. You need to strongly consider fixing that - perhaps the CC college route wouldn’t be a bad idea.
On the other hand, maybe you THINK your GPA is dismal because of the company you keep. While higher is definitely better, the B+ range starts giving you options.</p>
<p>If you check out the OP’s postings on other threads, you will see that the GPA in question must be pretty good by most standards. He or she is lamenting having gotten a B or B+ six times in an all-honors/AP curriculum, with the other grades presumably being A’s from the list of schools of interest. So I think we are talking about someone with a weighted GPA that is probably over 4 and an unweighted GPA in the A- range, unless there was a total collapse in junior year. Combine that with a 2250 SAT, a 34 ACT, and a few SAT2’s of 750 or better already in the bag as of end of sophomore year and the OP is going to have plenty of fine choices, cello ability notwithstanding, so long as the choice of schools is not limited to a select few.</p>