<p>Baritone2: Check out V. Chernov and M. Dean at UCLA. Both are very good teachers and many of their baritone students are doing quite well. UCLA has a very small and highly competitive department, but when he is ready to sing, he will have plenty of opportunities to do so.</p>
<p>Thank you, musicamusica! S was fortunate enough to have one session with Mr. V. He is superb. If he can make it to UCLA, that would be awesome. Initially we were focusing on conservatories like Curtis or Juilliard; now we are more and more inclined to a University. Heāll probably still try the pre-screening for Curtis, but itās more for a learning experience. The other thing weāre trying to figure out is how to get a ābread and butterā skill for him while pursuing the singing career. He can probably be a bookkeeper (then accountant), a paralegal (then lawyer), a brokerage intern (then broker). Unfortunately it is not practical to make money playing xbox, otherwise itāll come handy to him :)</p>
<p>Undergrads from UCLA get into some excellent grad programs. I know one baritone who went to UCLA for undergrad and is currently at Curtis for grad. AND UCLA is a great place for a double major (however it will more than likely take 5 years). I am sure he will have some fine choices. (really good baritones usually do! 
)</p>
<p>Hi everyone 
Iām going to be a high school senior in the fall, and play viola. I know I want to double major or have a dual degree in computer science and music (hopefully performance, maybe composition).</p>
<p>Iāve been looking at all the threads on collegeconfidential lately, since Iāve now got it mostly figured out where all Iām going to apply and audition, and I thought itād be nice to be able to discuss things with the people here, since Iāve learned so much just by reading posts.</p>
<p>Welcome, nerdyviolist - always great to have another representative of alto clef here!</p>
<p>Thank you so much, musicamusica! You are so awesome!</p>
<p>Soā¦weāre back! D had a brief period of practicality where she decided to major in chemistry and do music (voice) as a minor or just a side activity. Fast forward to a full day touring U of Alabama, including a tour of a chem lab and a terrific chat with the director of the opera program. Result - existential crisis, minor meltdown, epiphany that she hates the thought of chemistry and must be a music major. Now we are back to facing the audition circuit & all that that entails. Honestly, I am happy about this decision and looking forward to an exciting if intense and stressful year. She smiles (and occasionally bounces up and down) when she talks about musicā¦</p>
<p>Enjoy the ride, Gertrude McFuzz, and hold on tight! It might not be a bad idea for your D to apply to several different types of programs just in case she continues to evolve her thinking over the next several months. I know several students who have applied to wildly different types of schools (ranging from conservatories to LACs with music to large schools with good science and music on the side) so that they have a variety of choices come acceptance time.</p>
<p>Gretrude it can be quite a ride! Older D started college insisting she did not want to ever do anything but music - singing was her life! Now, end of sophomore year, double majoring in math / political science, still taking lessons and minoring in music, but obviously things can change! Good luck on your journey!</p>
<p>Thanks stradmom and lcoulter - yes, I am anticipating that the pendulum will continue to swing! We are of the opinion that it will be easier, if she changes her mind later, to transfer OUT of music than to transfer IN. Any opinions?</p>
<p>Father of Daughter who will enter Harvard-NEC AB/MM program in Fall of 2013. She is undecided on Harvard major. Jazz Voice major at NEC. Neither mom nor dad are musicians. But we enjoy attending/supporting/volunteering with live music and music education in the San Francisco Bay area including San Jose Jazz, Stanford Jazz, SFJAZZ, Monterey Jazz, San Francisco Opera, Opera San Jose and West Bay Opera to name a few. Reading the Q&A and various experience of other students and parents has been very helpful over the years. Lurking since 2009. Finally getting around to posting a little. Our journey has been interesting.</p>
<p>Sounds like! Stick around, I am sure you have a lot of interesting advice and information!</p>
<p>Go Jazzvocals Dad! Your daughter is lucky to have supportive parents. My D is at Berklee doing jazz vocals and many other things ā¦ Berklee is a great town for undergrads to continue to grow.</p>
<p>We are about to head to US for a month of looking at schools. We will start at Berklee, and move down the east coast to NYU, Drexel and end up in Nashville. </p>
<p>We have a private appointment for NYU and just general tours for everywhere else. </p>
<p>Any advice for us on what to look for, ask etcā¦? My sonās international IB school sends almost all of the kids to the UK for college, so we are really on our own applying to schools in the US. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>@romemama</p>
<p>I could talk more. I hope this post gives you a few things to think about to maximize the value of your trip.</p>
<p>Get your posts up to 15 and you can PM me. You may want to move this discussion off of this thread and start your own thread dealing with your unique circumstances of traveling from Europe to visit your list of US music schools.</p>
<p>What instrument? What major? What genre? My experience with my D is with jazz voice and popular voice, but I know a little about instrumental jazz also. Spent a lot of time in Boston and NYC. I donāt know the Nashville scene at all.</p>
<p>From your list, I am guessing something in commercial music, popular music or music engineering, yes? Serious considering Berklee would eliminate classical music. And musical theater isnāt Berkleeās strength either.</p>
<p>When are you going? Summer or school year? Summer visits and relying on the standard tour may not be as useful because the campus activities are so different than during the semester. </p>
<p>On the other hand, these schools can have summer workshops that may really help you get to the know the campus, some of the faculty and other students interested in the program. Check out the summer programs at Berklee and NYU for example. Berkleeās 5 Week program is well known. In a sense, it is a 5 week audition. You have one audition at the beginning used for ensemble placement, but that process continues through the session I believe. And Berklee takes those evaluations/rankings very seriously. At the end of the program they hand out big merit scholarship $$$$, as much as full tuition. So the pre-college experience in a summer program at a school can be very valuable for building relationships and improving your chances for admission and scholarships.</p>
<p>During the semester, these schools should have busy calendars of student recitals, generally available online. I would plan to visit a variety of recitals, not just in your studentās specialty, to get a sense of the vibe of the place. How are the performances? How are the production values - sound quality, stage presence, etc? What is the audience like? empty and quiet? big and enthusiastic? I think it makes a difference on the student experience.</p>
<p>Berklee has concerts at venues in several buildings. You should study their events schedule and plan to take in as many as possible. At Berklee, I attended multiple concerts at various venues, starting from noon to 8pm. I could see heavy metal at noon, jazz singer at 4 and singer-songwriters at 8 all in the same day. Every day was like that at Berklee. The shows were good. And the crowds were really enthusiastic.</p>
<p>My sense is that high school music students, way more than students in other majors, have identified individual faculty members with which they want to study. All those schools you mentioned have good programs, but I think your student should be doing that homework before your big trip and arrange a meeting at each campus with some faculty with whom he/she might have studio or important classes. </p>
<p>These schools often have course listing on line with the teaching faculty listed. So if there are specific course he/she is interested, that can narrow the list of faculty with which you want to meet. Contact them and see if your student can sit in on their class.</p>
<p>Also, your student should arrange to have a private lesson with some faculty at each school. Expect to pay the regular rate ($100/hour might be expected) so that it is worth everybodyās time to make and keep the appointment. We have had faculty get a gig offer and cancel an appointment. Fortunately we were visiting over a few days so that we could reschedule.</p>
<p>Some of these schools may have very large pools of adjunct faculty. Some have grad students. Some may have celebrity faculty that travel a lot. </p>
<p>New School Jazz sells it program with the feature that the student can study with anyone in NY, and the New School will put them on contract for your private lessons, all included in your regular tuition.</p>
<p>Big programs are different than small programs. Berkleeās vocal program is 25% of the school. Who you have private lessons with starts out as a lottery pick. The first couple years in vocal jazz in North Texas, you can expect to have private lessons with grad students. </p>
<p>Just offering New School, Berklee and North Texas and just some examples of how different it can be.</p>
<p>You could also ask someone in the admissions office if they could recommend some student recitals on campus or local concerts with students, faculty or alumni during the time you are visiting.</p>
<p>In Greenwich Village you should take in the local music scene. Two places that I visited that really changed my opinion of the music scene in NY were Smalls Jazz Club and the Bitter End. Despite the rough, gruff exterior that you may get from New Yorkers, I think these places were really trying to promote a sense of community.</p>
<p>Check out the Smalls calendar on line. Their late night jam session is likely to have lots of students from NYU, New School Jazz, Manhattan School of Music in attendance or performing.</p>
<p>I would also go the Bitter End on their singer-songwriter nights. They also frequently have students on stage.</p>
<p>In Boston, I would go to Wallyās on Mass Ave. They frequently have student bands from NEC or Berklee.</p>
<p>My experience with general tours is that they are useful as a start but really insufficient for making your decision. It is best if your student can spend a few days to attend classes, meet other students and and hang with them, and not simply take the tour and general info meeting with mom or dad and little bro and sis. </p>
<p>For my D, very important criteria in addition to the faculty was whether she felt there were students she wanted to play with. Fortunately, she knew students at various schools. When we arrived, she took off to stay with them in dorms or off-campus. She jammed with them, gigged with them, went to classes with them, partied with them. So she had a good idea what the vibe of the school was like. </p>
<p>If your student visits and attends some classes, he/she may be able to hookup with some students to join them in some of these āextracurricularsā.</p>
<p>Not sure if scholarships make a difference to you. Merit scholarships certainly are one indication of how bad the school wants you.</p>
<p>The whole merit scholarship discussion can appear distasteful. But you really do need to understand the parameters. If Berklee doesnāt give much in merit aid, than you are āone of the manyā. High profile students will have some advantages getting into featured ensembles. Theoretically, you could arrive unheralded and develop into a scholarship student in the featured ensembles. But the probability of that happening, like that of a walk-on starting for a big time college basketball or football team, is low. So if you donāt get a big scholarship from Berklee at the outset, my advice is donāt go. Or at least donāt go yet. I know students that have gone to community college and worked on their chops and improved their scholarships and most likely their total Berklee experience.</p>
<p>Some schools, like USC for jazz voice or popular voice, will tell you point blank, that some majors in the music school have little or no merit scholarship money. At other schools, the budgets are very different. You canāt take it personally. The schoolsā priorities vary. I am not saying you wonāt get a good education at one school that doesnāt offer much scholarship. But just be prepared for the merit scholarship to vary from zero to full tuition. </p>
<p>I would also plan visits to other music schools in the areas you are going to if you have time. Even though they may not be high on your list, or on it at all. But seeing differences between other well known programs will inform your decision. In NYC, I would visit the New School (Jazz or Mannes depending on genre), CCNY, Manhattan School of Music or Juilliard, in addition to NYU. In Philadelphia, I would visit UArts and Temple, in addition to Drexel. In Boston, I would visit NEC, in addition to Berklee. In Nashville, I expect you are going to Belmont or Vanderbilt? It will take some planning to manage multiple visits, but it can be done. If nothing else, check out the event calendar to see if there are some recitals to drop in on, and then just drop in on the admissions office or dept admin and see how it goes. </p>
<p>The fact is that entrepreneurial music students will start a band from students from several schools in town based on similar tastes and goals and mutual friends.</p>
<p>As an aside, I found that impromptu visits, knocking on doors, bumping into someone in a hallway or getting into conversation at the student coffee house/venue, are very revealing. Are the people pleasant, competent and helpful, or not? My experience has been all over the place when it comes to that. It really can get you past the sales pitch in the brochures.</p>
<p>@jazzvocals</p>
<p>wow. This is so incredibly helpful! Thank you so so much. My son N will be a Senior and this trip next week will be our only chance to look at schools in the US. Not ideal as itās summer, but better than not going at all. </p>
<p>He is interested in music production and is a multi-instrumentalist (with some classical piano training, but thatās not his interest. at all.) </p>
<p>Iāll work on getting up to 15 posts. You can find me online [gillianās</a> lists](<a href=āhttp://www.gillianslists.com%5Dgillianāsā>http://www.gillianslists.com) in the meantime.</p>
<p>I will start a new thread re: international school kids/parents </p>
<p>Thank you again for your generosity, it is much appreciated.</p>
<p>Hi all,
Iām back to CC after getting my theatre director D off to NYC this coming Tuesday. Now I have a rising senior who is a talented soprano and also academically advanced (like most of your kids). </p>
<p>(If anyone is interested, I have a LOT to share about the journey with D1 ā she went to Elon for a year and found it was not for her. We subsequently took 2 weeks and visited U of Mich., Northwestern, DePaul, Columbia (Chicago), NYU, Pace, Marymount, Fordham, and The New School for Drama. She was offered a place at all and chose the inaugural year BFA at The New School. Sheās ā and we are ā very excited!)</p>
<p>OK, now I need help. For a voice major who is academically inclined, my D is thus far only thinking Boston U., Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, and since she just finished a summer program there, Ithaca (hopefully in the Honors program). She ADORED Ithaca. USC keeps coming up, but it just feels far. D is not against being in NYC, necessarily, but thinks sheād do better there as a grad student. She is not interested in a conservatory or the exchange programs via Julliard and NEC. She loved the Oklahoma City Program last year, but is not interested in undergrad there. </p>
<p>D has done some professional work and studies with an excellent, well-known coach.</p>
<p>Weāve visited Miami (Frost), but unless something has changed since we visited a few months ago (i read an article indicating it may have), she will not be interested. She is also not interested in Florida State.</p>
<p>Also, D is cautious about heavy duty grad program schools where she will likely not get as many opportunities to perform. She also wouldnāt mind a little crossover/opportunity with MT, but thatās not mandatory. </p>
<p>Weāve learned from many professionals, students, and academics that it is imperative to choose faculty over everything else. Weāre really going to have to dig in to understand all our opportunities from that perspective.</p>
<p>All thoughts welcome. </p>
<p>Looking forward to working toward our goals together, over the next year. Iāve found CC to be a huge help, and highly recommend it others, as well.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Hello, I havenāt been on these boards since my eldest was heading to college, but now I have another student who is a junior and she wants to go into either music ed or music therapy. I encouraged her to get some experience helping people before she chose that as a major, but since she would really need to get a Masters to get a job in music therapy anyway, she is thinking of majoring in Music or Music Ed and deciding later which direction she wants to go in.</p>
<p>She plays the viola, the piano and the ukelele, and sheās also a soprano. She actually has a music job right now - sheās the soprano section leader for a church choir. She is also the soprano section leader for her schoolās award winning auditioned choral group. She is self-taught on the piano and uke but is starting lessons on the former this fall (after I pay for my older daughterās wedding!).</p>
<p>I am also a singer, but my kids both surpassed me on that front - my older daughter is an elementary school teacher (started as an environmental engineering major, but life has twists and turns, doesnāt it?).</p>
<p>Applying/auditioning to colleges this fall/winter for Flute Performance.
Playing for 6+ years</p>
<p>Trying to finalize list:
Oberlin
U of Michigan
NYU
Boston U
Lawrence</p>
<p>less sure about these:
NEC
Manhattan SM
Bard
St. Olaf
CIM</p>
<p>Hey yāall:</p>
<p>Hereās our list ā
Cleveland
Colburn
Juilliard
Eastman
Macalester
Oberlin
Sewanee
Bennington
Some schools in our state</p>
<p>We have some weird financial constraints. Kiddoās grades are all over the place (Aās in the social sciency stuff, and one lovely D in math). And his SATās are lowish (low 1900ās). Heās going to be taking lessons at Juilliard this year. He says if he canāt get into a top conservatory he doesnāt want to go to one. Are there other conservatories or LACās we should be considering? We are ineligible for financial aid but far from wealthy.</p>
<p>Iāve got an interesting question for you folks:
My kid thinks he wants to go full-bore at a conservatory and will never need an actual academic degree ā however, I have seen friends of his flame out, crack under the pressure and have some very unhappy times as they withdrew from conservatories and had to reapply to colleges, etc. We were wondering about the following scenario: Say that hypothetically the kid gets into a decent conservatory and a decent LAC. Could he defer his acceptance for a year at the LAC and give conservatory a try? Has anyone ever done that?</p>
<p>OMG, we just sent SAT scores. Itās so REAL. (Tonight at dinner, he said āthis time next year Iāll be goneā and I actually started CRYING. . Gonna be a long year.)</p>