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<p>I do know of students who have done that. I am not sure whether the conservatories were aware that it was a “trial year” but the deferral was for real. Is he going to Jyard Precollege?</p>
<p>Momzie,
What instrument and style of music is your son interested in? That might help with suggesting other schools. As for conservatories others that often make people’s list include Peabody, NEC, MSM, Hart School of Music, Berklee School of Music, NYU, SUNY and/or CUNY schools.</p>
<p>I had a son who also said “Conservatory or Bust”. It was rather unsettling for me given that my knowledge of the music world was limited and like many parents I feared our son was limiting himself at a very young age. One thing that is nice is that many conservatories, such as NEC, MSM, Eastman have relationships with traditional colleges and students can take liberal arts classes. We were told that if our son did well academically in those classes that transferring out of the conservatory to the associated liberal arts college would not be difficult. </p>
<p>But BEWARE. Our son talked the talk and assured us that he would sign up and take classes at Tufts or Northeastern (he attends NEC). But he is entering his sophomore year and he has absolutely ZERO plans to take a class outside the conservatory next semester. He says he is too busy with music and can not find time to squeeze it in. I suppose that means he made the right choice in going to a conservatory, but I must say I feel a twinge of disappointment as I had hoped he would engage in a wider range of intellectual and academic challenges. </p>
<p>It sounds like your son knows what he wants to do. Now your job is to support him and remind him of the work involved in achieving his goals.</p>
<p>he is a classical violinist. His dream is to to have a string quartet and be a professor of music at a LAC. (I’m a professor as well, so it’s not that strange a goal for him, I suppose.) In any case, he understands that he will likely not be the next Joshua Bell.</p>
<p>My sense in looking at some of the linked programs with academic programs is that they seem to work better in theory than in practice. We found out that only a very small minority of Eastman students actually manage the dual degree with U of R due to the difficulty of traveling between the two campuses – and the fact that my kid probably would not get into U of R academically. or northwestern. or Bard. or oberlin, most likely.</p>
<p>Momzie - Bard is score optional, and their admissions process is very holistic. They often admit students who are very strong in one area, but weaker in another. A bigger question would be whether he’d be interested in pursuing, in a serious way, a BA in a completely different subject than music. As for financial aid at Bard - the conservatory has significant merit money - up to full tuition, and even full rides now for brass and bassoon… As for whether the dual degree program works at Bard - yes, it does, it must, as it’s required!</p>
<p>Also, in reference to worries about academic requirements, when you apply to Eastman and Oberlin Conservatory (unless double degree), you don’t have to submit applications to UofR or Oberlin College – so presumably the academic hurdle would be lower (actually Oberlin’s website pretty much says as much). And with Oberlin at least, if – once you’re a student at the conservatory – you eventually decide on a double degree, or even to transfer out of the conservatory into the college, it apparently involves little more than filling out a few forms.</p>
<p>Thank you, string pop. That information has made my day. Cannot wait to pass it on to my husband who will be immensely relieved.<br>
Thinking maybe Bard needs to go back on our list – had taken it off as being too expensive.</p>
<p>Momzie,
there is a difference between taking non-conservatory classes while at a conservatory and managing a duel degree. Most conservatories have some liberal arts requirements and it is not at all unusual for students to take at least one non-conservatory class in their four years at an associated college to fulfill those liberal arts requirements. My son has friends who are at U of R who are not enrolled in the conservatory but who have taken conservatory classes, so the transportation issue can not be too much of a problem. I know at NEC it is not at all an issue</p>
<p>I have another school to add to your list given that you said your son’s HS academics are weak. He sounds like he is a smart engaged kid. Wheaton in Norton MA. Wheaton in Norton MA is a small liberal arts school with a very holistic admissions process. They tend to take “quirky” outside the box kids who are smart but who have not excelled in HS due to their learning style. Their faculty is amazing because the school is located smack between Boston and Rhode Island so they attract many faculty who want to be in the area so they can collaborate with top faculty at Harvard and Brown and BU and MIT. The current president is stepping down but he is a musician (a classical violinist) and the school does have a strong music program. It is not unusual for students to go to Wheaton thinking they will transfer to a more prestigious school after a year or two and then decide to stay. But if they do decide to transfer most students do so successfully.</p>
<p>Wheaton is a great school for the late bloomer to go and develop.</p>
<p>Longtime lurker, first time poster here. (pardon any posting errors!)</p>
<p>D is a senior this year and is planning on pursuing a music degree. She is multi-talented as are many of your children and is torn between Contemporary Voice/Songwriting and Saxophone Performance. Frost and Thornton are top of her list with many public universities ranking just below. </p>
<p>I am so grateful to so many of you who have posted your journeys, especially in the area of music majors - I figure it is time for me to become a contributor and possible assist others on the same path. </p>
<p>I have not seen very many postings about the Contemporary/Popular Music programs at Thornton or Frost; if there is anyone with direct experience I would love to connect.</p>
<p>What a wonderful community here - glad I found it!</p>
<p>Hello MindfulMum … welcome! You may see that many schools require an audition on one instrument (voice or sax, not both) so she should focus on one instrument during audition season. While it’s great to be talented in more than one instrument, the audition process generally doesn’t let you show off all your skills in the main audition. She may get a chance to show off her singer/songwriting skills at the end of an audition, but don’t go in thinking she will have time to do two complete auditions. If she is torn between the two, it can be tough, but she may want to focus on the instrument that she has the strongest accolades and the highest skill relative to others, because senior year is a tough time to play catch up. If she is amazing on sax, then think about sax, and she can always merge her singer/songwriting interest in coursework or a major. </p>
<p>If your D is already connected to people at Frost and USC Thornton, you should find out their audition requirements before your D gets too deep into senior year.</p>
<p>My son is a very talent pianist (but no prodigy) but does not want to go the conservatory route, although he would like to continue his studies, and possibly be a Music major. We think a small liberal arts college would be best, but most of them seem to provide very little if any support for pianists. So we’re looking primarily at schools with affiliated music schools like Oberlin, Northwestern and U Rochester, but also wondering about Middlebury in particular, which seems to have some decent piano teachers and the Mahaney center for the arts. Places like Williams and Amherst seem very weak, with one piano teacher on “staff” (funny but Amherst and Wesleyan each have one on staff, and it’s the same person). Any thoughts along these lines would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Depending on your son’s grades and scores he might also want to add Tufts to the list. Although Tufts is affiliated with NEC and there are students who do duel degrees through Tufts, Tufts actually has some decent music classes of their own. Also there are more than enough local piano teachers in the Tufts area to choose from. And/Or a graduate student or duel degree student might be able to teach your son.</p>
<p>Wheaton in Norton MA might be a nice safety school. They also have some good music teachers that are associated with the school. My middle son was not happy with the ensembles that were at the college but has been very happy with the music instruction he has taken there.</p>
<p>Having only one, possibly two, pianists on staff at a liberal arts college doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a weak program. I know at Bard College, separate from the conservatory, the piano faculty are wonderful. I suspect this is true at other colleges too, like Vassar and Wesleyan. (There is a CC poster whose son studied piano at Wesleyan and loved it. And I think is going on for his masters…) As for faculty teaching at multiple schools - that’s the norm for conservatories - I don’t think that’s anything to be concerned about.</p>
<p>Amherst is part of a 5 school consortium. The other schools are UMASS Amherst, Hampshire, MT Holyoke, and Smith. I believe the way it works is that any student attending any of these schools can take up to 2 classes a semester at another school in the consortium. So if Amherst’s piano instructor would be accessible at any of these schools. I know of a handful of students who study music at this one of these schools.</p>
<p>Hi, all.
D1 plays cello, but was not interested in music major. She is entering second year (junior status) at Rose-Hulman Inst. Tech. in Chem Eng with minors in music and Spanish. She enjoys the mental break that playing in their string ensemble affords.
D2 is a HS senior and plays horn (primary instrument) and violin (private lessons only now since focused on horn). Like her sister and many on these boards, she is also an academic achiever (12 AP classes, top1% of class, great SAT/AP). So she is fixated on dual degree, horn performance and engineering/pre-med. She is considering JHU/Peabody, CMU, Michigan, Northwestern, Case Western, WUStL (lower caliber orchestra) and Miami of Ohio (safety school). Not sure if she will apply to all as some favorites are emerging - leaning towards smaller schools at this point although she loved her lesson at Michigan. Should be an interesting next six months!
Husband and I have no musical background, though I have some dance background and can follow sheet music just well enough to be an adequate page turner. We are both engineers, so at least we see where the academic part of the girls’ talents comes from!
These boards have been immensely helpful. Thanks, everyone!</p>
<p>So my piano playing son told me last night he was not interested in the conservatory route, which was a mild disappointment. He’s currently in the honors program at his music school. He did the program last year (as a sophomore) and got a 5 on his AP Music Theory test. This year he’s been signed up for a course in Conducting and also in contemporary music history, as well as doing chamber and his regular piano work (which is now at the level of the Pathetique sonata and Mendellsohn’s Rondo Capriccio).</p>
<p>I’m wondering if it’s worth it for him to continue along these lines if he’s not going to a conservatory. He doesn’t even seem to be interested in being a music major. However he does want to keep playing. He said his top choice was Williams, which seems to have a pretty decent music program for piano performance (my earlier post was incorrect in this regard). I think he’s done well enough in school to have a shot there if he continues with his grades (he hasn’t taken the SATs yet).</p>
<p>Many here will agree that a student should have a passion for music to even consider it for school or career.
It is just too rigorous, consuming and challenging otherwise.</p>
<p>The line is usually “if you can see yourself studying ANYTHING else…”
Our son couldn’t see any other path and for him it has been the right choice.</p>
<p>RPianodad,
If your son enjoys playing and it is part of who he is as a person, why in the world would you discourage him from continuing. There are many reasons to study music besides becoming a professional musician or going to a conservatory. There is a lot of evidence to support the fact that the study of music helps with the brain and cognition in other subjects. Some people find that music is relaxing and although they do not go on to become musicians they may participate in community music groups or use music to connect socially with others outside their work.</p>
<p>I have one child, who after attending Berklee’s 5 week summer program decided that conservatory was not for him. He will be a senior and is a math major, but he has continued to play for his own enjoyment and has spent time writing compositions and taking private lessons at his school. I suspect music will always be a part of his life and making music will always be something he does to decompress. This child did not want to make something he loved and felt passionate about turn into something stressful and competitive. </p>
<p>With parenting at this age less is often more. Your son sounds like he is doing well and has his head on his shoulders. I would continue to support him. His path might surprise you and you might find that he leads you to places you never imagined him going.</p>
<p>Thank you this is helpful. He said that he picked out the conducting course because he was interested in it. I should just let him follow his own path in music and let him make it be what he wants it to be. This past summer I tried to encourage him to take an elective in music composition but instead he wanted to learn how to play the organ. He really enjoyed that.</p>
<p>Having just deposited DS2 at Frost, I am now potentially dealing with DS3 wanting to be a music major. Just when I thought I could relax!!! And I agree, they should not do it unless passionate. DS2 schedule is 8-6 M-F in class or ensembles with no break except I hr on Fridays. Plus marching band commitments on weekends. And that doesn’t include individual practice time.
But I need help form you wonderful people. I am now an expert on Music ed Saxophone but DS3 is looking at trombone performance…a totally different animal. But his academic grades are less than stellar so Frost is not an option!! …along with several other good schools. So here’s the challenge…where are the great trombone professors in schools where grades are not as important?</p>
<p>…and…he prefers warm weather…LOL!!!</p>