<p>At Harvard, and possibly other schools, you can enter the college and later apply for the double degree program, just so you know. And there are ways to accomplish the same thing musically, without the double degree program, mainly private lessons. The advantage to the double degree lies in performance opportunities at NEC but there are plenty of good opportunities at Harvard itself (the Brattle Street Players are amazing).</p>
<p>You mentioned what your parents want. What do you want? A BM is not as limiting as some parents think, in terms of jobs and grad school. If you have genuine academic interests other than music, a college/university would be the best choice, but doing that as a practical backup may not be needed. The Peabody link will help you and your parents with that decision :)</p>
<p>Oberlin, Bard and Lawrence are great choices and seem to have a relatively low “wall” between conservatory and college, and the logistics of travel are not involved as they are at Harvard/NEC or Columbia/Juilliard. Bard actually requires conservatory students to do a double degree, so you may like it there.</p>
<p>Plot twist: I’m not a parent! I’m a Senior looking for a college that will be able to offer me a great classical voice program & regular elementary education. (Preferably a Christian Liberal Arts college) I sing in various ensembles & am training classically. I play the flute and piano is a work in progress. </p>
<p>Hi Kirst1996 and welcome! There are some other students around but I admit that the parents do tend to have a lot to say here. I assume you’re already familiar with Houghton? We know a fantastic Christian violinist who got a terrific music education there.</p>
<p>Oh really? That’s good to hear! I’m on the fence about Houghton. I was super interested in it but I’ve heard so many mixed reviews that I sort of stopped looking into it. </p>
<p>Hi everyone. My name is Alex Powell, and I’m the Assistant Dean for Admissions at New England Conservatory (NEC). I look forward to engaging in the conversations here and providing my $.02 when possible. </p>
<p>A little background: I grew up in the Midwest and did a double major in history and music at a university. I pursued an MM in vocal performance at a different university and then came into the conservatory world for a Graduate Diploma at NEC. I subsequently earned a doctorate in music education at yet another university. I have therefore experienced a number of music programs and know that there are many options as you find your path toward a life in music. </p>
<p>I started working in admissions as a grad student at NEC, and my career has grown from there. It is very rewarding to help young musicians, and I hope that I will be able to provide a bit of insight for those of you navigating the complex admissions process!</p>
<p>Please feel free to contact me via these forums or directly at <a href=“mailto:alex.powell@necmusic.edu”>alex.powell@necmusic.edu</a>. </p>
<p>DS1 is a freshman Clarinet Performance major at UT Butler. (while teaching himself the trombone and marching trombone in the Longhorn Band!) And loving it all! </p>
<p>DS2 is a junior in high school, all state tuba player as a sophomore. Will be looking into dual degree programs for tuba and science like chem, biol, biochem. </p>
<p>Starting earlier this time around with the help of CC and the amazing resouces here. Will be posting soon for ideas and gems in dual degree land. </p>
<p>And how cool is it that we have conservatory admissions presence on here? </p>
<p>Hi @lots2do – thanks for the welcome! Glad your son is enjoying UT (my sister is a prof in the ed school and loves the institution). I look forward to hearing from your other son at some point – Mike Roylance of the BSO is our tuba teacher, and NEC has dual degree programs with both Tufts and Harvard! </p>
<p>I’ve posted other places, but thought I’d reintroduce:</p>
<p>DS1 is a junior at MIT, math major, past violinist, current music producer/guitar, etc. for his own little production co.</p>
<p>DS2 is a HS senior this year and has been a cellist for 11+ years. He’s gone down the more unconventional path-playing in professional quartet, busking, cello duets, selective soloist ensemble, lots of community service (fund raisers), but only one competition.</p>
<p>He’ll be applying as a music major to only a couple of reachy-reach schools that don’t require live auditions. He’s working on his music supplement for 4-5 schools. Music is an alternate major at most state and UC schools.</p>
<p>@pianolovers, We were told at a college fair that DS could make arrangements sit in on all the Tuesday Voice related & Theory classes at Boyer, but would not probably not be able to schedule an actual private lesson.</p>
<p>Posting for my DS, Sam. He’s a HS senior intending to pursue a double major in Vocal Performance & Music Education. In addition to voice, he’s played Alto/Tenor/Bari Sax for 8 + years and has a few years of piano under his belt. He is a consummate performer and has been in every drama, musical & concert offered by our school district & community since middle school. He has attended several good summer programs including NYU Classical Voice Intensive in 2014. He’s currently working with an awesome private teacher in NYC. Over the last year, his vocal range has changed from baritone to tenor.</p>
<p>He loves both performance and teaching, so is interested in schools that offer both-- some have a dual degree right off the bat & others require you to enter as VP major and add ME in the second year. In order of preference, he’s applied to: NYU, BU, CCM, Temple/Boyer, Crane/SUNY Potsdam & Ithaca. Where he will ultimately end up will depend a lot on the financial packages each school offers. He is an honor student so we are investigating all the academic scholarship opportunities & hoping for performance merit money & maybe some need based scholarships as well.</p>
<p>@sjd2015 I believe it’s against the TOC for CC to post links to personal FB pages. It’s also generally not recommended for us to reveal our real identities. Only college reps tend to identify themselves by name.</p>
<p>I’ve been reading here on and off for about a year. I really appreciate all the good info everyone shares!</p>
<p>I have a 16 y.o. D who is a HS junior and music is one of the majors she is considering. She sings, plays guitar, piano, uke, and has done a little songwriting. She has performed a lot for her age. She started out doing a few talent shows, church solo’s, recitals, etc at about age 9. She started her own cover band when she was 12. Players have come and gone, but the band still plays locally (restaurants, festivals, graduation parties, fundraisers…whatever they can get) somewhat frequently. She performs at local open mics by herself when the band isn’t busy. She is very shy about her songwriting. She mainly only shares that with her teachers for now.</p>
<p>Her voice teacher thinks I should be spending my money on “artist development”, not college. However, she works extremely hard in school, takes challenging classes, is at the top of her class and is very interested in going to college. She figures she can always pursue a music career simultaneously or after college. (Mom and Dad are very happy she feels this way!)</p>
<p>She always said she wouldn’t pursue a music degree, but after attending a songwriting workshop at Berklee last summer, that seemed to change! She fell in love with Berklee and now I am trying to find other schools that she will consider - including a safety (both non audition and financial safety). We visited Nashville over the summer. We toured Belmont (found her #2 choice) and Vanderbilt (in case she decides to pursue a music ed degree, but that’s certainly not a safety school). Didn’t know about MTSU until a waiter in Nashville told us about it, and we didn’t have time to fit it in. Part of the problem is she isn’t 100% sure what she wants to focus on - songwriting, music business, music ed, she’s even talked about music therapy. She is in AP Music Theory right now. She doesn’t find it difficult and seems to enjoy it, but I’m not sure she’s considering it as a major. We haven’t even started looking close to home (Illinois).</p>
<p>I am enjoying reading here, but find it all very overwhelming, too! My goal over the next month is to start a spreadsheet and organize some of the thoughts, information, and questions that D and I have. </p>
<p>We have now visited Duquense, Nazareth and Boyer. D has doubts now about music therapy and leaning more toward vocal performance. I have older D who is in piano performance at Boyer. We wre told early in her process that if she could see herself doing anything else she shouldn’t go into performance. Does that apply to vocal as well? My younger also has a gift with children but has lost interest in music therapy and is clear about not wanting to do music Ed. What should she/we be thinking about now. She has had sample lesson at Nazaereth that was very positive. She will have one tomorrow at Boyer. Her private teacher says she has what it takes to major in performance. She is a junior in HS with almost a 3 octave range. I know nothing about music but am told that is unusual for her age. </p>
<p>Please lend any thoughts or advice in helping to know what to consider.
Thanks </p>
<p>Dbandmom, you sound like me 6 years ago. Since then my D has graduated from Berklee as a vocalist and a major in Contemporary Music and Production and is making her way in the music world. She didn’t choose music at first, but after 3 semesters at a university transferred to Berklee. I think people are right when they say if you can get your heart into anything else, don’t choose music, they may be right. Everyone she works with and went to school with could see no other path other than music, even when they tried hard to love science, engineering, medicine or business … It seems to be a calling more that a choice. You know the going could be tough, but at some point you just go for it because you have enough knowledge about yourself to see where you fit and you go claim your spot in the music world.</p>
<p>Because my daughter was a strong academic, she was also able to tutor other students while at Berklee (paid) and she also started teaching at private schools part time. Even when graduated she teaches, and she did not major in education. She limits her teaching to 20 hours a week so she has time for practicing, gigs, and auditions and it seems to be working so far. </p>
<p>I don’t think you should worry … Let your daughter define the path she thinks will work for her and support her decision each time she makes it. </p>
<p>@snowflakevt - Thank you! Your post made me feel so much better!</p>
<p>My D’s thoughts on college went something like this:
I do not want to major in music. I want to get into a really great college in an area with a great music scene…
then…
I want a really good college, but it has to have a great music program (for maybe a minor or music electives)…
then…
What about a great music school with a music business or songwriting program and a strong liberal arts curriculum…
and then she went to Berklee for a summer program and suddenly…
You know a conservatory is awesome! (The lack of an athletic program is really appealing to my anti-sports girl!) A degree in music would work - as long as it’s not in performance.</p>
<p>She’ll probably end up a vocal performance major. :)) </p>
<p>My d has helped out with the younger students in the rock band program at her music school for the last 2 summers. She was approached about teaching there ( in a paid position - and the money was great for a teen) but then nothing ever came of it. I think she would be a great teacher and realize that she would only need the ed degree if she wanted to teach in a regular school. </p>
<p>She does very well academically, but she really has to work hard at it and she ends up giving up a lot of “music time” to get all her school work done. She’s working so hard in hopes that she will see some nice scholarship money in the end. That may help her at some schools, but her academics are probably not going to mean much when it comes to admissions and scholarships from Berklee. She’ll need to be ready for a great audition and needs to have a song portfolio ready. So, there’s this constant struggle of how much time, effort and money to put towards academics -vs- music lessons, practice, camps, etc. It’s like there isn’t quite enough for all of it at the same time. Does that make sense? </p>
<p>I’m rambling! I really just wanted to say thanks for your reply and congratulations to you and your daughter!</p>
<p>Hi! I’ve been reading the threads on here for a while, but this is my first time posting. I’ve been playing flute for about 10 years and I’m applying for BM flute performance. I just sent my prescreening recording to UT Austin, Northwestern, CCM, CU Boulder, and Rice. Are there any other flutists or parents of flutists applying for fall 2015 admission on here?</p>