<p>Her D, an "A" student, is an accomplished oboe player (is that the right term - player?). She will be applying to the following:</p>
<p>IU, Eastman, USC, Rice, New England Conservatory, possibly Boston U. Her private teacher still wants her to consider Juilliard. However, she did a workshop at Julliard this summer, but wasn't thrilled with the oboe instructor there.</p>
<p>However, she needs a safety. Money is not an object. She will be able to travel to go to any and all auditions.</p>
<p>My son, an oboist, applied to several of the schools listed above, USC & IU. He was interested in a conservatory setting within a school and in the end chose Lawrence University. He loves his oboe teacher and is also involved in composition as well as working towards a double degree in Government and Music. He liked Bard as well and College of Wooster.The type of setting this student wants, the oboe teacher (are they full time, adjunct, available?) are aspects that should be investigated. There is much written along these lines if you do a search. Remember there are no safeties.</p>
<p>Illinois is an excellent safety. The program is very large with opportunities for excellent musicians and a high probability of acceptance even for quite modest-level musicians.</p>
<p>For someone who is at or near the level of the major, very selective conservatories (e.g., Curtis, Juilliard, MSM, and Eastman), I think Oberlin and Peabody should be considered. Neither may be a true safety, but both are excellent conservatories with reasonable chances for admission.</p>
<p>I would re-think BU. The music school is small and BU is in a very desirable location with lots of applicants. It is not a good choice as a safety.</p>
<p>Any geographical preferences? Size of school? Urban only? Is the student solely interested in music performance or also looking for additional academics?</p>
<p>I am an oboist going to attend IU next year. Here's some suggestions I have:
-Oberlin is not a safety school. Now that Jimmy Caldwell has died, it may be less competitive before they choose a permanent teacher. But I would not count on it as a safety.
-University of Michigan is a great safety school for oboe.
-Now that Eugene Izotov has moved from the MET Opera Orchestra to Chicago Symphony, he will be teaching at DePaul. It might be a great opportunity to be part of his studio while it's coming off the ground.
-Peabody is not known for it's oboe department. The players coming out of there are not getting the jobs.
-You mentioned BU as a possibly place to audition. I think that would be a good safety school because if she is accomplished enough, it's an opportunity to still study with John Ferrillo if she doesn't get into NEC but wants to study with him.
Best of luck to her. Come join me at IU! I like Linda Strommen and my schedule will be very full and busy being in her studio.</p>
<p>I don't know Eugene Izotov, but I can vouch for the DePaul School of Music. My daughter is a rising sophomore in cello performance and she loves the school and the location in Lincoln Park. There are lots of opportunites for chamber music and many of the students manage to get slots in the surrounding orchestras for pay. DePaul also offers merit money for students with high stats. I would consider it a viable "safety".</p>
<p>BU doesn't accept many undergraduate oboists (or double reeds in general) so I wouldn't count on it as a safety, either. It's easier to get into than NEC, sure, but if you want to have one school where you can be 100% certain of admission, BU probably won't qualify.</p>
<p>I agree with Fiddlefrog. BU's program should not be viewed as a safety. Plus at this point in time, there are more oboe players than needed, and their placement in ensembles is more limited. I seriously doubt they will be accepting a lot of oboe students in the next few years. AND every oboe player out there knows that the the NEC teacher teaches at BU also.</p>
<p>Look for schools that share faculty and geographic location with a conservatory....for example, composer john corigliano teaches at Juilliard and CUNY..i'm not 'in' on oboe teachers, but for safety schools on the east i would recommend Rutgers Mason Gross, Penn State, BU (again, not really a safety), and Ithaca.</p>
<p>i would also like to know of any colleges in the south , west or mid west that are not too big in size that would be safty schools for an oboist.</p>
<p>Trying to figure out whether a school is a safety or not depends a great deal on the applicant. You really have to do your homework to find the right one. It would be best to consider the applicant's state university or any nearby lower-tier conservatories first, then branch out. Having lessons with prospective teachers and getting honest feedback before applying are very helpful (actually, I think they are essential!) My D, a top oboe applicant last year, considered the following schools as safeties for oboe, but most oboe applicants should definitely not consider most of them as safe: University of Michigan, Indiana, Peabody, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, University of Maryland, Temple. She applied to Temple as her safety after having 2 lessons with one of the teachers who said he would be happy to have her in his studio, but he expected her to be accepted at a better school. She liked him a lot and Philly is a great place for oboe. </p>
<p>Other schools to possibly consider: Michigan State (Jan Eberle is highly recommended), Ithaca, Duquesne (D did a masterclass with James Gorton this summer and liked him a lot), Boston Conservatory, Arizona State (Martin Schuring is great), CCM, Hartt, Baldwin-Wallace, SUNY at Potsdam, Lynn, Vanderbilt, Depauw. I'm not so sure I'd recommend DePaul for oboe just yet. It is fine overall for music and Eugene Isotov is a fabulous performer. He taught previously at Juilliard, but I haven't heard much about him as a teacher. D didn't like the other teacher at DePaul when she worked with him at Northwestern's summer program. I'd highly recommend trying to get lessons there before deciding to apply.</p>
<p>I'm sure there are other decent schools that may be oboe safeties, but our search focused on the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.</p>