<p>oops. I posted in my moms account… again. duh. </p>
<p>Actually both Queens College and Brooklyn College have strong music programs.</p>
<p>Forgot to include SUNY Purchase.</p>
<p>Congratulations on YoungArts. My S was a finalist a couple years ago. His cohort ended up primarily at Oberlin, Juilliard, Westminster Choir College, and Eastman. As far as I know, all of them got very nice financial aid and merit packages. So, you have a very good shot at some of the top conservatories. (Yes, I know this is all anecdotal…)</p>
<p>Yes you have to be nominated for Posse. Approach your school counselor or a teacher who knows you well. You can also be nominated by a church leader or community leader. Congratulations on YoungArts. My D is also a finalist,
in Musical Theatre. </p>
<p>Thank you so much @bookmama22, @Dradsmom and @megpmom. I appreciate your input! From my research I think Purchase, Brooklyn and Queens are not really known for outstanding VP programs. I don’t know any serious VP students who are attending, but hey I’m only a junior in HS. My best friend just got accepted ED at Oberlin Conservatory on Friday. Although she doesn’t have the $$ issues I have. I’ve been told you cannot apply ED anywhere if you need big time FA. is that true? </p>
<p>It is not recommended that you apply ED if you need FA but it is moot point if you are a senior as ED deadlines have long since passed and we are not onto regular decision with application deadlines fast approaching.
As for SUNY Purchase, My D’s Voice teacher’s daughter who is a dramatic soprano is a graduate and she did go on to grad school at Hartt.
Most of the people D knew who attended Queens or Brooklyn were instrumentalists rather than vocalists but they are certainly options but not in the same league a Juilliard, Eastman or Oberlin.</p>
<p>thanks @bookmama22 . I am a junior. I am sure it’s very possible that Purchase had a stellar VP program in the past I just don’t know any vocalists applying there now. I go to a pre conservatory HS and MSM precollege so I talk to loads of singers around my age. Right now I’m shooting for the top plus, I think I’d like to go away to school unless Juilliard, Mannes or MSM offer me full scholarships and well, that’s not going to happen 
</p>
<p>^pretty much. If you apply ED, its binding. Therefore, you don’t have room to move if the package doesn’t meet your need. You really want to cast a very wide net when you have high need.</p>
<p>I know it’s difficult, but rather than focusing on whether or not you know students going to a particular school— as an undergrad you really should be concentrating on affordability and the quality of your potential teacher rather than prestige. Prestige means very very little in the long haul to becoming a professional singer. And believe me, it is a LONG HAUL. </p>
<p>THANK YOU @musicamusica. I agree. I’ve been told to shoot for the best possible VP program that will give me the best need/merit package. To not go into debt for UG because I will be doing that for a graduate program, etc.
BUT …the best quality teachers don’t seem to be at many affordable schools. I speak to my current voice teachers, the conservatory counsellor at my school and my senior classmates who are applying now I don’t hear much about affordability when it comes to music schools with fabulous voice teachers…I’m just told to cast my net very wide. </p>
<p>" my senior classmates who are applying now I don’t hear much about affordability when it comes to music schools with fabulous voice teachers."</p>
<p>I just assumed that that is why you posted your question here. But as an undergrad you should only look for schools that are appropriate to you and not your classmates.
My D did her undergrad at “The University of I did not Know that they Even had a Voice Program” because she got a great financial aid package and as luck would have it, a great teacher. After that she got into every high level grad program that she applied to. And she paid for her grad experience with a series of grants that just covered everything but $5000 of her tuition.
Look at the bios of recent YAP participants. (Merola is a great example) Note that plenty of participants had undergrad experience at places that you may not have EVER heard of. Places that will give you a good, healthy experience. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t throw some highly competitive schools into the mix (.For all I know you have the best pipes in the east and voice departments are going to throw vast amounts of cash at you.).
Remember-----there are plenty of good teachers and financial aid at smaller no name programs, it’s just that you need to open your mind and eyes to schools that are not on everyone’s radar.</p>
<p>I thank you for you direct and honest opinion @musicamusica. I’m a junior in a hugely competitive NYC pre conservatory HS that has a great vocal program. I see where my friends are applying and getting into, that’s what’s on my radar. Other than that I am here, on CC looking for insight. Please tell me what schools you are taking about. The Conservatory counsellor at my school won’t even make an appointment with a junior until late May.
My voice teacher at manhattan school of music pre college is helpful, but she’s focused on schools she knows faculty at and none of them are U of I didn’t know they even had a voice program.
How do I find an amazing teachers at basically an unknown schools? Is this a secret?
My question is how will I ever afford a VP degree at a good school. It’s overwhelming. I have to sing, it’s everything to me, but I’m afraid I’ll end up somewhere that won’t train me properly.
Your D sounds very accomplished and she’s lucky she had you to help her navigate her choices.
Again, thanks very much.</p>
<p>Well it is a challenge. It has been a while since younger d went through this and she did cast a wide net in applying to both conservatories and liberal arts/universities. Finances were not an issue with us in particular although merit/talent awards would have been helpful. It is very hard to know. For example, during her Tanglewood BUTI summer pre-college she auditioned and was accepted at BU musically. BU was a match school for her, maybe even an academic safety and she certainly met all the criteria for academic scholarships as described. So she was accepted to BU but with zero money and I did call to follow up and was told that not all students who qualify for academic scholarships are awarded them. On the other side of that, d was awarded large merit scholarship at a university with a lesser known music/vocal performance and as it wasn’t one of her top choices to begin with, she declined to accept.</p>
<p>Do you have scholarship funding for MSM pre-college? Right now you can be researching a wide variety of programs including SUNY Purchase, Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam and running net financial calculators to see how the finances shape up. Don’t get fixated on you can only excel if you get into Oberlin, Eastman, Juilliard, MSM and so on.</p>
<p>I’m at MSM on a 3/4 scholarship. My mum and I have done many NPCs. Some schools come up with 95% others only 50%, it’s really varied. I am not against SUNY schools, my MSM teacher did her UG at Fredonia. She just doesn’t feel it’s up to scratch these days. I was also told that many of the private schools have more aid money, etc.
My HS opera workshop teacher ( I take 5 academics and 5 music classes daily in my school) and my solo voice HS teacher think Crane would be a likely safety school for me. Neither of them see Purchase as a classicalVP option these days. Thanks for the information @bookmama22. </p>
<p>“How do I find an amazing teachers at basically an unknown schools? Is this a secret?”</p>
<p>Do just what you are doing now: network and research. But you know that.</p>
<p>BTW my daughter did not have me to navigate her choices. She was pretty much on her own, but she had several professionals here in Los Angeles to guide her.</p>