NYU Steinhardt Music education Major

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>I am a senior in High School and go to an academically competitive private high school.
Here are my credentials</p>

<p>My principle instrument is double-bass.
I don't have a private instructor because there are none where I live.
its quite ridiculous to the point of being unbelievable.
I just have my high school band teacher who is more or less ignorant of strings.
he was a bassoon major.</p>

<p>I am also looking at Berklee, Manhattan School of Music, and U of Chicago,
but I'm pretty sure NYU is my first choice.</p>

<p>can I get in?</p>

<p>Composite SAT: 1640
Math: 430 Reading: 680 Writing: 530
but I plan on retaking it as I've been working on the math,
and I believe I've got it up to at least 600.
which would bring my SAT up to around 1800,
hopefully 1900-2000. but you never really know.</p>

<p>GPA as of my first quarter of senior year: 2.917
I've taken AP World History, I got a 3 on the AP test.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars/achievements:
Academic Decathlon for two years, the first year my team was the state champion.
and medaled at the state level in multiple catagories.
Drum Major
first chair string-bassist
section leader for first tenors
choral conductor
band conductor
lead musical roles
Arts and Communication academy leader
School's theater technical director for two years
participated in a community men's chorus
Accepted to the All-State Honor Choir
Participated in the local Honor Band for 2 years consecutively
President of the performing arts club
invited to play carnegie hall with school band.
I have many years of experience on violin, double-bass and guitar.
I play piano and compose orchestral works and stage songs.</p>

<p>volunteer work:
volunteered time restoring a local historical theater, helping to clean up the old theater, as it fell in to disrepair after many years of disuse. I also volunteered at a local science museum. I spent over 150+ hours volunteering. I led tours as well as ushered shows and was occasionally a cashier.</p>

<p>I know my GPA is very weak, but I feel that I can make up for it. I also feel that because Steinhardt MusicEd. majors are required to audition that some of my admission will be based on that, though I am not excusing my gpa, or saying that everything else makes up for it.</p>

<p>if any more info is needed, just ask.
thank you for your time!</p>

2

<p>Tom, I linked your thread in the admission forum <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/781859-can-i-get-into-nyus-steinhardt-major-musiceducation.html#post1063264726[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/781859-can-i-get-into-nyus-steinhardt-major-musiceducation.html#post1063264726&lt;/a&gt; for background.</p>

<p>Expanding on post #6, do you want to teach music in a public k-12 setting? That’s what a music ed degree does. </p>

<p>Read through the thread here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-familys-experience.html&lt;/a&gt; and the links here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/780119-music-education.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/780119-music-education.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You might want to look into BA programs in music or a dual major within music combining some more aspects of your areas of interest. Without the benefit of private instruction, you may not have the chops to be competitive within the audition pools at MSM or Berklee (that line was absent in your other thread). Admission at both is audition based, not academically driven there. I gave you Steinhardt info in your other thread (that’s a tough pool to as is UChicago), and the program is highly competivtive. Contact the poster Cosmos who is a senior (double bassist) there, and she can detail the program and her experiences. </p>

<p>You might want to look into some of the double major/dual programs, or options at liberal arts colleges with good music programs and explore some of the composition threads here.</p>

<p>Hopefully others will add to this. I’d be happy to point out additional threads and background info here.</p>

3

<p>Hi Tom,</p>

<p>I’m confused (like Violadad) over exactly what you are looking for. The University of Chicago doesn’t offer a Music Ed degree:</p>

<p>[Department</a> of Music | The University of Chicago](<a href=“http://music.uchicago.edu/academic/undergraduate/]Department”>http://music.uchicago.edu/academic/undergraduate/)</p>

<p>Manhattan and Berklee are performance specialists. If you are looking for classical training, Berklee isn’t an obvious choice.</p>

<p>Have you checked the websites of your schools-of-interest to see how they describe themselves? You’ll get more info by checking the specific degrees offered as well. (for example B.M. Performance, B.A. Music, B.M.E. or other designation for ed. degrees, etc.) </p>

<p>Looks to me that you might want an urban environment. Perhaps checking a few other schools in the urban areas of interest to you can give some other options. For example, in the Chicago area DePaul, Northwestern, and Roosevelt offer Music Ed degrees aiming for public school teacher certification- if that’s really what you are looking for.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>Yikes, see post below! Certainly I agree!!! Pretty major oversight on my part.</p>

4

<p>Don’t mean to be a downer, but the OP would have an extremely slim chance, if any, of admission to Northwestern with that GPA and test scores, even with an outrageously great audition, as one of the flute posters on this forum can attest to.</p>

5

<p>first off,
thank you for being so helpful.
I really appreciate it.</p>

<p>I don’t really want to explore the different things I could do and I actually am very satisfied with the curriculum. I love theory for sure. I just know that I have wider interests than just music education, but I certainly want to follow that career path. the curriculum at NYU covers a lot of what I love doing, though it doesn’t specifically focus on any one of them.
I really love all aspects of music and most genres, just doing one thing is so hard, but I know that if I wasn’t doing music I’d probably end up teaching English or Worl History, and I wouldn’t mind teaching High School students. I also wouldn’t mind teaching at the college level. I really want to go for a BM though. I think that it would help me get better as a string bassist, then for grad school I could try to be a performance major at MSM, or MSM music ed graduates program, I hear good things about that.</p>

<p>I just want to experience music. I would love to be a teacher. I would love to be a performer. If I went to a performance based school such as MSM, I would probably focus on performing more. If I went to NYU, I would major in Education. it depends. but its not that I’m not focused on what I want. Its just that I want to be more than one thing. and I feel that in life, especially in music you don’t need to submit yourself to one disciple forever.</p>

<p>I really want to go to New York City.
or at least the North East.</p>

<p>My college advisors are pretty ignorant of music colleges/conservatories,
and east coast colleges in general. I live in Hawaii.</p>

6

<p>Well, I guess I could give my 2 cents. I’m a music performance major at NYU, but the program requirements for both are pretty much the same. I never considered myself the best violinist or even the smartest kid–at best above average. I graduated high school with a 3.38 GPA, an 1840 SAT combined score (my math sucked, too so don’t sweat it; what saved me was writing), and we’ve done a lot of the same as far as EC’s go (I was in color guard). Of course even with NYU, your musical ability comes first and foremost . Even the Music Ed students ere are highly talented. </p>

<p>For some insight, judges aren’t looking for prodigies or primadonnas. They look for potential and students who are willing to learn and who will try their best and take their study seriously. To compensate for not having a formal teacher for double base build your music theory and aural skills (all of the schools you’re looking at will test you on it). Learn your repertoire and who’s who as far as composers of top bass pieces. Prof. Bongiorno at NYU is the double bass prof. He always talks about students needing to know their orchestral as well as solo repertoire. And for someone who intends to teach music at a public school you need to have very solid theory and aural skills, especially since my high scool band teacher say nowadays most get their Master’s (we tend to forget grad school possibilities when looking undergrad schools).</p>

<p>In other words, yes you must be a decent bass player, but if teaching is you’re profession you’ll need to know more than how to bow your instrument. Just have a firm grip on the basics of everything and you’ll do well. Oh, and start practicing your scales NOW. It doesn’t matter how well you play any piece if your scales and arpeggios suck (trust me, i’ve seen good violinists denied for it).</p>

7

<p>@superspacechik</p>

<p>what was the audition like for you?
any surprises or curveballs?</p>

8

<p>There’s some U Chicago info posted by Cosmos <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/468613-music-liberal-arts.html?highlight=music+and[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/468613-music-liberal-arts.html?highlight=music+and&lt;/a&gt; here.</p>

9

<p>i got into NYU Steinhardt and i never went there to audition live… i got in by CD. its not that hard to get in… just show you rpassion for teaching music and you’ll get in… alhotugh i’ve changed my mnd about that</p>

10

I have my Music Ed audition for NYU Steinhardt on Saturday, and was just wondering what to expect besides singing what I’ve prepared and handing in my essay. I’m really kinda freaking out so pls help!!

11

Not specific to NYU but son’s music ed auditions usually involved testing for aural skills. Others had theory testing and piano playing. They just want to make certain that you will be able to be a successful student in their program.

12

I don’t know about music ed, but theory and ear training skills generally don’t count for performance based admissions (again, I am not talking music ed, I am talking a BM or BA performance degree in an auditioned program). Music theory and ear training tests are used for placement, because kids come in with a wide range of skills, and in performance programs the admittance will be entirely or almost entirely based on how well you play, having great theory and ear training will not get you admitted, I can almost guarantee you that.Again, that is BM/BA in performance, not music ed, which I know little about.

The downside of going to NYU or MSM for a music ed degree might be the cost, NYU is one of the most expensive colleges in the country, and their aid is not great, and MSM is not particularly generous with aid. If you want to go into teaching (let alone performance) you won’t want to have a lot of debt piled up, neither one of them is going to pay great, especially when you first get out.If your family can afford to pay a lot of the cost, then those may be good options, but they generally are not good with aid unless your family is pretty modest in terms of means IME.

13

I do know of one music ed candidate who failed the aural skills evaluation at Hartt but was accepted for performance . This person did go on to graduate with a music ed degree from a different institution. Each school will place their own criteria on the supplemental testing. And as music parent states, most of the time it is for placement purposes.

14

Thank you :slight_smile: