<p>Hi, I'm a high school junior from Ohio and I play the flute. I'm hoping to major in music ed. I was just wondering if music shools only accept the best players? I'm not bad, but I'm also not the best in the group. I'm in my school's top band and can play that music well, we go to contest in class AA (the highest). Do you have any thoughts on this? I'm not looking to get accepted to the best music school there is, but a school with a decent music program. Do you have any advice?</p>
<p>The best music schools accept the best players in the pool. The second best accept the second best players in the pool. The mediocre schools accept the mediocre players in the pool. The worst accept the worst.</p>
<p>It’s a pretty consistent concept, I’d say, with any other field.</p>
<p>The ‘in the field’ part is important. The worst schools accept the worst players, of those in the worthy pool of students auditioning, that is. Certainly not the worst flutists of the entire collective whole of ‘flute players’, meaning any single living cell that’s ever touched or attempted to play a note on a flute!</p>
<p>Now as for actual tangible advice…</p>
<p>Do look at your in-state destinations. Ohio State seem to be the obvious choice here. It’s known for its music ed, and is not as hard to get into as other area schools like Oberlin, CIM, CCM, to name a few.</p>
<p>On the whole, music ed admissions requirements do have a bit more lenient standards of proficiency of playing the instrument than performance programs. This is not 10000% always the case, but usually is.</p>
<p>CherryRed, welcome. If you are going a music ed route, you will face an audition based component, but the standard is usually not set as high as the school would expect of a performance track major.</p>
<p>I’d suggest reading BassDad’s post 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</a> as a general overview of music admissions.</p>
<p>stephmin sums up the generalities, putting some names in perpective. More ofen than not high quality programs designed to meet licensure requirements for public school teaching certification are available at most state publics, and these may be the most cpst effective for many students. Don’t rule out privates, especially if you have a specific reason like strength of program, specific instructors, or potential for advantageous merit aid. Ohio and the midwest offer a wealth of options, both public and private.</p>
<p>Here’s a partial list of previous music education threads:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/630466-please-comment-these-music-schools-violin-performance-me.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/630466-please-comment-these-music-schools-violin-performance-me.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/630008-what-music-schools-would-you-recommend.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/630008-what-music-schools-would-you-recommend.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/655492-music-education-these-schools.html?highlight=music+education[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/655492-music-education-these-schools.html?highlight=music+education</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/651282-schools-music-education-northeast.html?highlight=music+education[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/651282-schools-music-education-northeast.html?highlight=music+education</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/516829-music-education-careers.html?highlight=music+education[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/516829-music-education-careers.html?highlight=music+education</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/393307-music-ed-schools-how-choose.html?highlight=music+ed[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/393307-music-ed-schools-how-choose.html?highlight=music+ed</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/364070-music-ed-schools-boston-ma.html?highlight=music+ed[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/364070-music-ed-schools-boston-ma.html?highlight=music+ed</a></p>
<p>Thanks for all of the information!</p>
<p>CherryRed, here’s a link that may prove helpful in gauging your level of talent in trying to determine if you may be competitive within an audition pool. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/458455-how-determine-your-childs-ability.html?highlight=assessing+talent[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/458455-how-determine-your-childs-ability.html?highlight=assessing+talent</a></p>
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<p>I disagree. Each school accepts the best players from the pool that they have. It is just that the better schools tend to have better pools. So, the mediocre schools have pools of mediocre players, but that doesn’t mean an occasional oustanding player doesn’t apply. Sometimes the mediocre school may have a great physics program, and the muscian primarily wants a degree in physics, but also wants to play his instrument.</p>
<p>If you are going for Music Ed, you will be compared against Music Ed majors. That pool will not be as competitive.</p>
<p>The pool for music ed may not be as competitive as performance, but you have to understand you are auditioning on one of the most competitive instruments. Also, some performance applicants will list music ed as a second choice for a major thinking that if they do not get accepted for performance, they may get in for education. We (well, actually my d) just finished college auditions for flute performance. Please feel free to message me with any direct questions.</p>
<p>I’m a music ed major with a flute concentration myself, I’m a freshman. I understand what most of the posters are saying, that a higher playing ability is expected of performance majors, but be warned that that is not necessarily true of all schools, some want all of their students to play at an equal level regardless of major your applying for. Also, please don’t get the impression that being a music ed student is somehow easier as far as course work (I’m sure thats not what anyone intended =) ). At the moment, I am taking at least twice the amount of classes that my performance friends are taking, the course work and requirements are tremendous, before you go the music ed route, make sure its what you really want to do. Both music ed and performance majors have their own struggles to deal with and are very different. Don’t apply music ed. just because you think it will be easier to be accepted (not that I believe that is your intention, but I’ve seen people do it, then hate it and drop out, and then all of their time and money was wasted). I auditioned at 6 schools, so if you have any specfic flute questions about auditioning, feel free to PM me, good luck!! =)</p>
<p>OperaDad – you are probably right. However a number of schools that we visited swore up and down that VP and Mus.Ed’s were equally talented and equally respected for their talent. They had access to the same teachers, etc. Not all schools said this, but many did. I guess the truth lies in each individual case.</p>
<p>Musicgirl524-
Well put and I completely agree. I am sorry if it seemed as if I were speaking down to music ed. What I was trying to say is that flute is so very competitive that to simply get into a music program auditioning on flute is an incredible achievement. Chosing the ed route is simply that, a choice. Just like my d chose performance, or our neighbor is chosing business!! ;)</p>
<p>I promise I was not offended at all! I highly agree with you notfromme, being a flute player makes it so hard to get into any program, regardless of school or intended major! I just wanted to make sure the OP knew what was involved in getting a Music Ed. degree. Music majors in general (performance and music ed) are some of the hardest working people I know! Again, no offense taken!! Thanks! =)</p>