<p>Anybody applying this year? How selective is it? Is it as good as it seems?</p>
<p>Not here, my D applied last year.</p>
<p>Selectivity can vary quite a bit from year to year and especially for different instruments. Overall, admission offers average about 50%.</p>
<p>"Good" is very relative in the music world. Good can depend on whether it matches your level of music performance, whether the culture matches you, and certainly whether you find a good match with the faculty for your instrument. There is little to go on for overall ratings or rankings for conservatories. Just based on selectivity alone, you would need to rank Peabody well below Curtis, Juilliard, MSM and Eastman. </p>
<p>It is worth mentioning that Peabody has a unique culture - by intention. It is probably opposite of Juilliard - where the stress is high and kids are pushed to succeed and excel. Peabody is more laid back, more of a warm, supportive and friendly place. Everyone at Peabody seems to be helpful and friendly from the admissions clerks through to the academic dean. This culture has some advantages and is designed to make the experience and music instruction enjoyable. On the downside, it is possible to get by at Peabody with little effort and some students just don't work very hard. Teachers are hired for their abilities to relate to students, but it seems that many of them just do not push their students to advance. Of course every teacher and every student is different. As with any other school, it is important to spend the time and decide if the environment is right for you.</p>
<p>My daughter also applied there last year and we got pretty much the same impression that edad did. Daughter declined their offer of admission in favor of Oberlin's.</p>
<p>I have a few friends at Peabody, and I've gotten a mixed impression of it. On the one hand, I know people who are doing well on their particular instruments. However, I heard their top orchestra at Lincoln Center in April and I was not at all impressed by the level of the playing. It seems Peabody fits in with the general rule for choosing a conservatory - go for the teacher.</p>
<p>Interesting. DS spent the day at Peabody in April and thought what he heard was "decent", but wasn't blown away. We will visit Oberlin, and his other top choices, this year. I will be interested to hear his comparisons, since I have always thought of Peabody as more top notch.</p>
<p>I'd say Oberlin has a better track record for me...they've turned out more interesting musicians, groups and composers for me than Peabody.</p>
<p>Well, you can't judge a school based on its orchestra. I've heard the Curtis Symphony and I wasn't too impressed. And well of course, I'd say Curtis is at a higher level than Peabody. But I think that both are good schools. But yes, I've heard that Peabody is more "loose." But for me, that doesn't matter, because I am a hardworker wherever I am.</p>
<p>DS graduated from Peabody in May with a Masters in Composition and a BMus in Music Ed. (to go with last year's Bachelors in Composition), and the lack of cut-throatedness, if that's a word, was what he loved the most. As a composer, he was always on the lookout for people to perform his music, and the collegial attitude of the students AND faculty made the search very easy. He had pieces performed by students who he ranked as tops in their instrument from any school, and other pieces were conducted by faculty members who told him that if he wrote a piece for "their" ensemble, the ensemble would play it. The Composition students attended each others' recitals, and supported each other despite the fact that they were all entering pieces in the same competitions. The biggest problem he found was that there weren't enough hours in the day for him to take all the classes he wanted/needed to take, plus practice and/or do homework, plus write, plus eat and sleep. </p>
<p>We heard all the stories about how students at some schools would sell their mother if it meant they could take a step ahead of "the competition," and that wasn't for him. The day we visited Peabody for the first time, DS turned to me as we drove home and said, "that's the place." Peabody may not be Juilliard, but it was exactly what DS wanted and needed.</p>
<p>My D had the same reaction. She walked in the door and somehow knew Peabody was the right place. Beats me. All the college guides, research, and discussions and it comes down to intuition.</p>
<p>You can't judge all of aspects of a school based on it's orchestra, but you can judge the orchestral performance aspect. That aspect becomes very important when the school in question is a conservatory.</p>
<p>When selecting a conservatory, I would not place a lot of weight on the quality of a single orchestral performance. You should expect a performance to meet some minimal standards, but I think it is important to realize that with a variety of classes, lessons, and performance groups; the orchestra practice and performance may not have a lot of emphasis in a conservatory students life.</p>
<p>Many high school students, who are accomplished musicians, do not want to go to conservatories or major in music performance. Many of these students are interested in continuing to play and might even want to minor in music. For these students, I think it is a good idea to listen to the orchestra or other performance groups. Quite often the level of performance is a serious disappointment. For two years in high school, my D and several of her high school friends played in the orchestra of the nearby State U. The orchestra was so bad that my D really did not enjoy the experience. That was at a large State U which offered a degree in music performance.</p>
<p>We found that rehearsals provide more interesting data about a music program than performances. At one school, we observed a rehearsal where the orchestra got its first look at Prokofiev's score for Eisenstein's film Alexander Nevsky. Since it was a first read-through, the playing was of mixed quality. What really impressed us was that the director led them through a portion of the music, then gave an extended lecture that touched on Russian/German history (both 13th century and 20th), politics, techniques of propaganda, the lives of both Prokofiev and Eisenstein, and the influence that this work had on later films and film scores. Then they returned to playing and, although the music was still by no means note-perfect, it was obvious that the orchestra had learned something.</p>
<p>At another school (which shall remain nameless) we found that the director was very condescending and bordering on outright insulting much of the time. His philosophy seemed to be that it was unimportant for each player to understand the overall picture, as long as they could produce their own piece of it on demand. While the overall sound of the group was fairly good, this is not the way I would have chosen to learn to play in an ensemble.</p>
<p>I agree. Orchestra at music schools is a learning experience. The final quality of performance is of minor concern.</p>
<p>I think orchestra quality is a factor to consider, but somewhere below choice of teacher. The two instrumental schools I am most familiar with: Rice and USC (D is viola) have absolutely outstanding orchestras along with their excellent string programs. Always look at the whole package if you are considering a BM and planning to play professionally.</p>