I was recently accepted to both UNT and BU with generous financial aid packages for piano performance. These are my top choice schools and I’m trying to decide between them in the next week or two. I loved both schools, but each would give me an opposite experience. I’ve heard rumors that BU can be rather impersonal and stuck up, but I’ve also heard rumors about UNT being like a 4-year community college. I’m also planning on doing a double major in Statistics, so the academic side of things is a factor in my decision, too. Any thoughts on the two schools, music-related or not? How do I narrow down my decision?
Hello Eden, I’m currently a high-school student about to double-major in Music Education and Vocal Performance and I was pretty much In your shoes. I was given both very generous scholarships from UNT and BU to where both were financially very good and affordable.
I had a REALLY hard time making up my mind but I decided on going to UNT. My reason for choosing UNT was because I have a lot of friends at UNT and everyone there is very accepting. I heard the same about Baylor students being really stuck-up and impersonal. Also, I couldn’t double-major in two music degrees at Baylor since the coursework was too similar. But my instructor at my high-school preferred me to go to UNT. Here’s why.
Baylor essentially has about 400 students in music while UNT has 1600. It’s harder to be recognized at UNT due to it’s size but the positive to it is that it makes people strive and work harder so that they can be recognized. At Baylor if you’re a Big Fish (Very Talented) you’ll be in a small pond and you’ll barely have to work to be recognized and grow as a musician. But at UNT If you’re a big fish you’re definitely going to be a in a ocean full of other big fish and you’ll have to work.
Besides that, I hear that there isn’t a whole lot to do in Waco compared to Denton. But Baylor does have some other really good programs and definitely have better sports than UNT if you’re interest in that kind of thing. Baylor also has buses for transportation. Academically Baylor is definitely better than UNT.
In all honesty, It’s all up to you, best advice I was given was what specifically matters to me the most and ask myself what school will provide that. Choice is yours, I hope this helped!