@jacole My D graduated from Berklee. She was a vocal
Sorry, tried to edit my post and it timed out before I could correct my premature send.
D was a vocal instrument but major was Contemporary Writing and Production. Berklee is worldly diverse and she loved it because of that. Boston is expensive though, so she tutored for Berklee ti earn extra money.
She is now a working vocalist, arranger and educator in Los Angeles.
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Interested in hearing from anyone with kids at U Utah, CSUN, CSU Long Beach, or Univ of Kansas.
Would love to hear about Frost. Esp. the CAM minor, BA Music and the whole UM experience. Thanks!
Also Eastman! S is trending toward their jazz performance/music ed. program, which is 4.5 years.
Racingfan53 I honestly can not speak about UofUtah’s music or conservatory program, although I know they have some very talented faculty. My son was a Phd Student in Mathematical Biology there. His girlfriend grew up in Salt Lake City and went to the “U” as locals call it. What I can tell you is that my son often commented that many of his students commuted. The University is BEAUTIFUL and the access to trails, hiking and skiing are fantastic. Salt Lake City is affordable and has great food and restaurants. The mormon culture is not as prevalent as non-mormons would let you believe. University of Utah has an amazing medical school and they have a great business/innovation program that is well funded. A smart talented student could definitely rise to the top at Utah. Like all state universities there are brilliant undergraduates and many who struggle because their K-12 education sucked. My son loved it and honestly if he were to learn tomorrow that he had a tenure track faculty position offer he would leave his job at an East coast Ivy League college in an instant to move back.
Interested in feedback on USC Thornton Jazz Studies program. Thanks!
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Additional current dislike about Bienen- Northwestern. Music library is under asbestos remediation which has been very disruptive, making access to scores difficult to impossible! Hope it’s done by fall!!!
@lkbux64 My son is loving USC Thornton Pop Performance, has friends in Jazz as well. Lots of work, great teachers!
S said that he is so glad that he is away from the broad education of high school and into the specific education that he ents to study.
My D is deciding between University of Miami’s FROST (pop voice with music therapy) and UCLA Herb Alpert (Ethnomusicology). We would love insight on experiences both good and bad, PM me is fine too!
We heard UCLA is undergoing a big shift adding music biz and songwriting(?), anything else?
Thank you!
S doesn’t have a car yet, so there are some gigs he doesn’t take. I am wondering when the car will be come necessary. For now he does get rides from folks. He offers to pay for gas, but usually is not taken up on that.
@Racingfan53 what program has your s or d applied for at Univ. of Kansas? My s applied for jazz sax and it is my alma mater!
Kansas State University:
S is a sophomore at Kansas State University. Only applied to Safety schools because wanted a school with early admit to vet school, state school, not in TX, and had a vet school. We added merit as a constraint. Has loved it since day 1!.
Pros:
Very friendly faculty, TAs, LAs, and students. Everyone is willing to help and says hi. Study abroad program very strong. Lots of activities for everyone. More diversity than it looks at first glance. Inexpensive housing and meals, with Greek housing and dues cheaper than dorm. Good Greek system, not over the top or too wild. Can be friends with anyone. Lots of places to study, faculty much better than expected and classes very challenging. Good honors program. Great merit aid available to OOS students. Ability to do research high, campus jobs plentiful.
Cons:
A little hard getting upper lever classes if you are a freshman. No problem after that.
Biggest con right now no library after the fire. They have done a lot to provide what the students need but still and inconvenience. First floor will reopen next semester.
Location a little far from airport. 2 hours to Kansas City but very doable. Town is small but very nice. (could be pro or con)
Access to health center not very good. Takes a couple days to get in even if you have a temp.
@momocarly What instrument does your son play?
@CaraCoMO actually I’m the student! I’m a current Jr. in high school, making my list of schools to apply to. At KU I would be applying as a music ed major, with voice as my major instrument. I have a friend who graduated from KU a while ago and, when asked if it was a good music program, responded “It’s better than anything you’ll find out here!” (I am on the west coast, so I consider this a hyperbolic statement, given USC, UCLA, San Francisco Conservatory…) However, I have the impression that KU would give me a very solid musical education. I also really like the early music options available.
@racingfan53 University of Kansas… or Kansas State? (Not sure what KU is…) Did you attend the Summer Choral Institute at Kansas State? (https://www.summerchoralinstitute.com/) The program happens the first week of June, and is free to anyone accepted. Free to apply also. Seems like a great way to experience the school and meet the faculty. The deadline for applications was last Friday, I believe. Not sure if they would consider a late application, but it’s worth checking out – I’d call them today if you are interested and let them know that KU is a top choice, you just heard about the summer program, and that you are a rising senior. They can’t possibly review all the applications in the first day or two, so I bet they’d give you till Friday to submit a video and application. A girl from our area (not Kansas) who attended a few years ago received a lot of scholarship money from them the following year. (She ultimately went elsewhere, but they definitely use that program as a recruitment tool).
I’m just posting this part again from the top of this thread… I know some people have raised concerns about privacy of students currently attending. If that is a concern to you, here are some ideas for things of interest that probably won’t be too personal to discuss:
The idea behind this thread is your kid’s reality check on what is in the brochures or what you heard and thought initially.
You do NOT need to address all of these, but some things to think about as you come up with your short list of what you and your kid love and what you’re not so crazy about:
– Environment (supportive, competitive, friendly, cliquish, etc.);
– Facilities (quality & number of practice rooms, school instruments, libraries, dorms, gyms or athletic facilities, student union or common areas);
– Performance opportunities (as part of the program, as extracurriculars on campus, or side gigs);
– Faculty (accessibility, style – supportive, demanding, etc., skill; No need to mention names, although if anyone is particularly amazing and has made a difference for your kid, you could certainly heap on the praise. If there is someone to avoid, maybe just ask people to PM you if considering the school!);
– Cross-departmental opportunities (is there cross-pollination between opera and musical theater, music and theater, or classical and contemporary, for example, or is it more siloed);
– Academics (workload, difficulty, ratio of music-to-gen-ed requirements, course offerings);
– Social life (what does your kid do for fun; are there non-musical things to do; does campus shut down on weekends; opportunities to meet and hang out with non-musicians, etc.);
– Actual cost of living (were the estimates correct, pleasant or unpleasant surprises, tips);
– The larger community (safety, things to do in the town or city, availability of off-campus housing, if a university or LAC how the rest of the school impacts the vibe);
– Happiness (does your kid merely like it or really love it – or neither, how about other kids – what’s the attrition rate).
– Anything else your kid talks about or you’ve observed (campus food, airport/travel hassles every semester, weather, size of program, whatever!)
It would also be great to hear: Was this originally your kid’s first choice, back-up plan, or something in-between?
@khill87 - that is a nice list. I was reading it and thinking about it. At this point, I actually can’t answer a lot of them from our point of view. It becomes hard to distinguish between what is offered at the college and what the student has pursued.
@khill87 – thank you for directing me to the Institute, which I hadn’t known about. Although it looks awesome unfortunately the timing would interfere with my final exams. I am attending two other choral/sacred music seminars over the summer though. And I was referring to U of Kansas, not KSU… though it appears KSU might have a good choral program too. I don’t know why KU is U of Kansas, but it makes sense to me given that I have a sister at UK, which is U of Kentucky 