I have two great offers. McNair scholarship at South Carolina and an incredibly generous merit offer from SMU. I know both are great choices. But it is so hard to decide. In terms of finance, my out of pocket will be similar at both. Any thoughts from students/parents from either music schools or universities?
Have you visited both and talked to the teachers? When DD was making her final decision she visited each contender again, visiting the campus generally, the studio class and the teacher. One eventually felt like that was where she belonged. BTW - It is a different experience to visit after you are accepted. They are trying to sell you on their school then instead of the other way around.
Actually, the visits I made were during auditions. Yes, I visited them both. Both teachers are great! I guess you are saying you suggest visiting again before deciding?
Hi @woodwindy, my S had a similar situation in 2014. SMU Meadows as a performance major with great merit or
our instate public with some merit. From a cost perspective, the first year would have been same cost at either - maybe even slightly less at SMU, so that was not a deciding factor. My S actually preferred SMU - the size, the personalized attention, the performance opportunities and world class arts in Dallas, the flexibility to add a major or minor, the quality of the orchestra and wind bands - and the opportunities to do both as well as possibly sub for some of the professors in their professional performance venues.
The main concern for us and thus a deciding factor (and may not be a concern for you at all) was the possibility of my S falling out of love with music performance. It made more sense to us to send him to a school we could afford - even if his music merit $ went away - if he decided he really wanted to be an engineer or something else. He likely could have done both (music and other) at SMU, but the potential burden of continuing with music - when he no longer felt that passion, in order to maintain scholarships, was a concern.
S was also planning to immerse himself in a life-changing summer program - but completely away from his music performance instrument. So this heightened our concern. Would he return with less interest in music performance?
So if South Carolina is instate for you - that could make your scenario similar - in that way. If it is OOS for you, then your music merit is vital at both schools. And your scenario is not similar at all.
You’ll have to come up with a whole new list of pros and cons - starting with Large vs, Medium sized schools.
Interest in big sports and marching band - or are you excited to be done with marching band? And all those things that are really outside of your course of study - things like distance from home, ease of travel, always wanted to go somewhere new, dorms, food, practice rooms, - oh a big one - the presence of grad students to challenge you or to get all the top performance spots. Studying directly with the prof you auditioned with or a grad student. The woodwind team of students and how they work together in friendly competition.
Good luck to you!
I responded to your private message, but I’ll briefly respond here as well - just in case!
SMU School of Music has been one of the bright spots in my DC’s time at SMU. DC is a triple major, so has experienced a number of classes outside Meadows. The professors in Meadows have been very good, and all seem quite dedicated.
As another poster mentioned, you are choosing between two rather different schools: one is large and public, the other mid-sized and private. Smaller schools often offer more personalized attention; however, a larger school may offer different opportunities. My DC has appreciated the accessibility of professors that the smaller environment offers.
If you haven’t already, check out the social media accounts for both departments. You may get a feel for the goings-on at each school. I know SMU Meadows School of the Arts has a Facebook page. There are some departmental pages as well. It’s always good to gather as much information as possible!
Best of luck to you!
You need to factor in all costs and look at the entire picture: transportation to and from school to home (and ease of travel back and forth) as well as cost of living in both places when you want to move out of the dorms. How easy is it to find an apartment? Can you afford one within walking distance of the campus, will you need a car or is public transportation a viable option? Utility costs, location of grocery stores and pharmacies, all of those things are important and will really play a part when you are a sophomore or junior and better to take an hour or two to look at them now than have an unpleasant surprise later on!