So You Want To Be Music Major - One Family's Experience

<p>NYSaxmom, I hope you have discovered the scholarships page at UNT. Your son is eligible for a Board of Regents scholarship, based on his SAT score, of $6000 per year. We have found that UNT tries to meet need, the Board of Regents scholarship does get you the instate tuition waiver and the school is a great bargain if you get accepted! The Board of regents scholarship is automatic based on test scores.</p>

<p>Iā€™ve read through a lot of this thread and even though Iā€™m looking into grad schools, all of the advice/insight is AMAZING! And since I am probably where most of your kids will be in a few years, Iā€™ll inform you that I decided to pursue a piano performance degree at a CA State school. But, my teacher and the program were both awful, so I took a BA instead of the BM and ran as fast as I could to a better teacher.</p>

<p>I decided to study privately with a teacher from the SF Conservatory of Music, and my playing and overall love of music have improved enormouslyā€¦ so itā€™s time to look at grad schools. And since my parents are in the same boat all of you seem to be in (SIGHā€¦), Iā€™m pretty much in this on my own (financially). But, since most of you have been through the application/audition process already, could you all please let me know how important it is to visit the school and have trial lessons etc? Even though everyone seems to be most familiar with undergrad expectations, Iā€™m guessing the audition process is similar.Iā€™m planning on applying to NEC, Peabody, the Royal College of Music in London (auditioning in Boston), U of Michigan, and U of Washington in Seattle. I probably have a good chance of getting into the SF Conservatory, but I really want to live out of state for a while.</p>

<p>If you have visited these schools, I would be incredibly grateful if you let me know any ā€œred flagsā€ etc that might not be available on line. </p>

<p>Iā€™m on the West coast and the application cost alone is going to be ridiculously expensive, so Iā€™m very wary on taking extra trips to the East coast in addition to my auditions. Maybe devoting a trip for my top choice is wisest?</p>

<p>And if I do have a trial lesson in October/November, is it better to play a piece thatā€™s already polished so they think I play well? Or is it fine to play one of the pieces Iā€™m planning on auditioning with, even though it might be ā€œvery rough around the edgesā€.</p>

<p>I already had a D go thru the grad school process.(voice) The most important thing you can do now (besides practice!!!) is to network. Make connections with other students who are currently at these schools. Try and network with faculty at these schools. Get the inside dirt on what sort of musicians they give money to and what sort of pianists they are funding. By the time D went for her auditions in the East, she had a couch to sleep at for each stop and was really on top of what each program offered. You are going to have to be a fantastic networker to make it as a musicianā€¦might as well start right now.</p>

<p>Wonderful advice given in this thread. Iā€™m having trouble finding a LAC for my S who spends 2-3 hrs/day min on the drumset, but wants to major in philosophy/psychology. A LAC or small university with a good music program is a place to start and weā€™re looking at most of the ones mentioned, but are there any that would be particularly suited to a student interested in contemporary music/drum set as opposed to orchestral percussion? Or that have practice rooms freely available even to non-music majors?</p>

<p>drummerparent - Iā€™m not sure of the specifics, but when we visited Lawrence University we sat in on a several percussion groups. They were very casual and made up of music and non-music majors. Some kids just wanted to learn to hit drums and were welcome.</p>

<p>From their website:</p>

<p>Music for non-majors - Lawrence also offers many opportunities if you want to continue playing and performing but do not wish to major in music. All ensembles are open by audition (and no spaces are held for music majors). All music courses may be taken by any qualified Lawrence student and there are special music classes for non-music majors. In some cases you may even take individual lessons depending on your skill level and the availability of the professor.</p>

<p>Iā€™m not sure that this is exactly what you meant, but it may be worth a look. They have an excellent dual degree program as well. Good luck!</p>

<p>My son has a 32 ACT, 3.5 unw, 4.0 weighted GPA. He attends a small, extended-day fine arts school which also has a math/science department. They do not rank students.</p>

<p>He is very interested in University of North Texas for music. Does anyone have any personal knowledge and/or experience in if they will offer the ā€œautomaticā€ boards of regents scholarship to him, or some other similar academic scholarship or is he out of luck because his school doesnā€™t rank? Argh . . .</p>

<p>Guitarsmom,
We were in the same situation two years ago, my sonā€™s HS doesnā€™t do ranking either. As I recall, what UNT accepted instead was a ā€œhigh school profileā€ form which was filled out by our HS guidance office. My guess is that from that UNT could make an assessment of equivalency for ranking. Anyway, my son did get a scholastic scholarship, not the highest (he had a 32 ACT and something like a 3.4 - 3.5 GPA range). It was enough for him to be eligible for a $3,000/yr scholarship which also got him in-state tuituion. My advice is to stay on top of it with the admissions office and your sonā€™s HS guidance officeā€¦make sure all the forms and transcripts are sent/processed in a timely manner!</p>

<p>From the HS profile form, my son was deemed to be not in the top 10%, but was in the top quarter. A fleeting thought I had at the time was I should have pushed him on the studying at the expense of the music extracurricular, but would be working at cross purposes there I think!</p>

<p>Guitarsmom, my S is a freshman guitarist at UNT, and he did receive the Regents Scholarship with out of state tuition waiver and admission to the Honors college based on test scores, rank and GPA, automatically accepted to UNT. Then he had to audition to be accepted to the School of Music and the Jazz Studies program. He is happy there, liking the program as far as I can tell, he rarely contacts home!</p>

<p>I would call the admissions office and ask them about the HS ranking situation. Clarify with them what your child is eligible for.</p>

<p>musictwins,
Glad your son is liking UNT! Our son was the same way, rarely contacting home but I think they keep them really busyā€¦itā€™s a good sign :-)</p>

<p>We found at the end of our sonā€™s freshman year a good opportunity to hear them play is at the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival. All of the jazz lab bands play and the faculty band plays too. Son was also in a chamber group that weekend, so we got to hear some classical as well. That festival is so close to the end of term, we thought if we plan it better (and have the time off) next time we will do some touring in the south west around that time and combine attending the festival with picking him up for the long trek home. Of course this year his plan may be to do something other than coming home summer, so Iā€™ll have to wait and see!</p>

<p>Musictwins ā€“ thanks for the feedback on the program. I really have a good feeling about this, and he seems excited. </p>

<p>Jazztrombonemom ā€“ thank you so much for sharing your experience about the way they handled the lack of ranking. I called the scholarship office and they told me it was handled as you mentioned (still a mysterious formula, but at least he would still be in the running) but I had already emailed the scholarship dept and was told that if he didnā€™t have a rank he couldnā€™t get the scholarship. Obviously that is incorrect, or perhaps it was just for certain scholarships. </p>

<p>I TOTALLY get what you are saying about rank. My son is likely not going to be in top 10% but I feel sure is in top 25%. I think it would have had a negative effect on his musical growth (as well as our relationship) if I had harped constantly about grades. He didnā€™t do badly, even if I know he could have done a bit better. All this brings to mind how my daughter struggled unsuccessfully to get into a program at college, and we were so disappointed, but a few months later we realized that it was a very good thing that she did not, as it would not have been a good fit and something better came along. I need to remember that things tend to work themselves out, and he just needs to take care of the basic business and he will be fine.</p>

<p>Way back when, D did a regional audition for VP UNT. They encouraged her to visit after she had been accepted. It came across as a great program and was a real contender ā€”especially since D remarked that she had never ever seen so many cute guys with guitars in one place. :)</p>

<p>Musictwins: I initially sort of skipped over your reference to the honors college. The perks of housing and early class selection are significant, but Iā€™m not quite clear about additional/more difficult classes? Is it more advantageous than onerous, especially for music students, who tend to need a LOT of time to practice?</p>

<p>Also, my son is like ā€œwhat?ā€ about the writing requirement. He has a few relatively short essays he has written for school, but nothing very extensive recently. Do you recall what sort of submission your son had for that part of the application to Honors College?</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

<p>Guitarsmom - Honors college requirements are not onerous, perks are great. The students must take 1 honors class per semester and maintain a specified GPA. The essay was not something my son sweat much over. I think he tweaked a previously written essay for this submission. He is very happy to be able to live in Honors Hall!</p>

<p>Guitarsmom, I admit I pushed my son to reply to the Honors College admission mainly because I wanted him to have the chance to stay in the Honors College dorm, which is very new, and has a two-person suite set-up (private room with a shared bathroom). But by the time he had his admission in, and was ready to apply for housing, the Honors dorm had filled up. He ended up staying at the older Bruce Hall which is across the street from the Music Bldg, so great location, but has rather small rooms, especially compared to the newer dorms. But he liked Bruce so much, he returned to it this year.</p>

<p>The minimum requirements for staying in Honors college are not too onerous, it is one 3-credit Honors course per year and at least a 3.0 grade point average. I remember discussing with the Honors College Dean if it made sense for a music major to be in the honors college, being that I associate that with a liberal arts type student. She demurred and said their most represented major ARE music students. She also pointed out the benefit of having the Honors designation with oneā€™s degree. Anyway, I figured son was already used to taking some honors/AP courses in HS (mostly getting Bs) so I figured it was good for him to still have as much challenge as he can handle in non-music areas too, or at least try it out, and could always withdraw from the Honors college later if he finds it too much. So far though, heā€™s decided to stick with it even though music seems to be his only priority. His requisite Honors course last year was Sociology for which he received a B. I am not looking forward to if he decides to take an Honors English class, but hopefully he has enough maturity by now to invest the time needed!</p>

<p>There is a trick to trying to get a room in any dorm at UNT. I will share what we discovered. The housing system is purged every Monday of those who have not paid their deposit. We obsessively searched and hit refresh on Mondays to get my son into the Honors dorm. It tool a couple of weeks but we were able to get a room in Honors Hall and then immediately pain the deposit to secure the room. You can reserve a room as soon as you are admitted to the Honors College which will happen long before you hear from the SOM. If you are willing to pay the deposit then you can reserve a spot, otherwise you will have to use the above mentioned system. </p>

<p>My S has signed up to take an honors course this summer which will take the students to London for a couple of weeks. A study abroad opportunity that will not interfere with regular school year practice. I think it is a fantastic opportunity.</p>

<p>There is a list of Honors classes somewhere on the Honors College pages. My S is taking a Music related Honors class.</p>

<p>Please tell me we should already having done all this!</p>

<p>When can incoming freshmen for fall, 2013 request housing? I would most definitely want him to have a separate bedroom, even if housing is otherwise very basic, old, whatever. Heā€™s very social and friendly, but he would certainly benefit from being able to shut the door and be by himself at times.</p>

<p>Meant to say, please DONā€™T tell me that we should have already done this! :-)</p>

<p>musictwins,
I wished I had known about that trick! I remember trying to get son on a waiting list for Honors Hall in the spring of 2011 and it was discouraging to submit the online request and find that he was something like 3.000th in the queue. That study abroad opportunity via the honors course sounds wondeful, Iā€™ll pass that on to my son</p>

<p>guitarsmom,
I donā€™t think housing reservations are taken until after January, and the upperclassmen are taken first. So youā€™re kind of dependent on how many current residents decide to return or are graduating. But I think your chances of getting into the dorm are good if you 1) donā€™t delay on the Honors College application and 2) apply for housing and put down the deposit as soon as notification of Honors college acceptanceā€¦ I believe you can get the deposit back by a certain date if your son decides not to go to UNT. The year that my son was going to be a freshman, I found out that over half of the incoming residents were going to be freshman, so they do get in.</p>

<p>The dorm is nice, I stayed in it during parent orientation. Itā€™s more like a Hampton Inn than the dorms of my day. The only drawback is it doesnā€™t have a cafeteria, like Bruce Hall, but then again the trend in campus housing seems to be moving toward centralized eating areas rather than each dorm having its own.</p>

<p>Bumping this to the top - as this is our favorite thread for those considering majoring in music. Be sure to read the first few pages. Everything you want to know!</p>

<p>Thank you for this, for us parents who are not native speakers here on Planet Music!</p>