<p>Hi all. I'm hoping to pick your collective brains for a friend, who's son is a rising senior looking for a solid BMus Percussion program at a university that meets need. Single parent family with an EFC of 0. The young man in question does receive private instruction from capable professional in symphony, is very devoted, has achieved regional distinction, enjoys both jazz and classical and is active in both.
He is also a very bright young man, but his transcript from a rigorous gifted-talented program might not reflect that well as he has some LDs that make some types of coursework more challenging for him. ACT score very strong, so perhaps schools with higher profiles would give outlier odds.</p>
<p>I welcome any and all suggestions. He's not quite sure yet whether he wants to focus on jazz or classical. A perfect environment would offer each, I suspect. I do not know a lot about percussion but would greatly like to assist this young man, so any and all advice is welcome.</p>
<p>(PS Family is familiar with options in Michigan. Looking for solid list nationally.)</p>
<p>If his LDs will permit him to handle music theory and history classes (which will be required in any conservatory program), then he can pick and choose his one elective per semester in the college to suit his strengths. There are no requirements among those electives save for a freshman writing class that can be waived based on his ACT or SAT score. The GPA’s and test scores of those accepted by the Conservatory tend to average a bit below those accepted by the College, and there is also more of a spread.</p>
<p>Oberlin meets 100% of need as demonstrated by the FAFSA and PROFILE. They are pretty good at keeping the portion of aid offered as loans fairly low and the portion offered as grants fairly high. They have excellent programs in both classical and jazz and there is some crossover in the form of classical students taking secondary lessons from the jazz faculty and vice versa. They have an incredible new building mostly for the jazz program that opened a few weeks ago. The jazz drum teacher is Dr. Billy Hart and noted hand drummer Jamey Haddad occasionally offers a class there.</p>
<p>Can’t speak to percussion, but two very solid music programs in U Nebraska Lincoln and Appalachian State. Historically, very generous, offering instate tuition rates for well qualified OOS music students.</p>
<p>And there’s always U North Texas, which does the same but it is a higher bar to reach than the other two.</p>
<p>Boston University would be a possibility. The percussion studio is extremely selective, and as a result has a lot of scholarship awarding power.
Don’t rule out Northwestern and Rice. Both are willing to make some academic accommodations for strong performers, as long as the student is basically bright and hard working, and both have excellent financial aid.</p>
<p>Would he considers an LAC’s? Sometimes they have quite a bit more money to throw around.</p>
<p>Also, money is the first priority in this situation, correct? If he were offered a full ride from a lower-level program, but reputable enough, would he take it if nothing else comes uP?</p>
<p>Thanks, all, for your suggestions. Musicmanjdb, I suspect the financial aspect will completely influence his decision by attrition, not by choice, but I could be wrong. So in answer to your question, all things being equal, yes. An LAC would actually likely be a good fit, as his current environment is lac-ish in nature.</p>
<p>Bassdad – Thanks for the detail on Oberlin – good to know b/c it would likely be a good fit. And thanks everyone else for the additional info.</p>
<p>Is he only looking at colleges and universities, or would he be interested in separate conservatories?
For a very strong player, Oberlin and Northwestern are fantastic suggestions. I would also suggest Eastman. I’m not totally positive, but I’ve heard that U Rochester gives really good financial aid. All three of those percussion programs are amazing, and classical as well as jazz studies are available.</p>