Specific schools with music education programs

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>My son plans to major in music education. We have some experience in this since his older sister studied music education. He is applying to Potsdam, Fredonia, Ithaca, and Queens College (all in NY). He has had some interest in other schools that I'm less familiar with: Montclair State University (NJ), West Chester University (PA), and Buffalo State University (NY -part of SUNY system). Any comments on the strength of their music program and specifically music education? He will likely want to teach in NY after graduation.</p>

<p>Also, Queens seems to have a very good reputation for music, but they do not include lessons in the curriculum, which seems unusual. Although even for a music education major, it seems unusual.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any help. I'm searching the site but it's very slow going.</p>

2

<p>If he wants to teach in NY, it really makes sense for him to go in state. That being said, West Chester has a really nice music department. Facilities are really nice and my D and I liked the area. She didn’t elect to go there, but came away with a positive feeling. She did feel that it would be a great place for music ed.</p>

3

<p>For any education major check to see if the school keeps statics not only of how many students are placed after graduation, but how many are still employed 5 years after graduation. For teachers, this an an important marker for how well the students are prepared to last in the classroom. Many do not last past the first year or two if they are not well prepared to really handle a class. This may be more important for education majors than the music department reputation .</p>

4

<p>My son is at Crane (Potsdam) majoring in music education and performance. He loves it. </p>

<p>Of the schools you are inquiring about that we checked out we only visited Buffalo State and truthfully he took one look at the place and the area and said nope, not for me. I really liked Ithaca and he was pretty neutral about it. We liked Fredonbia but he did not like the prof at all. </p>

<p>Hofstra and CW Post offer music ed degrees but they were too close to home for his tastes (mine too :-)). Eastman also offers a music ed degree.</p>

<p>Since he is also looking out of state Mansfield in PA has a very nice music ed program and I beleive they may offer a discount to NY’ers as well.</p>

5

<p>Thanks cartera45. I think I saw posts from you about West Chester. Once I figured out searching better I found posts about West Chester’s music ed program that were encouraging. I think he’ll apply there, and audition there December 8, which will be a good first audition. Unfortunately he can’t start the audition, process till he’s accepted.</p>

<p>I found no posts mentioning Buffalo State, so I think it’s off the list.</p>

<p>Regarding in-state schools, that was a big concern for us with our daughter. Our son may have to go further.</p>

<p>Singersmom07, we’ll definitely do so. We’ve been through this before (twice actually) but it’s a good point.</p>

<p>Any comments regarding Queens College not providing lessons?</p>

6

<p>Thanks sagiter. Our daughter’s a Crane grad, the people there are great. Frankly, Fredonia and Ithaca are longshots. Ithaca’s just too expensive. We’ve been to Fredonia and that would be a post of it’s own. CW Post and Hofstra are possible but a bit expensive too; CW Post would be great, but we weren’t thrilled with Hofstra’s program when we were there.</p>

7

<p>I believe Queens College only offers a BA in Music Ed not a BM. Individual lessons are only offerred to BM students. I would assume if you double majored in Performance and Music Ed you would get the lesson but I’m not sure they allow the double major.</p>

8

<p>Montclair State has a brand new music building and I think it is growing into a very strong program and it already has a good Music Education department although you should note it is a planned five year program including getting your teaching certification for NJ. It is close to Manhattan but of course is in NJ not NY from a tuition perspective. Main issue with Montclair State is that overall they have expanded the total number of students very quickly to around 18,000 and the number of dorm rooms has not kept up. So there have been some housing issues although long term they are trying to address the situation.</p>

9

<p>Hi NJ Jazz dad</p>

<p>I have another daughter I didn’t mention. She’s in the fourth year of the Music Therapy program at Montclair. A few years ago I saw a paper on the school talking about the tremendous growth they were planning in the music department. It’s been a difficult time but well worth it - including the tuition difference for a NYer. </p>

<p>She’s in orchestra. For anyone considering Montclair for orchestra, the director Paul Hostetter has been incredible from the day we met him. He has a love of music that shows in every performance, he cares for his students, yet he’s very disciplined and expects (and gets) the most from his students. He’s well on the way to building a major orchestra at Montclair. The music school at Montclair is at the top of our list. The university at large, not so much; still, the music school positives far outweigh the university negatives.</p>

10

<p>Have you looked at Hofstra on Long Island? They have a good music ed. program a couple of my Ds friends are there.</p>

11

<p>West Chester has always had a good program and the campus is pretty and easy to get around. You might want to check with opera-mom about Queens College since I believe that her D auditioned there- you can send her a PM if she doesn’t find this thread! Take a look at Buf State for yourself since it does sit in an interesting area- near the Art Gallery and Delaware Park (lovely estate homes and Shakespeare in the Park- the second largest performance venue of it’s type in the country) and the Elmwood Ave area which is neat shops and a huge variety of dining places, but the Psych Center is also right nearby if that makes a difference to you. We have known kids who have looked there and liked it enough to apply.I’d prefer the neighborhood around BS any day to that of UB, which is off in it’s own little corner. Potsdam is COLD and relatively isolated-definitley something to consider if grey days and months without sun are a real downer. Fredonia is really out in the proverbial “middle of nowhere”, very small town-ish, but an hour (or less) drive to Buffalo and about 2 1/2 hours to Cleveland. Transportation there is a problem. Ithaca is overcrowded (they actually gave students 10K each this year if they would defer their admission for a year!) and very expensive as is Eastman. I don’t think I’d give those two a look for Music Ed since the equivelant can be gotten for much less elsewhere. All of those upstate schools face the same weather conditions, just in varying degrees of snow and cold. It’s not unusual to go 30+ days without seeing the sun and you don’t know how that can make you feel until you have experienced it. Now, for a student, that might not be a big problem since they are with other kids and always have things to do as a group, but I can assure you that, as a young ( the first time around, anyway!) mother of an infant, it is akin to the 8th level of hell! If your S really wants to teach in NY but does want to consider a school in PA or NJ, check with the NY Dept of Ed to find out the latest policy on reciprocal licensing. Degrees in some subjects are recognized in other states without having to retake all of the tests…</p>

12

<p>My DD is a music ed major at Fredonia. I am curious to know what you mean by your visit being a thread of its own? Ofc, a lot depends on the professors your child will have on their instrument. My DD (Horn player) auditioned and was accepted at Crane, Ithaca, Fredonia, and NYU. At Crane she liked the professor very much but not the attitude of the staff (we felt their sense of elitism was a little outdated, they came off very stodgy as did our tour guide). Ithaca she loved, loved, loved the town, the school, the Prof, but not so much the Aid package. NYU same situation, just could not afford it but the idea of it was so exciting. </p>

<p>She was rejected from Eastman but coincidentally while she liked the school, did not care for the professor. Odd how that works out. DD actually said after her Eastman audition that she played the best she ever had but that probably was not good enough. </p>

<p>At Fredonia she got the “package totale”. I have told this story before but in fact, Fredonia was on the bottom of her list. She had her Eastman audition the day before and we had planned on driving from Rochester to Fredonia to spend the night. The Eastman audition was good but she had already pretty much decided on Ithaca. We almost skipped out on her Fredonia audition (we had not even visited the campus at this point). Then a phone call came from my youngest daughter at home. She said the auditioning professor from Fredonia had called our home and left a message saying hello and how he was very much looking forward to meeting my DD the next day. Long story short, we went to the audition and the professor said on the spot he was recommending her for acceptance. She really liked him and even though we had a long drive home we said what the hay and took the campus tour afterward. From then on it was love and has been ever since.</p>

<p>Our experience with music ed Fredonia has been exactly as they promised us it would be when we visited. DD loves it there, the environment is perfect for her and thankfully the weather is not as bad as in our Northern NY hometown. </p>

<p>Everyone is different, and what my DD finds desirable in a college may not be what your child is looking for.</p>

<p>One more thing, I would suggest you may want to look into Mercyhurst in PA. They offer a very nice package to NY residents (it is actually listed on their site).</p>

13

<p>I just wanted to add to my comments about Buffalo State. I love the area where the school is but I am a city boy at heart. Ultimately one of my son’s criteria in picking a school was the lack of “city” distractions. He wanted a small campus in a small town that he could walk to if needed. While the distance between home and Potsdam was an issue after a couple trips it wasn’t bad and they run buses straight to Long Island for breaks. He loved the small town and felt very home at Crane. </p>

<p>As to the winters, no where in NYS will snow be as bad as on the western end (buffalo area) because of the lake effect snows. Surprisingly Potsdam does not get massive amounts of snow but they do get bitter cold. They do get Ice in Potsdam though. Snow totals in the northern/mid sections, Albany, Fredonia, Rochester, Ithaca are typically higher than the Potsdam totals.</p>

14

<p>Actually sagiter, last year in Fredonia they had hardly any snow for most of the winter (although it was very windy and cold). When we visited Fredonia for DD’s audition in January 2008 there was hardly any snow then as well. We were quite surprised as were all of DD’s Long Island classmates who came to Fredonia hoping for lots of snow. </p>

<p>Now, “hardly any snow” to us is Fredonia’s 08-09 ttl snowfall of 89 inches (as of Feb) compared to our hometown total of 219 inches as of the same time. We live in the ‘snowbelt’ of NY (a couple hours south of Potsdam) where the lake effect is the worst. Last year I had snowbanks in my yard well over 8 feet tall from beginning of winter to end. Our ski resorts in the area are famous for rarely having to use snow machines. </p>

<p>While weather should never be a factor in the decision it should be noted that Potsdam is way out there and (having driven there in December) the roads are isolated in many areas and not so great to drive on. I am comforted knowing that my DD can drive all the way to and from Fredonia on the NYS Thruway (same could be said for Buffalo). For someone whose student drives themselves back and forth to school on breaks that is a huge relief. When DD was considering Ithaca I was a little worried about her navigating that giant hill in the winter months to go into town.</p>

<p>I am only mentioning this bc of Fredonia’s bad rep for crazy weather. When I told a family friend (who is from Buffalo coincidentally) DD was going to Fredonia she said “Oh my why would anyone want to go there with all of that snow?” LOL, coming from her that is too funny. And she just sent her DD to college in Buffalo this year!</p>

15

<p>Wow, you’re away for a couple of days and miss so much. Where to begin?</p>

<p>MomOf3Stars, your comment about so much depending on the professor in your instrument is so true. It was one of the most important criteria for our daughters. We’ll look closely at that as we go through the auditions. Interestingly, our first daughter had the experience at Potsdam that you had at Fredonia, and our second daughter had the experience at Fredonia that you had at Potsdam; and much of it was the way they perceived the professor in their instrument, although it seemed we had a similar perception of each School of Music in general. Thanks also for your mention of Mercyhurst PA, I’ll look into them. </p>

<p>Regarding Fredonia being a thread off it’s own, the largest part of that was in the professor in her instrument. For viola, they were using an adjunct professor, which we felt ill at ease about. There was no certainty he would remain. The professor who auditioned her (I believe it was a violin instructor) seemed to regard the entire process as an imposition on her time. We felt there as you did in Potsdam a good deal of elitism in the department (staff and admin, but not in the students). Coming from the eastern part of the state (Long Island), Fredonia does not have nearly the presence in our area that Potsdam does. We did feel that Fredonia had a nicer campus and much better facilities for the School of Music.</p>

<p>We’ve dropped Buff State from our list because we’ve had no comments about the music ed program there, either here or elsewhere.</p>

<p>We’re applying to Ithaca mainly because it’s expected that you apply to Ithaca, Fredonia, and Potsdam. It’s also a December audition so he can get a feel of the process.</p>

<p>Sopranodad819, we looked at Hofstra with first daughter. Expensive for their reputation, and oddly, a bit of elitism there too. Particularly, when we asked about marching band. My daughter’s a strings teacher, but she enjoyed marching band as another activity in high school and has supplemented her income (considerably) by teaching more than one marching band program. IIRC, when I asked about marching band at Hofstra, I was told they have a fine arts program, they do not have marching band. That seemed odd since they host a marching band festival each year.</p>

<p>Mezzo’sMom, thanks, I’ll ask opera-mom about Queens.</p>

<p>And to everyone, thanks for the weather concerns. My daughter lived through the “devastating ice storm of 1998” in Potsdam. And yes, they usually get less snow. And Fredonia often get’s more. All that was the start of my daughter’s preference for Montclair, and I think that’s why my son would like to attend Queens. But I’ve told them all, you have to really hate the weather to dismiss some of the opportunities these schools represent.</p>

16

<p>Just a quick note. Starting in the spring of 2010 (I believe) there will be a major construction project started at Crane which will almost double the facility size. They say they will not take more students though so that will be interesting. Anyway, it’s going to be messy on campus for the next few years.</p>

17

<p>kurtr1: Interesting you should mention the Ice Storm of 98, that missed us by only about 20 miles or so but thank goodness. What a mess.</p>

<p>I would say strings are an animal of their own when it comes to the selection process. My DD being a brass player I cannot really comment much on strings but HopefulMom on this forum has a DD at Fredonia in the string program this year. Maybe you could PM her if you want perspective. </p>

<p>There is a pretty sizable contingent of LI’ers at Fredonia. Enough to where they have charter buses on breaks. They claim their 3rd largest population of students comes from Suffolk County I believe.</p>

18

<p>MomOf3Stars - I had heard there were a lot of LIers at Fredonia. He’ll audition there, and if he’s accepted he’ll consider it, I don’t think it will be a strong focus point for him though. For example, we’ll audition off-campus and visit only if accepted. We’ve already been there with our daughter so we can put off the visit till accepted.</p>

<p>Sagiter - heck of a coincidence. Our daughter at Montclair just went through two years of major rebuilding - huge new student recreation center last year, beautiful new music building opened this year. Definitely a messy two years, but worth the wait. The theater was also opened only five years ago.</p>