<p>My daughter's tale: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1600154-an-introduction-starting-all-over-again-p1.html">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1600154-an-introduction-starting-all-over-again-p1.html</a></p>
<p>My daughter says that her biggest priority in choosing a college is finding the right voice teacher. But how does this work? How do we find this important person? She has had a fair number of teachers and directors at this point, and has found that she likes working with teachers with strong personalities who are very direct, even demanding. She prefers a female teacher. She doesn't mind gruff or blunt teachers, as long as they are invested in her. Her first college voice teacher left at the end of her freshman year to pusue another opportunity, and my daughter is really hoping to find someone who will be committed to teaching and the college, and hopefully her. Thoughts?</p>
<p>You could start by looking at the faculty at the colleges that she is interested in and maybe contact them. I know on a couple college visits my D met with some vocal faculty and had an impromtu lesson. Maybe they would let you set up a meeting. You don’t know until you ask them. </p>
<p>Definitely check with schools she is interested in and see if a lesson can be arranged. I know Coastal Carolina did this for our D. And NYU-Steinhardt will arrange this also. I’m sure if you ask, many other schools will as well. She could also get on student focused forums such as the Unified page on Facebook and ask current BFA students for program/teacher recommendations. </p>
<p>Boston Conservatory will arrange a lesson as well.</p>
<p>I think many schools will be willing to arrange a lesson once you have settled on a list. The only thing that I would caution about is that faculty at schools changes very frequently. It might be a mistake to choose a program based on a particular instructor only to have that person leave the program. It might be better to talk to some of the voice teachers and choose based on a philosophy of the program. We do know of one girl (Voice and MT) who turned down all of her acceptances and scholarships to attend a program because of a particular instructor. She found out in April that the teacher was leaving the program. She chosen that school primarily because of that one instructor and was devestated. Fortunately for her, she went to her 2nd choice school that she had turned down, and they accepted her and reinstated her scholarship. I think that is pretty unusual, but she got lucky (and is very talented- I’me sure they were excited to get her!) In any event, there is a lot more to any program than any one teacher, and it can be risky to pick a program on that basis.</p>
<p>You probably also need to discuss with schools how voice teachers are assigned. Most programs will not necessarily grant or even let students request a certain teacher, so make sure if you’re going somewhere because of a teacher you are guaranteed to be placed with that teacher. </p>
<p>Excellent advice, everyone! And thanks for the cautionary tale @takeitallin . I feel bad for my daughter because she cares very deeply about finding the right teacher. She really wants to get it right this time. Having said that, she is able to roll with the punches. She gets along well with any kind of teacher. </p>