<p>How is the voice program @ SUNY Purchase?</p>
<p>We knew when my son was a freshman that he was likely to major in music. So, over the course of the first three years we made sure to fit in visits to local schools with good music programs or, when travelling, other music schools. So, we visited Northwestern, De Paul, Roosevelt, Columbia (Chicago), Elmhurst (can you tell we live in the Chicgo area?) and St. Olafās in Minnesota. By the time his senior year rolled aoround, he had narrowed his interest in music studies to either music production or composition. </p>
<p>One disadvantge to the search process is that neither my wife or I are musical, while my son is passionate about it. So, we didnāt have the advantage of knowig from experience or intuition a good music school from a mediocre one.</p>
<p>This past fall, as a senior, we visited Southern Illinois (our research indicated it had a good composition school) and Ball State in Indiana. He also, through school, talked with representatives of Oberlin, Ithaca, Berklee, and a couple of other places. His choir director at school counsled against applying to the music school at UofI in Champaing/Urbana.</p>
<p>He ended up applying to DePaul, Ball State, Ithaca, SIU, Berklee, Ithaca, and Drexel (which was one of the first schools he ever expressed interest in, because of its music production program). This was around Xmas. After he applied, he realized that he was really gravitating more toward music composition than music production (it was interesting to see how these programs seem to be evolving ā some production programs were heavily weighted with science classes, which turned my son off. Others, like SIU, had programs that were slanted toward business marketing. Ball Stateās written materials showed a science-oriented program, but when we made a campus visit one of the music professors told us that for the 2011-2012 school year the production program would be evolving to more of a marketing program.)</p>
<p>Almost as soon as he applied, I could tell that his interest in both Drexel and DePaul had waned. He never even auditioned at DePaul. And, we never heard anything back from Dexel.</p>
<p>In the end, he was rejected from Ithaca, wait-listed at Berklee (which I think had become his first choice), and accepted at SIU and BSU. He was awarded some money from SIU but nothing (so far) from BSU (aside from the option of taking loans). (Iām negotiating with BSU.)</p>
<p>He has no desire to go to SIU.</p>
<p>So, one of the frustrating things about this process is that he applied at one safety school, which he ended up not wanting to go to. Of course, it would have better if his safety school was one he really liked, or if he had applied to a couple of them.</p>
<p>Because of the no-money-from-BSU situation, this is where he basically is ā we (his parents) can afford to provide about $12,000 for his education freshman year. He can take out about $5,000 in Stafford loans. Which leaves him about $18,000 short for his freshman year (thatās including the cost of a new computer and some beer money for weekends . . .) He does have applications in for some local scolarships and he can continue to apply for scholarships.</p>
<p>I, at times, micromanaged this process, to make sure he was meeting deadlines and contacting people for references. But I feel I really blew it in a couple of ways. I didnāt make him apply at more than one safety school. I didnāt make it clear from the beginnng of the process the dollar amount my wife and I were willing to pay. And I didnāt do enough to guide him to learn more about student loans.</p>
<p>I also didnāt come to this site soon enough (I joined in 2008 but didnāt pay much attentiion to it a few months ago when it really could have done me some good).</p>
<p>So, Iām disappointed, at the moment, with how things have turned out. Iāve tried, more than once, to get him to think differently about SIU (from a purely mercenary/monetary perspective). But, he has never expressed a desie to go there since we visited ā he liked the music people he met but was turned off by the rest of the campus, and there are only about 200 music students at SIU compared to a student body of 20,000. I think he would have a fantastic experience at Berklee, but I donāt see that happening ā even if he got accepted off the wait list, there probably wouldnāt be near enough money for him.</p>
<p>I know that ultimately this is all up to him ā he is the one looking for training as a musician and, frankly, if he is going to be successful in that field, he has to be aggressive and entrepueneral (sp?)</p>
<p>If the money thing works out (he is NOT going to borrow $18,000 for his freshman year) I think he would thrive at BSU. Itās more rural than he wants, I think, but he has been impressed by the facilities and the professors both times we visited. Iām just afraid that the money thing WONāT work out, and it will be July or August before we realize that ā and then Iām not sure what plan B would be ā gap year or Columbia (Chicago).</p>
<p>He did tell me the other day that if he had been more sure in December that what he really wanted was to study composition, he would NOT have applied at some places and applied at others, like Lawrence.</p>
<p>ptc, now that your son has a clearer idea of what he wants to do, have you considered the option of your son taking a gap year to study composition, improve his portfolio, and get some of this required courses out of the way at, say, a community college? You could redo the application process next year with refined choices and more knowledge.</p>
<p>ptc,</p>
<p>Thank you for sharing that story. I am going to include your sonās acceptances over at the <a href=āhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1045522-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2011-a-64.html[/url]ā>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1045522-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2011-a-64.html</a></p>
<p>Since he is getting advice from the choral director, should I list his primary instrument as voice or is there another that would be more appropriate?</p>
<p>Best of luck to you both in sorting this all out.</p>
<p>ptc: Thanks for sharing your sonās application process. Iām sure that it will be helpful for those with younger children. Hind-sight is, of course, 20-20. </p>
<p>It is difficult to make decisions when childrenās ambitions are evolving and when one canāt predict outcomes or how your child will feel about various campuses. I think fields like composition and production are particularly difficult for applications because there are fewer schools, the programs tend to be smaller (than performance or music ed, for example) and the programs are often quite different from each other in ways that one often doesnāt realize until well into the application process. As well, students tend to get involved in composition or production much later than they get involved in study of an isntrument, so their interests and ambitions have not had time to gel.</p>
<p>I, too, felt like I blew it in a couple of ways for my sonās application process, and I, too, felt like I was micromanaging (okay, I didnāt just feel like it, I was actually micromanaging!). Yet, my son is very happy where he is and could not imagine not going back for his second year.</p>
<p>I think the suggestion of a gap year is an excellent one: time to mature in oneās interests, to grow as a composer (which should enhance the scholarship chances), and to earn/save some money while living at home. Of course, most 17-year-olds are unlikely to see the gap year in the same way; many tend to view it as a kind of failure. Often taking some elective courses at a local college helps them feel better about the year.</p>
<p>Best of luck with the decision. I agree with you that the decision will have to be your sonās and that he will need to be aggressive and entrepreneurial to be successful, so this may help develop those qualities.</p>
<p>ptc, donāt kick yourself too hard. My husband and I are both engineers and have a daughter that was interested in biology/pre-med and music when she applied to schools as a senior, and we watched as she made the choice at the time to go toward pre-med thinking she could at least make a living. She thought she was fine at school 1 too until March of her freshman year in college. In the end, she realized how much she really wanted music, re-applied to Berklee after working hard all summer to catch back up w/ her skills and chops (voice/piano) and it paid off. Sheās at Berklee now as a transfer as of January and she did get some scholarship money. So Iām thinking that you convince your son to go where you can afford for the first year, and then re-apply to other schools as a transfer if he doesnāt like it. If he gets into a music school on the 2nd go-round, his liberal arts and non-music classes will transfer in for credit, and he can continue to grow and mature for a year (or a semester) like glassharmonica suggested. Good luck ā¦ it will work out even though it seems tough right now.</p>
<p>BassDad ā my sonās primary instrument is cello, but he also plays guitar in a couple of bands, piano, and performs in the school choir and in a local madrigal choir.</p>
<p>Thanks, I will change the listing to cello rather than voice.</p>
<p>SUNY purchase voice program. Does anyone know anything about it???</p>
<p>@Symbols: My brother-in-law is an opera singer and highly recommends SUNY Purchase. We visited on Wednesday and my son really liked it!</p>
<p>ptc: do you have any community colleges in your area that your son could attend? He could work on general ed courses while still working on his music either through the community college or a good private teacher. My son was told by one prof that if he didnāt get in anywhere he felt good about to do the gap year and practice and go back and reaudition next year. He also suggested joining a regional or community orchestra during the gap year. Several of my sons friends did take a gap year last year and the year before and all of them are at their target schools this year. Good luck.</p>
<p>S has selected Oberlin double degree. They increased merit to 10K which helped a bit. What a year and what a process and what a great result.</p>
<p>Eastman is part of the University of Rochester, a top tier University with great programs all across the board. Eastman students can take classes at U of R for no additional charge. In addition, the music department at the U of R (separate, yet in communication with Eastman) has a phenomenal (top in the country) music history and theory program - in many ways better than youāll find at a performing school (as they donāt expect U of R students to spend 5 hours a day practicing, but rather studying and doing homework, writing papers, etc.) U of R students can also take classes and lessons for free at Eastman.</p>
<p>You can also apply for admission to both Eastman and U of R, and, if accepted, enroll in a dual degree program (ie. B.S. in Chemical Engineering, B.M. in Music Education, etc.)</p>
<p>Eastman sounds great, but Iāve heard conflicting reports about the safety there. I know one parent who would not let her child attend (he had been accepted) only because they did not feel safe on campus. Any opinions?</p>
<p>the subject of Eastman and safety has been discussed before on this forum, but I canāt put my hands on the thread.</p>
<p>I live in Rochester, and my daughter attended the conservatory community school. She was dating a freshman, so she also spent a lot of time going from the school to the dorm (1 block away), and the parking garage (1 block in the other direction). Whenever I went to pick her up, no matter how late at night, there were always kids going and coming in that stretch (from school to dorm). And I think I always saw a school security officer there.</p>
<p>It depends on the kid; there are directions that the kids should not walk in, away from the school, and directions that are fine to walk.</p>
<p>Perhaps I can understand a parent not wanting a young teenager to attend an urban-based summer programā¦ itās not pretty or rural or park-like in any way.</p>
<p>IMO, itās overly protective to discount Eastman as an option for 18 year olds who are pursuing a career in music, due to security reasons. (I wouldn discount it because thereās so little to do besides dorm-school-coffeeshop-school-dorm)</p>
<p>what about Vanderbilt? I havenāt read much about the music school (Blair) at Vanderbilt on these forums or maybe I am just not looking in the right place</p>
<p>I visited with my son in Feb. '10 during one of their Black & Gold events.
[Black</a> and Gold DaysĀ |Ā Undergraduate AdmissionsĀ |Ā Vanderbilt University](<a href=āhttp://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/black-and-gold-program.php]Blackā>http://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/black-and-gold-program.php)</p>
<p>We were pretty impressed. They hold the quantity of music majors to about 200. Thatās all undergrad. There is no graduate program, so youāre only competing with undergrads for ensemble positions.</p>
<p>Beautiful campus, even in February.</p>
<p>This was before my son decided he really wanted a jazz studies program, and Vandy isnāt the place for that.</p>
<p>One thing my son found to be a turnoff was that the student body is very white, too much so like the suburban town heās grown up in.</p>
<p>So I am pretty naive when it comes to the world of music schools. I will be auditioning next year for voice and basically my teachers suggestions was just naming off the top three music schools (Juilliard, Rice etcā¦) Could anyone suggest solid tier two music schools?</p>
<p>McGill Universityās Schulich School of Music in Montreal is ranked #1 in Canada for music. Itās a PHENOMENAL music school within a top notch university. Itās also very inexpensive (about half the price of an American conservatory) and in a great city environment. I strongly recommend checking it out!</p>
<p>[Music</a> | Music - McGill University](<a href=āhttp://www.mcgill.ca/music/]Musicā>Music - McGill University)</p>
<p>Here is an interesting article about the creation and development of the flourishing New Music program at Grand Valley State.
[NewMusicBox</a> Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble?On the New Music Map](<a href=āhttp://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/grand-valley-state-university-new-music-ensemble-on-the-new-music-map/]NewMusicBoxā>Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble: On the New Music Map - New Music USA)</p>