<p>Next year daughter will be a junior and is interested in the advanced music studies program at the school..though daughter wants to be a pop singer and this is classically oriented there is work on writing songs etc that will benefit her.</p>
<p>Of course since the program is half a day she will be able to get in one math one science one english and one social studies..all required for graduation.
She will not have flexibility with classes.</p>
<p>The questions is then how much will this limit her or will it hurt her when applying to colleges?</p>
<p>Angstridden, I think you will have to talk to those who have gone through the program and those running the program to get an answer to those questions. I have a friend whose daughter went to a theatre program for half the day, that sounds like it was run on in a similar way to the program your D is considering. She did graduate from highschool and get into a highly respected college theatre program; a number of them actually, and for her it was a great choice. The particular program she joined did have good placement rates for its graduates but she was taking a chance as it was a new program without much of a track record at the time she joined it. But it was affiliated with a reputable theatre company. </p>
<p>My feeling on all of this pop music business is that it is not going to be very helpful to her as far as college admissions go. I am sticking my neck out saying this because I really am not knowledgeable in this area, but it seems to me that there are many, many pop artists who carry a full load of advanced courses and do their music activities as ECs. It is not the same as majoring in classical music where serious college programs will give you a slight pass on academics if you are truly gifted in music and can show that you have put in your time studying it. There are not many performing art programs, that have this is a discipline of study. Music composition programs tend to have a very rigid base including classical studies, and writing pop songs is not what they want. Too many kids do this as a lark, so the colleges can get all they want of this type without making concessions in admissions.</p>
<p>Angst...if your daughter wants to do the advanced music studies course, then she should do it. It will NOT (I'm very willing to stick my neck out here) help her at all with her aspirations of being a pop singer, but it WILL help her understand music in a more classical sense. She should not expect this advanced music studies thing to help her with her pop music...it is probably not designed to do so. If it's like the ones around here, it is for very serious classical musicians, most of whom have studied at LEAST one instrument for a number of years. Some are singers also, but ALL have instrumental background and most have piano studies. It is a very rigorous course of study. Actually students in this area need to apply to be accepted into the advanced music studies programs (and the other fine arts programs that run 1/2 day).</p>
<p>It will be still another expression of her passion.</p>
<p>Why is her education of tomorrow of more importance than her education today? There is nothing happening at Yale just now for her than is more important than what is happening in her own backyard. And maybe not in the future, either.</p>
<p>She is not sure..because it is classical. Yes you do have to apply here also but we have already been told that this is for her a formality and she will be accepted.
We know another gal who wants to be a country singer who did it and was very happy with it.</p>
<p>This relates to this topic, although not a direct response. DS is a music performance major. NEVER have we (the parents) found performance or music opportunities FOR him. He found those for himself. He also made the choices about which programs to participate in, and which not...we didn't make those choices at all. Nor did we solicit opinions from others about whether or which programs DS should do. That was HIS job. He found some wonderful opportunities for himself and he lobbied US to allow him to attend (it wasn't an issue, but he did do the looking and finding). The best example is a children's choir...he heard them in third grade and wanted to audition. I just didn't take him to the audition. The following year HE found the audition notice in the newspaper and announced "I asked you to do this last year and you didn't." Of course, I took him and he began a wonderful five year experience. He found conservatory precollege wind ensembles and orchestras that WE didn't even know existed. He even found his own private music teacher and when that one left the area, he knew who he wanted to study with and made the contact himself. He also found his own college programs when the time came...and made the acceptance decision on his own. We just drove him around and paid the bills. My point is that this self drive is a NECESSITY with students in the performing arts, regardless of their medium.</p>
<p>I lost my entire post in cyberland. I will try again.</p>
<p>Angstridden, any intensive music training program is sure to benefit a kid who is looking to either go onto a college vocal performance program or a career in music. How can it possibly hurt? </p>
<p>The issue for me is more not which program would "benefit" her for college but more of which program does she WANT to do real badly? That is key. I don't think you should pick a program because it is a stepping stone to point Y. I think a child who is passionate about music will find a program and say, "that's for me, PLEASE PLEASE can I go?" She'll KNOW.</p>
<p>I will share an experience along these lines though it began when my girls were younger. They had been in summer day performing arts programs for many years and each wanted to go to an overnight summer performing arts program. They had been to general overnight camp and loved it but wanted a more specialized program in the arts. We researched programs in a directory and sent for information. The girls watched promotional videos and made calls to references the programs provided and asked the kids (whom they did not know in other states) their take on the programs. While both programs had similar offerings in theater, there were some other differences between the two programs the girls had narrowed it down to. One daughter preferred one program and the other preferred a second one. As an aside, I will tell you that the program my younger one was drawn to, had a very very crappy video at the time but she could tell it was totally for her. Most people, including grandparents, thought we were nuts if we were going to send the girls to separate out of state programs, given the two programs were an hour from one another. But we felt each daughter had a preference and we let each one choose the one she wanted. After the first year, I could tell exactly why each chose which program she chose because each one fit the child to a T in terms of her interests/passions/needs. Parent performance weekends were insane as we shuttled between two locations to catch all of their shows. Parents at either camp could not believe we did not have both girls in the same theater camp and we had to answer this question repeatedly as to why each child chose what she chose and how we allowed them to go to where they found the best fit. One child went for 4 years and one is going on her 8th summer. </p>
<p>We never chose these programs with the idea of where would it get her. We never thought of how it might prepare her for college (naturally she was younger at the time she found the program). But even as the years went on, we never switched and looked for a "pre-college" theater program, of which there are many, even though she ended up wanting to pursue this passion in a professional college degree program and for a career. The thought of finding a program that might "benefit" her with college admissions never crossed our minds. You could not pull this kid away from her summer paradise if you tried. (not that I would want to) When she chose this program, I would not have known that actually they have a positive track record with kids who have chosen to pursue this field in college who now are in all the top programs in the country. It never was a consideration and it is simply an observation I have seen over the years. My D would be the first to tell you that her program has been a significant influence in her life. </p>
<p>The point is, she begged to go there (if you only knew her begging for this coming summer when we had no intention of her going away the summer before college but she just HAD to go back ONE more time....PLEASE!!! giving up something else to put the money toward this desire). </p>
<p>I think with your D, if there is a program that calls out to her that makes her say "this is for ME! PLEASE can I go???", she'll know. And so will you. I would focus on that and not which program might benefit most for college. Any music program is going to be beneficial but only some will fuel her passion.</p>
<p>I will go out on a limb here and ask the tough questions people don't seem to be asking in response the this poster's questions. Do you have reason to believe your daughter is in the .000000001 percentile in that she has a shot at being a pop star? Has hwe woek been reviewed by professionals who have suggested you make the investment? Most girls want to be a pop star at some point. You can't have it all. If this is a serious goal and she has real potential, she'll probably be too old to fulfill it after 4 years of college. No college will prepare you to be a rock star! Managing this chlid's expectations well can mean the difference between her coming out of this well if she doesn't become the next Brittney or not. Is this a pie in the sky dream that you're supporting or do you have reason to believe this is a realistic option?</p>
<p>I think Nora Jones has a degree in jazz piano (not vocals). A music background is a firm foundation for anyone involved in the performing arts, particularly singing. I believe my child's background on three instruments and plenty of music theory, which was all classically based, plus her work in jazz band/theory, has helped her as a singer, even though her forte and passions lie in the musical theater realm. Her music background has been beneficial.</p>
<p>When my D was a high school soph, she was having a typical teen melt-down and her voice teacher suggested we look at Interlochen Arts Academy. My D was a classical voice student and attended an elite academic private school here in Dallas at the time. I could not imagine sending my 16 year old daughter to school in northern Michigan for her junior year, but when she and I went to visit we fell in love with it. It was a haven for young artists. D auditioned and was accepted. The deal we (parents) made with her was that she could attend Interlochen IF she continued to take a strong academic load. Interlochen has great academics, fortunately. D wound up doing junior and senior year at Interlochen. She took AP calculus, physics and AP English and honors history. She got 5s in 2 AP exams. In her senior year when she was going on her audtion trips it was hard for her to keep up with the academics, but she did (with some complaining....) She was accepted to al nunber of major conservatories and also to a number of top universities (with merit awards). She is now a soph vocal performance major at Rice. Her career plans are uncertain, but she knows being a professional opera singer is a long shot, even though she achieved national recognition as a high school senior. My point in all this is that we somehow managed to achieve the right mix of academics and her art, which gives her a number of options.
Karen</p>
<p>Would Tracy Chapman be considered a pop star? She majored in anthropology at Tufts and did her stint singing in Harvard Square for nickels and dimes.
I'd agree with other posters that you really need to have the drive to succeed and the willingness to survive on a shoestring; it can be very hard achieving a breakthrough, even if you have the talent.</p>
<p>The problem with the program that Angst is considering for her daughter is that it is not a summer or afterschool program, but one that replaces a good part of highschool. I am not familiar with it so I cannot assess or comment on it. But the impact of such a program is quite different than some EC after school, or a few weeks in the summer, or even an entire summer. It is very important to check out the integrity of the progaram and assess how it will be viewed by the colleges. As I mentioned before, a friend of mine had a daughter is an drama program that took the place of half a day of school which did work out well, but there is a chance if you sign up for a program that is not considered so good, it could hurt your chances in a lot of other things later.It's one thing to drop a dog of an EC, but another when it is half of your school curriculum.</p>
<p>Karen, I am wondering if your D's national award was the same thing my D just got. In any case, I noticed that there were SO many winners in all arts categories who had gone to Interlochen this year! </p>
<p>Jamimom, what you mentioned is very true. My feeling is, however, that what Angst was describing is likely akin to the schedule someone in a performing arts high school would have. We don't have performing arts high schools in our state and thus my D has to do all that stuff after school, weekends, nights, and summers. But it sounded like her D would have the four core subjects, no language, and then music courses. From talking to others in places with PA high schools, that sounds kinda like what their schedules are like. </p>
<p>Come to think of it, even in our Non-arts high school, my D has five core subjects (she is in a language), and then most of the rest of her stuff is in music....chorus, jazz band, jazz theory....and she happens to be in Driver's Ed this semester but that overlaps her music stuff and she occasionally misses chorus to do that. So, it is not that different of a schedule that Angst is looking at. </p>