Top questions to ask....

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>OK....after my last post I realized that making a trip to NC for my junior son to check out a few schools was really important. So we are making plans to go down the end of the month!! So...I have been trying to search to forms and have come up with tons of good questions to ask while we visit. I thought I would just post this form to get everyones number #1 question to ask when visiting a college.</p>

<p>Son is a music education major and a Sax player.</p>

<p>I look forward to hearing what each of you think is the question that must be asked on a visit!!</p>

<p>Thanks in advance and to anyone that helped on my last post or PM'ed me. Everything has helped so much!!!</p>

2

<p>A recent thread and a link within to an earlier one:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/865050-questions-ask-campus-visits.html?highlight=questions[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/865050-questions-ask-campus-visits.html?highlight=questions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>A suggestion is to read all the materials thoroughly beforehand, and pinpoint anything specific that may be unclear in terms of program, policy, housing.</p>

3

<p>Classical sax or jazz? I encourage you to set up lessons when possible.</p>

4

<p>Ask questions that show you are interested and that you have done your homework. Just as you would at a job interview. Your questions can also reveal some information about you that may not have been apparent in your application or essay. My D was a varsity tennis player in HS but does not have an interest in playing at a varsity level in college. She asked about club tennis specifically and other clubs in general. She found out the name of the dept. chair of her chosen major ahead of time and asked about him by name. She asked how the school had changed since the new president came on board 18 months ago. I don’t remember some of the other questions she came up with but they reflected positively on her. She also asked some of the standard questions about dorms, parking and food. But, like you would at a job interview, when they ask, “Do you have any questions?” Do not say, “No. I think you covered it all.”</p>

5

<p>We are off on another trip in a few weeks. I have Bassdad’s famous article printed up to take with me (again). Music questions I like to ask are how many apply, how many do you take, where are former students now, who (TA’s vs profs) does the teaching, who (grads vs undergrads, majors vs non-majors) makes up the various ensembles. Also, if the student has a teacher who is a top-name performer, how are make up lessons handled when that person is away performing?</p>

<p>As the parent of an absent-minded D, I also ask questions about campus safety and housing. Is dorm housing guaranteed for more than one year?
Note: Having graduated from college about a hundred years ago, I was astonished to learn on our last trip that lots of colleges have co-ed bathrooms now! I was told it was “no big deal”. OK…</p>

<p>I’ll be looking forward to everyone else’s questions too.</p>

6

<p>I helped my son glean a very important “nuance” of a program during an in-person visit in terms of fit by asking the program director a highly specific question about why the degree curricula did not include a particular element (sorry to be so vague). The response and rational received gave a strong hint that two departments in the SOM were not well aligned politically/philosophically and helped us tease out a program emphasis that was not overt at all, and saved son from attending a program that we now know would not have been optimal to the development of one of his favorite strengths and decided approaches.</p>

<p>Based on that experience, if you have time, read the curricula for all four years and compare it closely to other programs, read up on/listen to the work of the person in charge of the program, and then by all means try to meet directly if you’re able with the department head.</p>

<p>Granted, in our case, McSon’s program is quite a muddle of disciplines that might be called music technology or electronic composition or recording arts or music business or music production, or even multimedia production,so it’s really hard to get the gist of what elements each program involves, since each is pretty unique. So in our case, we really really had to read what courses he’d be studying for four years to get the sense of fit and divine what the program title really meant.</p>

<p>But even for something much more straightforward such as sax and music ed, where the program is a little more ubiquitous across schools due to the BMus requirements, it might be worth diving into what’s available and why.</p>

<p>Eg. at my son’s school, all musicians can choose between regular western theory and jazz theory after the first two terms I believe. Each satisfy the BMUS requirements. Belonging to a new music ensemble is treated the same as belonging to band or orchestra ensembles (in terms of scholarship requirements and for some programs, required credits.) If your son has an experimental bent, you can really only get the sense of future support of that direction and fit pretty much by talking to the people who will be teaching him.</p>

<p>In my son’s case, it was very nice for him to have his first semester taught by two profs in his major that he had already met, sat in on classes, and gotten the “flavor” of in advance, and resulted in no surprises and very strong work from him. He loves his program and it completely delighted to be there. I am grateful that we spent the time on the front end to make such a fit, and making the most of campus visits made all the difference!
(By making the most of, I mean get a lesson, sit in on classes, spent at least 2 days on the campus if you can, talk to at least one person who is at a department head level if possible, attend a performance or a rehearsal if you’re able, eat your meals at the school of music with the rest of the students and look around at the students you see. Go up and talk to students and ask them questions. Do all the kinds of things you’d do if you were about to spend $100,000 - $200,000 on an investment ;)</p>

<p>Good luck and cheers!
K</p>

7

<p>When we visited, we generally had tours with a group, with a question and answer period after the tour. We felt no pressure to ask questions, but several occurred to us while we were there. </p>

<p>During the actual application process, our daughter sometimes had interviews, where she could ask questions, and once admitted, she visited the music departments and asked questions then as well, and also visited a class or two. </p>

<p>These days, websites provide a lot of the needed information. Our daughter checked out courses offered, and the requirements for the major, before making her list of schools.</p>

<p>She also checked out faculty, and even bought some CD’s to listen to faculty works (in her case, composers).</p>

<p>Otherwise, initial visiting was most useful to get the school vibe.</p>

<p>Questions will occur to you while you are there, based on what you see and hear. Reading over all the information online or on paper, beforehand, as others have suggested, will also bring up questions. You can also call admission or e-mail music departments with questions at any point in the whole process.</p>

<p>I hope that you and your son enjoy your visits!</p>