Hi y’all! I’m currently a freshman at a CSU (SFSU) and just switched my major from English to Music, Piano Performance. However, I found out that the Music Department here is not good enough and is quite ignored by the school. Is there any chance that I can transfer to any music conservatory or schools of music in some UC’s? I’m thinking of San Francisco Conservatory of Music, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, UC Berkeley or even Juilliard. My current GPA is 3.83 and got placed to the highest level in all SFSU theory and musicianship tests. But I heard that it’s almost impossible to transfer from CSU to UC’s. Any suggestions?
Can you confirm the names of schools you’re reference by acronym? California State University? We’ve had confusion here in the past.
You should contact each school - some will let you transfer, and others will make you start from scratch. Cal State Northridge has an excellent music department. UC Berkeley does not have a conservatory, but UCLA does. You would still have to audition and the programs at UCLA and Juilliard only take a few students every year. I would call each school’s music department and get the info directly from them.
You could also try transferring to other CSU’s that have stronger music programs. Cal State Long Beach has a conservatory. My son is a cellist and has applied to 5 Cal States (not SFSU) that have good cello teachers/opportunities.
There are also private schools such as Chapman that have conservatories.
I agree that you should dig into the schools you want to transfer to and call/email them with questions. Reach out to the music department; maybe contact the piano teachers with a solo performance of yours and get feedback from them, as well. That’s what my son did. It was helpful.
@glassharmonica : I’m pretty sure the OP means Cal State Univ. SFSU is a CalState, and the SF in the name is San Francisco.
Even if you placed highest in music theory and musicianship, you still might want to take the whole sequence at the new school. It varies but something to think about. You would do well in placement tests!
I hope someone can answer your question. Is affordability an issue at all?
I know So Cal schools the best, so I’ll speak to the colleges and music schools down here.
The music schools at the Cal State’s in LA and Orange County have faculty loaded with members from the LA Phil, the studios, and other prominent professional experience. The schools and universities aren’t as prestigious as other “big name” programs, but the quality of music education is good to excellent. CSULB, CSU Northridge, CSU Fullerton, CSULA – all are solid programs for classical music. For jazz, I’d say CSULB and CSUN are better known than the other two local schools, but all four have quality instructors in that area too.
As far as ease of transferring to a UC – I wouldn’t say it’s as dire as you think it is, but it’s going to be highly dependant on your academics, particularly your non-music classes (especially given that you were originally an English major). The issue with UC’s is that their primary transfer window is for juniors. They take very few sophomores and pretty much zero senior transfers. So if you’re a freshman and your dream is to transfer to UCLA, UCI, or UCSD (all of which have excellent music schools), you should reach out to them now to get on their radar but expect to have to wait an extra academic year before being able to make the move.
As far as private schools:
-Colburn: If you’re a prodigy, you’ve got a shot. If you’re not, your odds of getting in are REALLY low.
-USC Thornton: the good news is that USC overall loves to take transfer students, regardless of current year in college. The bad news is that Thornton is about as hard to get into as Colburn, so expect an uphill climb to become a music major there.
-Loyola Marymount: Very good university overall (academically better than a Cal State and comparable to a 2nd tier UC, but with a small school feel). The music school is very limited: awesome for vocal/choral majors and classical guitarists, so so for most others, and non-existant for jazz
-Chapman: solid music program and university overall , comparable to the Cal States in music, and comparable or even a bit better academically (and certainly with less bureaucracy since it’s a private school).
There are others down here that are probably pretty good to very good (e.g. Claremont schools, Redlands, Azusa Pacific, others ), but I’m not as familiar with them and will leave it to others to comment.
Good luck!
Thank you all for your replies! @astute12 I’m definitely contacting their music departments sooner or later! And @WestOfPCH my top choices would be UCLA and USC now. I’ll be working very hard this upcoming semester and see if I can transfer in my junior year (I missed the deadline for USC for fall 2019…)
@compmom I’m currently teaching the piano as a side job and applying for scholarships. I’m saving up some money too. If I could successfully transfer I think I’ll be on a student loan.