Yes…our son had that experience at NEC. Even after acceptance, they would not tell him which studio he was in.
You mention piano…does your son do any collaborative piano playing? (Accompanying others, for example). There seemed to always be a need for that type of pianist where my kid attended both undergrad and grad.
The Double Degree Dilemma articles have been rewritten since my kid applied in 2002. They are still very very very good, but the old ones had a slightly different ring. My kid definitely would have been fine at a conservatory (and attended for grad school). Applied to 3 for undergrad and was accepted.
My kid made his matriculation decision based on the private applied teacher. He went to BU which is a conservatory type program within a university. The location in Boston gave him the opportunity to hear excellent performances by others. Fun fact…he also worked as an usher for the BSO. I don’t know how this is done now, but wow, it was a great job for him…good pay, and he got to hear half of every program each time he worked from in the house.
Anyway…there are a lot of programs which are conservatory like but within a larger university. Very worth exploring because the option of moving around to another major exists…if your child thinks that might be a possibility. You would need to check to see how double major friendly these programs are…because some are and some are not.
Thanks so much for the report on the visits! Sounds like he got a lot of good information out of them.
As you were dropping off one kid at Harvard, I totally understand the visits to Harvard, Tufts, NEC, and BU, but as you probably know, those schools (and we can add Northwestern) are very rarely likelies or targets for anyone nowadays, as they all have acceptance rates south of 20%. Perhaps things are different for acceptance via music for a kid with your son’s experiences, but I just wanted to mention it.
My S22 also did not want to attend a standalone conservatory. He very much wanted a more “full” college experience. As a junior, he was thinking only that a music supplement would help him get accepted to some more selective schools, not necessarily that he wanted to major in music (he’s a singer, btw, if my screen name doesn’t give it away LOL). He knew he wanted to keep doing music, but thought he’d major in something else, perhaps broadcast journalism due to his great interest in sports writing, which he began doing in earnest during the pandemic.
By mid senior year, he realized he loves performing and that’s what he wanted to focus on, but still not at a standalone conservatory. Additionally, he did not want to be competing with grad students who, at some programs, get most of the performing opportunities. So that narrowed down his choices of where to apply significantly.
He is at Oberlin and is very happy. It was the studio teacher that tipped the scales, whom he met at a summer program between sophomore year and junior year (online due to the pandemic), and subsequently had two in person lessons with- one before applications during a summer visit and one after acceptance. Music is everywhere at Oberlin- not just in the conservatory. There are so many opportunities for kids to engage, whether or not they are in the Con.
PS he never took the SAT or ACT and got into an Ivy. So, test optional is a real thing, I believe, especially for gifted musicians. Best of luck as you navigate this amazing process!
I am not musician by trade but had an extensive classical training in a past. (I am actually the one who moved from music to Math, and then to Engineering. ) I would recommend to visit each considered program during active semester (and visit classes, recitals) and consider fit first and maybe major second. I am afraid that school like Oberlin may not work for Julliard caliber kid. We visited Oberlin with my least music inclined kid. I maybe not objective but it gave me vibe of spunky approach with flexible curriculum more suitable for music theater or contemporary music, not the classical that you described and I strongly doubt that it is on par with Julliard.
In my experience, young musicians change their minds as they move through this process. Senior year can start with one focus and end up with a totally different focus after auditions. For my D, it was a focus on LACs that changed to a big U with a conservatory. Some of my D’s friends decided not to pursue music in the end. So spreading out the search is always a good idea.
The next time of change is Freshman year. It is not uncommon for students to enter as dual degree and then drop one degree first or second year. I would guess any “veteran” parent on here is aware of a student or two or three that left music (or the other concentration) in college. There’s no shame in that. It’s part of the learning process.
Parents, sometimes, have the longer view. So it can be prudent to recommend a school or two with a flexible curriculum…just in case. I also think that if you focus on too many schools in one category (particularly in the early phase of research) that doesn’t allow you to explore the wide variety of music schools and programs available. They are all the same in that they provide top-notch music study…but they can differ quite a bit in style, environment and curriculum. So looking wide can give a student a better idea of the options available which should help them find the best fit for their interests.
And…this is not particular to the OP’s search…as it seems that they are already looking wide. Just riffing on the point that “change” is very common Senior and Freshman year…and that’s OK. So, it’s a good idea to make sure the schools have some flexibility to accomodate multi-interests.
Definitely not true of the Conservatory at Oberlin. Mine is of that caliber and did not want a conservatory-only school. He is classically trained (from age 8) as are most conservatory students (with the exception of the Jazz department). The con is extremely intense and as high level as the strictly conservatory schools- you may not have gotten the sense of that if you weren’t looking at the Con itself, as opposed to the outside courses and activities. Take a look at the curriculum for any of the music majors. It’s not flexible in the least.
Now, if a student is inclined to want an environment where everyone is doing music and there are no other majors, sure, Juilliard is for a student like that. Mine wanted that environment but within a college campus where other things are going on. But he eats, breathes, and sleeps music. He has a pal who is studying composition at Juilliard- granted these are very different disciplines- but his work is primarily independent.
Sorry to sound defensive-- I’m not-- I’m just giving you the reality of what happens at the Oberlin Conservatory (as opposed to the College).
You are probably correct about College vs Conservatory (we indeed looked at College and that spunkiness did not fly with DD, so we left before the end of the tour…) That is why OP needs to “try extensively” all places with her son.
$200 seems to be within range. I heard from several students that the classical instrument professors (from JHU Peabody, Rice Shepherd, northwestern, u michigan, USC, Eastman, etc.) charge around 200 for a trial lesson. Some gave free lessons to selective students when they tried to recruit, but those seemed to be outliers.
Art is expensive. what can I say? We saved a considerable amount by attending summer programs with scholarship and taking lessons with top professors there.
Hi - mom of a sophomore musician at Brown here to add a pitch for Brown…. There are many very talented musicians here who are so pleased with the music department, in particular the applied music program. There are so many opportunities and with the opening of the new performance building, it is clear that there is the intention of continued support for the department. Of note for your son is the applied math department, a no longer well kept secret, and a true gem. The thing to remember is that with an open curriculum, it is very easy to double major (have 2 concentrations) and still investigate other areas of interest OR dive further in a area of interest in either or both of the concentrations.
shock of the day has been a trial lesson bill of $200….