University of Arizona School of Music

<p>Does anyone know U of Arizona reputation as a Music School. My daughter is considering it for Music Education.</p>

<p>If you are instate, the flagships almost always have a very solid (and the most cost effective) program for music educators. Certain state flagships have great regional, often national reputations for producing top flight music educators. I'm most familar with programs east of the Mississippi.</p>

<p>Search this forum for music ed threads, U Arizona may have been touched on. Also, the poster DableST_1 is a freshman voice/ed student at U AZ. You may want to use CC's email feature to contact her directly.</p>

<p>Hello! I was just passing through this board on my way to somewhere else, when your post caught my attention.</p>

<p>My daughter attended UofA a few years ago as a performance major. She thought the music education program was very thorough, based on comments heard from friends in the major. I can ask her about it if you have specific questions.</p>

<p>If your daughter is interested in teaching in the public school system, she should become familiar with the teacher credentialing system of the state where she will want to work eventually. Some states will accept credentials earned out-of-state, others won't. Of course, if she is planning to work in Arizona there won't be any problems.</p>

<p>I agree with TooManyStrings. Accreditation requirements definately should be considered. Many programs in music ed, both public and private, design curriculums specifically to the state requirements where the institution is located. Some have programs that virtually certify a student upon successful proram completion; all the student need do is apply for initial state licensure. It is fairly painless to recertify across states if a new grad has an initial license in another state.</p>

<p>At one point I believe ASTA, MENC, or MTNA had a weblink that showed music teacher state requirements in comparative chart form. I'll see if I can find the link.</p>

<p>Thank You, My D does not know where she wants to teach yet I consider myself lucky that she knows what she wants to do. I do know that she wants to go on to get her masters in a related field. She is applying to 9 other schools U of A was the only one with a super early audition and she loved the campus(who wouldnt) so I have no other school offers to compare U of A to.As you know with this audition process there are no "safe" schools. She is also applying to:Crane,Fredonia,ECU,Frost,Ithaca,Syracuse,U of Del.,U of Florida and Penn State. Any thoughts? We are NY residents she is an excellent student her guidance told us all these schools are safe from an academic view. Thank You for your input.</p>

<p>Crane has a great rep, and Fredonia is often a well received option with a very solid program for many particularly for instate financially. </p>

<p>Ithaca is a great choice but the (merit) aid seems to vary widely. The others are all solid programs, but within reason, I'd try and minimize costs for the BM in Ed, particularly if a Masters would be forthcoming. </p>

<p>If money is a major issue, being OOS in a sought after public program may not result in enougn merit/talent/grant aid to offset the
savings by staying instate with two very respected SUNY programs available. Privates can give better merit/talent scholarships and grants, and make them very competitive, on ocassion even better that an instate public. Know the facts going in, and have a good balance of options.</p>

<p>Just peek at Hartt if you haven't already. Son was a performance/ed candidate who dropped the ed at the eleventh hour to pursue his performance Muse. He loved the program, but wanted to give it his best shot at a performing career. From what he tells me his compatriots (May '07) across instrumental, vocal or general music ed disciplines all had solid offers or public/private teaching jobs for fall '07. The talent aid can be substantial, and is audition based.</p>

<p>Thank You the information was very appreciated. I will let you know how it works out. She has all her auditions lined up,I never knew how hard it was to become a Music Teacher.</p>

<p>Trust me, it's even more for a performance major.</p>

<p>Speaking about the Florida schools you mentioned:</p>

<p>The music ed program (really, the music program in general) at University of Florida (in my opinion, and in the opinion of the 2 friends who went there for music [one was BA, the other was performance) was much weaker than some of the other Florida public schools. UF takes much more stock in its sciences. It has a much smaller population of music students than some of the other developed music ed programs in the state (FSU, USF), so you would <em>probably</em> get one-on-one time with professors, but that may be the only perk.</p>

<p>Florida State has a much more developed (and therefore, competitive) internationally-known music program, and if you wanted major in music education in the South(east), FSU would be your best bet (and I'm not just saying that because it's the school I currently attend; you can ask anyone on this board and most would agree). Tuition is affordable, and relatively low for OOS students compared to most flagship state public schools (also, the College of Music does award out of state tuition waivers for full-time students, based on audition). IMHO, I'd think about adding FSU to the list and removing UF.</p>

<p>I lived about 30 minutes from Coral Gables for 9 years, and am familiar with Univ. of Miami-Frost's Music Ed program. I've always been impressed with their music program in general (in particular, their voice & choral program--I can't say much about it now because they just hired a new director of choral activities this year, so I'd be interested in how different it may be). Probably after FSU and USF, Miami-Frost had the strongest music ed program in the state. Granted, it's a private school, so it's gonna cost you a little more. I did audition for the school (for double-degree Music Ed & Voice Perf), and was accepted to both. I got a nice $10,000 scholarship from the music school, but it wasn't enough (with the rest of my financial aid package) to cover tuition yearly without having to take out more loans. YMMV, of course, as I know of one OOS music ed major there with a full scholarship. I have several friends who attend the school, and have no complaints about it.</p>

<p>Violadad pretty much hit the nail on the head about the SUNYs you mentioned. I have also been impressed with ECU's program in recent years, and I probably would've applied if I knew about the school earlier.</p>

<p>Thank You CF very helpful the Florida Audition is inconvienent we may pass on it. I am very impressed with ECU my D worked with some of the faculty this summer at a choral program in Fredonia.</p>

<p>My D also attended NYSSSA the last 2 years. Those ECU profs are terrific! She is currently studying at Indiana U. of PA with a professor she met at NYSSSA '07. She also auditioned and was accepted at Fredonia, Ithaca and Syracuse, if you have any questions. She did not care for Crane and didn't apply.</p>

<p>Thats great. ECU would not even be in my radar screen if it were not for NYSSA. Which audition was the hardest for your D? ECU is rolling out the REd carpet for my D next month she is really thinking about going there,why didnt your D apply there?</p>

<p>Sopranodad: Not sure which audition D would consider the hardest. Maybe Fredonia, as a "piano placement" was also required (fortunately, she is also a decent pianist), as well as what she considered to be a fairly difficult theory exam. We were also told that they were only for "placement"- unless you were a soprano, then they count!! IUP was similar (theory and piano). The auditioning panel there was larger (4, I think and they video taped for someone who wasn't there). No piano at Syr. but there was a theory exam and at Ithaca they only had to sing. Thinking about it, probably her hardest audition was at SUNY Purchase, which was the only one we hadn't visited previously, and she had been quite ill that week and wasn't feeling well. That was the only other one, besides IUP, that was videotaped. I should really write up my impressions for the "music school visit" thread before they are totally forgotten! Will send you a pm about ECU (no negatives), so as not to get too far off track from the original subject of this thread!</p>