<p>Looking for a back up school for my DS who plans to major in composition. His dad, brother, and grandmother all went to U. of I. So we have a warm place in our heart there...even if he doesn't. Does anyone have any good information about their current composition program? If not, recommendations for schools with good composition programs but within reach for admission of a relatively new composer but strong HS academic and music background kid would be helpful. We do live in IL, would consider east but not too far west.</p>
<p>I looked at U of I online and it might fit your son perfectly - it’s hard to tell. It’s a big department with an array of faculty. Certainly there seems to be a lot of emphasis on electroacoustic music which may not interest him - but my guess is they are tolerant of a range of aesthetics (this is just a guess!) My suggestion - since it’s close to you, is to go visit. Arrange for your son to meet with some of the composition professors before you go - or just the head of the department. And have him attend some classes. If you can hear a concert of some of the students or faculty in the department - all the better! I think he’ll have a much better sense of whether he would fit in there or not after a visit.</p>
<p>For other state schools that might be a safer admit than some because of the size of their programs, you might also look into University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin, and, University of Missouri, Kansas City.</p>
<p>I’m assuming you’re already looking at the usual suspects such as Lawrence, Indiana, Oberlin, Michigan, Cincinnati…</p>
<p>So much depends on what he feels he needs from a composition department. He could be quite happy at a number of schools which he would choose for other reasons - such as Chicago for the academics. Does he know for sure that he wants a BM in composition, or would he be happy with a BA in music with a composition emphasis? If so, it opens up a whole other world of schools. For instance, Cornell has an interesting composition department. And one hears good things about Swarthmore and Williams. But, one can study composition just about anywhere!</p>
<p>One of the factors my son thought was crucial was the ability to get his music played on a regular basis. This does vary widely from school to school for undergrads. It’s an easy question to ask a department, too. And then there is the question of who will actually play the music - is it a professional ensemble in residence for that very purpose, high quality student musicians in the school of music, or kids you have to scrounge up yourself (which could be fine - as is the case at Yale?)</p>
<p>You may want your son to think about all the other factors besides composition that he’s looking for in a school - and then to narrow down the selection that way - then evaluate their music programs to clarify his thinking about them.</p>
<p>And visit, by all means! It will be invaluable - especially meeting with the professors and sitting in on classes.</p>
<p>Ah yes, the elusive visit. A good idea in theory, but not always in time and money. Your ideas are good ones and I thank you for them, and I think visiting U of I is doable. We are looking at U Mich, CC, but have not looked at U Wisc or Lawrence. Will put on to do list. Also there is a College fair for the visual and perf. arts at Roosevelt College in Chicago Oct. 10th where a lot of music schools will be represented. I plan to go but he is Drum Major and has a competition that day. After that we should have more info. I figure between that, emails he can finalize his list then depending where he is invited, he can visit.</p>
<p>We went to one of those College fairs for the arts and got alot of our questions answered with “this is our web site you can find that information there”. I would not miss anything of importance to go to one. Or travel very far. Budget is probably better spent on a school visit that includes a sample lesson/interview with the professor. Time is probably better spent online. Not that they are worthless. You do get some nice free pens, plastic bags with school logos and a ton of generalized printed material that says the same thing as their web site. Actually the best things we got were sample CDs of their schools ensembles. They made it worth the trip.</p>
<p>I was disappointed when we attended a Performing arts college fair because of the things you said Trumpet57, but also because it was so crowded that it was nearly impossible to get to speak to some of the representatives and some parents seemed to monopolize the time of the reps by bragging incessantly about their kids’ music talents, SAT scores, etc. By the time we could squeeze in to get any info, the reps had sometimes run out of brochures. However, in a few cases, the representative took a specific interest and followed up by letters and email, and in one case, one of the piano faculty at a well regarded school in another part of the country was at the table because he happened to be performing in town that evening. </p>
<p>Having said that, we are returning to the Performing Arts college fair in a couple of weeks since going there involves no travel and we will have planned better to identify in advance the few specific places for which we want additional information.</p>
<p>I agree if there was little or no travel involved and no schedule conflicts it can have some value to attend one.</p>
<p>88fingers seemed to indicate travel issues and conflict in dates with a competition. With those considerations, I wanted to let them know they are not can’t miss events.</p>
<p>For us, the college fair was a good place to start, and it certainly put D on all sorts of mailing lists. If you already have certain schools on your radar, it’s probably not as helpful, though.</p>