<p>Help, we are late getting searching and need help! My HS senior daughter is looking to find a non-city school with excellent academics and voice instruction. She has good grades, SAT scores and has done well vocally in competitions (just made state honors choir). She has a classical sounding voice but is not sure what her career path will be. Her voice teacher has suggested that she not go to a conservatory but go to an undergraduate school with a good music department.
We live in Virginia and would prefer a state school because of the costs but she would go anywhere except a big city. She would like to keep her options open and would like to double major if possible.<br>
Would love to hear any ideas that you might have! It's hard to figure out where the good teachers are. Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>To keep costs down–you may want to keep within your own state. An OOS option, though public may cost as much or more than a private college. If you look OOS keep your eyes on LACs. At an LAC there might be a higher sticker price, but more merit available to a really talented student. If you and her teacher have a pretty good fix on where she stands in the national talent pool, you might want to check into some competitions above and beyond all state.</p>
<p>Also…does your D have all of her prescreening materials available now? Music admissions have deadlines that are rapidly approaching.</p>
<p>If you are in Virginia, take a look at JMU - good music school and in state tuition.</p>
<p>Second JMU and if you want to look at out of state, U of South Carolina is worth a look and they were generous with scholarships, granting in state plus additional money if music and academics are good.</p>
<p>I hate sounding like a parrot and a self-promoter, but Lawrence University sounds good given this situation, especially if your daughter has good grades. Here she could get a BA in music (and something else if she wanted) from the college of liberal arts or do a BM in vocal performance from the conservatory of music (and a BA double degree if desired, as well). It really isn’t that hard to get in for a BA in music here and the financial aid is great, so I’d say it’s definitely something to consider. Also, Appleton is a city of 72,000 people and when you’re here you’re definitely in “the bubble,” not spending very much time in the city at large.</p>
<p>Agree with JMU in VA. This is a BM program, however, and a double degree (with a major outside of music) would likely take more than 4 years. There is no pre-screen for JMU, but an audition is required for admission to the School of Music. </p>
<p>The quality of vocal instruction at JMU is high. There are major programs in Vocal Performance, Music Theatre, Music Industry, and Music Education.</p>
<p>I do not know the teachers and UVA or William and Mary, but those schools may have BA programs in music with voice as a primary instrument. You could also look to see the opportunities at Radford, Christopher Newport, Old Dominion. George Mason and VCU are both more city schools. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>Has she looked at Shenandoah University in Winchester? They are more $$ than JMU, but they are also quite generous with talent aid and you can stack Academic Merit Aid as well, which can make for a very generous package. It is a conservatory, but it is within a larger university, so there are many options available. My daughter is auditioning there and loves it there. She also have a very close friend who is a freshman music ed major there and the merit plus talent aid made it far cheaper for him than what his brother is paying for an instate school here in NY.</p>