<p>Hi there!</p>
<p>I'm currently a Junior at a scholarship-based international high school called UWC-USA in New Mexico. Here I study music, and I take voice lessons as it is my main instrument. So, I was wondering if any happen to study voice or have taken voice lessons at Oberlin and could tell me how it is? Also, can you take several instruments as a Music major, and how are the ensembles (esp. choirs)?</p>
<p>I sing high soprano, but my middle range is building up quite nicely, if this matters to your response.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Oh also: Do any of you have any info about merit scholarships for musicians (classical vocalists)? Because I’m not sure how legible I am for financial aid because of my Scandinavian background (diff. economical status etc.), so it would be great to know!</p>
<p>Sunny321, in addition to this section of College Confidential, you may wish to ask some questions over on the Music Majors area [Music</a> Major - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/]Music”>Music Major - College Confidential Forums) by starting a thread there. There are a number of people who post there who have either attended Oberlin as a voice major, or who have a son or daughter who did.</p>
<p>Admission, particularly for sopranos, is highly competitive. If you do wind up as a voice major there, it may be possible for you to take secondary lessons on another instrument. You would have to audition to get lessons from a faculty member, but you could always take lessons from one of the students in their third year or beyond. You may find yourself pretty busy just keeping up with the vocal performance major. Adding a secondary instrument means that you will have to put at least an hour or two a day of practice time in on it. Adding more than one secondary instrument would be very time consuming.</p>
<p>My daughter was a double bass major there several years back. I did not have much chance to go to concerts given by the vocal ensembles, but I can tell you that the instrumental ensembles are quite good. They have a large orchestra, a chamber orchestra, a contemporary music ensemble and several smaller groups that are very impressive.</p>
<p>They do offer merit scholarships based on your audition, even if you happen to be an international student. The year my daughter was accepted, I believed they offered merit aid to about one of every three accepted students. They even offer some need-based aid to international students, which is not all that common for colleges in this country.</p>