<p>Hello everyone! I am a vocalist looking to transfer for music education. I have been/am auditioning for a handful of schools, and I am really caught between Westminster Choir College and TCNJ.
I like TCNJ, at my audition the faculty and students seemed very nice. However going to Westminster has always been my dream, I was in their Young Artist Program at the conservatory for a year and I fell in love with the place. I had an AMAZING experience at the conservatory, but I know that things will be different at the college. I was a bit upset when I was told by a teacher who attended Westminster that their music education program is terrible, that those majors get all of the worst teachers, and no one takes people with music ed. degrees from there seriously. I was advised to choose TCNJ for music ed. and only go to Westminster if I am looking for a degree in vocal performance.
Does anyone have any experience at these colleges they could share? Why did you like it or dislike it? Are the teachers excellent and caring or brutal? How are the music education programs at these schools? I appreciate any feedback! Thank you!</p>
<p>The Music Ed program at WCC is one of the most rigorous I’ve ever come across. The portfolio of teaching philosophies that students must present ( which determines if you actually move along in the degree and get to student teach) is the equal of most grad schools. You’ll have access to the same voice teachers as the VP students and opportunities to accompany and conduct ensembles.
The things you were told about the program/school were wrong and misleading. You’ve spent time there,so you already know the campus. In my opinion, you’d stand a better chance at landing a job with a degree from WCC than the other option.</p>
<p>I second what Mezzo’s Mama said. My S will be attending Westminster (VP) in the fall and he has several friends already there who are Music Ed majors - they study with the same voice teachers. I think the biggest complaint that I’ve heard about the Music Ed program is that they don’t require as many “instrument” classes as other schools. Their focus is primarily choral, but they do require one class on strings and another on percussion/woodwinds. I think most of the students supplement these classes with summer study.</p>
<p>My kids had a vocal teacher (in high school) who is a fairly recent graduate of Westminster. She also gave my daughter private voice lessons. She is incredibly strong with vocal health and was able to teach many technical aspects of singing, that I never dreamed existed. (Of course I am not a vocalist, so that might not be saying much.) I truly believe that she is a wonderful voice teacher. </p>
<p>I know this does not speak directly about the quality of Westminster’s music ed program, but I thought it was worth sharing.</p>
<p>Personally, I have a BS in Education from TCNJ (which was Trenton State College at the time) but not music. It has a wonderful reputation for education and I would recommend it wholeheartedly. A good friend of the family also graduated just last year with an Ed degree (again, not music ed) from TCNJ. She loved it there and has already landed a very good teaching position. </p>
<p>I know TCNJ has a wonderful reputation in the state for ed, I would not discount that. But Westminster, obviously, has a fantastic reputation for voice. I bet you can’t go wrong with either program.</p>
<p>I have the pleasure of singing in a community chorus that has as members several alums from both WCC and TCNJ. The impression that I have gotten from them is that Westminster has better applied voice teachers, but the TCNJ grads seem to have had a slightly easier time finding jobs. That could be because our Westminster alums tend to be more recent grads looking for work in a tighter economy than the slightly older TCNJ crew.</p>
<p>Hi! I am a senior music education major with a concentration in voice, and I will be graduating from TCNJ in May. I found myself in your position four years ago.</p>
<p>Several factors determined my decision to attend TCNJ instead of WCC, and I am happy with the choice I made, but for reasons I did not expect.</p>
<p>As an incoming freshman, my reasons for choosing TCNJ were (in no particular order) as follows:
Gut instinct. There was something about the vibe I got at my TCNJ audition that just felt more settling than the one I got at my Westminster audition. This, of course, will be impacted by your personal experiences.
The school’s education program in general has a great reputation.
I liked that I would be in classes with students with concentrations in a variety of instruments. A lot of my best friends from school are instrumentalists, and I know that if I run into a situation in the future where I end up having to teach beginning flute or something but can’t remember any of the fingerings, I know a handful of flautists I could call for help. Additionally (though this is way down the road), music education majors at TCNJ usually share a senior recital with another music ed major or with a junior performance major, but most people pair up with someone with a different instrument concentration. I had my recital this past October with a friend of mine who happens to be a kick-ass trombonist, and I couldn’t have been happier with it (there’s actually a recording online from the live feed we set up that night; if you’d like to see it, just shoot me a message!).
I liked that TCNJ is a liberal arts school, and as a historically academically well-rounded student, I knew there would be times when I wanted to take a break from music and take a math class (or just try something new). TCNJ has a set of liberal arts requirements that required me to take a few classes I would not have considered taking otherwise but ended up really enjoying (African American women’s history, for example; absolutely loved it). Additionally, I love being on campus with students with a variety of different majors. My roommate for two years was a criminology major, and one of my housemates now is a psychology major; it can be a refreshing change of pace sometimes.</p>
<p>Over my (almost) four years at TCNJ, a variety of opportunities have presented themselves that I feel would not have been available to me had I chosen Westminster.
My sophomore year when I took class brass, I decided to try French horn. One thing led to another, and I ended up being pretty good at it. My professor (who is the tuba professor at TCNJ; love that man) suggested that I take horn lessons, so for the next three semesters I got to take a weekly thirty minute horn lesson with TCNJ’s horn professor as well as play in horn ensemble, and I ended up taking two semesters of concert band as well. Did I ever think this would happen? No. Am I happy it did? Extremely. I am now more marketable as a music educator because I can sing and play a wind instrument. Bam.
Because we have a relatively small music department and don’t offer graduate degrees, the performance opportunities I received were bountiful. The performance experience I received at TCNJ made me realize that even though I love teaching, if there is any chance that I could perform for a career, I would do it in a heartbeat. Thus, I am now looking to pursue a master’s degree in voice performance (Westminster is actually one of the four schools I have auditioned at; haven’t heard back from anyone yet, but hopefully soon!)</p>
<p>Anyway, these are just the reasons I chose TCNJ and the reasons I don’t regret it, but I encourage you to follow your gut; there were plenty of people in my life who thought I had made the wrong choice, but I do not feel that way at all. If you feel super in love with Westminster, you should go there. Best of luck to you! I hope that whichever school you pick will be the best fit for you.</p>
<p>P.S. I am also a student blogger for TCNJ’s School of the Arts and Communication; you can check out our blog here: [TCNJ</a> School of the Arts & Communication | Innovate. Interact. Inspire. Sustain.](<a href=“http://tcnjartscomm.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/]TCNJ”>http://tcnjartscomm.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/).</p>
<p>Brunette - I have one question for you, and your answer will give you a hint towards which school you should choose. Do you consider yourself a structured person?<br>
My D spent 2 years at Westminster, and wound up having a difficult time by November of her sophomore year. The program was rigorous, but her grades were fine. Her soul was not. She wound up leaving. On the other hand, she has friends that stayed and still love it. These were kids that were already on a strong academic track and knew how to toe the line and comply. WCC has a reputation for turning out consistently strong Music teachers. In order to do that, they have to make sure they are graduating a consistent product. Both are terrific schools, so you can’t go wrong with either. I’ve never seen a bad choir director that was educated at WCC. On the other hand, TCNJ turns out some fine teachers as well (not as consistently good, but man, when they’re good, they are really good).</p>