<p>New England Conservatory is an excellent school but is a very tough admit for anyone. Music education is NOT their forte. At one point, students could "cobble together" a music education course of study, but I think most would agree that it is not NEC's strength.</p>
<p>I don't know what state the OP is from, but often the public universities in that state offer good music education programs. I would suggest that this young lady speak with her high school music teacher and find out where teachers in that state tend to go for their music education degrees.</p>
<p>To my knowledge, music education students in all programs are required to perform (instrument or voice). This would involve lessons and ensemble requirements. The only term that music ed majors are excused from this is the term they are student teaching...they are PLENTY busy student teaching and adding an ensemble practice that probably happens right at the end of their school day is not usually practical. We know a number of music ed majors who also perform. If this student plans to complete the performance AND music education courses, it will likely take more than four years to do so.</p>
<p>Violadad: The SUNY Buffalo thing can be confusing. There are 4 large "University Centers" (Albany, Buffalo, Binghamton and Stoney Brook) with larger student populations and more diversity in their offerings than the "Colleges" (Potsdam, Fredonia, Oswego, Geneseo, Buffalo,New Paltz, to name a few). University at Buffalo does not have music ed., "Buffalo State College", also in Buffalo, but an entirely different institution, does. Sorry for the confusion.</p>
<p>musmom2, thanks for the explanation. My error was misunderstanding the SUNY nomenclature and structure.</p>
<p>SUNY Stony Brook actually has pretty strong teacher ed programs.</p>
<p>I've copied the link to SUNY Stony Brook's Music department as well as their subsection on Music Ed.
Undergraduate</a> Major in Music</p>
<p>
[quote]
Section VII
Music Education</p>
<p>The Department of Music does not offer degrees in music education. However, students with a B.A. in music from Stony Brook may obtain teacher certification by completing the remaining undergraduate education requirements and student teaching at colleges with certified programs.</p>
<p>Undergraduates thinking of a teaching career should take at least one semester of conducting (MUS 491 Conducting, offered yearly), and at least one course in developmental psychology (such as PSY 211 and 311). Students might also consider taking summer courses at other institutions in subjects such as Education Psychology, Philosophy of Education, or Child Development.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>In effect, one can cobble together a music ed degree, but with the many full fledged four year specifically designed programs available, I question the reasons that would lead a student just out of hs to consider this option at Stony Brook (or anywhere else for that matter). It may well make sense for an older student wanting to shift career gears, or one forced to limit themselves geographically for any number of reasons, or for the music student potentially wishing to explore the career path to music education while obtaining a music BA. There are no BM based programs at SB.</p>
<p>But that's just my $.02.</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong, I have no bone to pick here. The presence of the Emerson Quartet as QIR , and the strong list of applied instructors speak to the quality of the program.</p>
<p>The strengths of Stony Brook are in the music academic disciplines, and targeted perfomance centered Masters and above.</p>
<p>OP is from Western Pennsylvania.</p>