<p>My son has been accepted to the music school at Baylor University and UNT as a freshman next year. He has received a scholarship to both schools so that the price would now be about the same. He is mostly interested in being a Composition Major but he also plays the cello. I graduated from Baylor so I am a little biased. What do you think? I know the are both great schools for music, but which is better? We only have 2 weeks to accept the scholarships. Please help?</p>
<p>The most important thing to judge is the cello and composition teachers. Did he have lessons with any of the cello facutly at either school? Was there any meeting with the composition teachers? </p>
<p>Both of the programs are university schools of music–but UNT is more of a conservatory. I don’t know if Baylor offers a BMus. degree. UNT has an excellent program and I’ve been very impressed with the opera orchestra. Personally, I think UNT probably has the edge in music, but Baylor is stronger academically. And they both present very different campus experiences.</p>
<p>I agree with ariamom. If you live within driving distance, why not try to make a trip and catch some live performances, have practice lessons, meet with the theory/composition teacher(s). (The UNT Symphony & Chorus is performing Verdi’s Requiem this weekend.) I can’t speak to Baylor’s music dept., but I do know about UNT. Feel free to p.m. me if you have specific questions. Both cello teachers at UNT are great. My son was coached in chamber music by Ruzevic and loved working with him. In composition, Cindy McTee is a well-known composer and teacher (although most likely only works with grad students.) You have a big decision to make since the cost will be roughly the same. Both schools have a lot to offer but they are quite different, as ariamom pointed out. Good luck!</p>
<p>There are three cello faculty at UNT, and one at Baylor. This speaks to the relative size of the program as well. UNT has an excellent rep, and Baylor is not necessarily the go to school for music in Texas. That is not meant to take anything from Baylor, I just don’t know enough about the program specifically.</p>
<p>Studio size, ratio of grad to undergrad, overall size of student body and location can all be factors.</p>
<p>I would definitely try to peg at least one lesson at each if you haven’t already, buty timing is becoming tight.</p>
<p>Thoughts here may help: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/891462-questions-after-acceptance.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/891462-questions-after-acceptance.html</a></p>
<p>Added: The Baylor performance degree IS a BM.</p>
<p>sicemtigers, congratulations to both you and Son. I’ve added the two acceptances to our Master List here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064610173-post879.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064610173-post879.html</a>.</p>
<p>I listed them as BM composition (cello), but if it is actually cello performance, let us know and one of us “dads” will correct it.</p>
<p>UNT has a very large school of music: I believe that some years it is the largest in the US (edging out IU Bloomington). Baylor’s school of music is large, but is not nearly as large as UNT. Size can mean more opportunities in some cases. However, it also means more competition for those opportunities. At some smaller schools, you can get more attention than at some larger schools (but this will vary according to teacher: some teachers at huge schools are very attentive to their students and some at small schools are not). The music facilities at Baylor are very nice (I can’t speak for UNT). </p>
<p>I agree that the most important factor should be the individual studio teacher and therefore it would be wise to try to get a lesson with the potential teachers at each school If you can’t arrange a lesson, try to get in contact with a couple of students of each teacher: you could call the school of music and ask if they could put you in touch with a couple of students. Some schools like Juilliard automatically send out email addresses of current students that play the same instrument as the accepted student.</p>
<p>Violadad, Thanks for pointing out that UNT now has three cello teachers (I didn’t know.) Karen Basrak is new, and is currently on faculty at TCU. She must be joining the UNT faculty next year. She is principal cellist of the Ft. Worth Symphony.</p>
<p>Violinmom and Violindad are posting sequentially. Somehow that struck me as charming. I agree that studio is a very important decision. My daughter (still on a waitlist, which is a special kind of purgatory) has been going around taking lessons at the schools where she was accepted and the information has been very interesting, turning our list upside down. By the way, IU is close to, if not <em>the</em> largest conservatory in the world, as Violindad says, but sometimes sizes are deceiving. We flew out there last week for some lessons; back home my daughter contacted another teacher, based on a fresh recommendation, who said “I heard you were on campus yesterday.” Which means that not only is the place “smaller” than it looks, but also implies that the faculty are collegial enough to be talking to one another.</p>
<p>All we need now is a cellodad for a string quartet.</p>
<p>Or cellomom.</p>
<p>That would be a bit more balanced.</p>
<p>A piano quartet (preferably Brahms) would be the perfect match! I don’t know diddly-squat about stringed instruments!</p>
<p>Thanks Everyone for the great advice! I guess I AM the cello mom! My son has already met the cello and composition teacher at Baylor and was very impressed, but we have not met the ones from UNT yet, because he was accepted to UNT Music school by his audition tape, not a live audition. I will call UNT today to try to set up a lesson!</p>