Yale vs. Princeton vs. Stanford vs. Northwestern Dual Degree vs. Rice Shepherd School of Music

[flutieperson]

I’ve been lucky enough to be put in this tough situation. My hope in college is to have the best academic education and music education wherever I go, and I was wondering if anyone had any insight in a comparison for these schools based on what I want to do: sociology and music (flute performance). Thank you all so much!

EDIT: I feel like I should also add some of my own thoughts and experiences I’ve gathered through this process

Yale: The orchestra is just phenomenal, and the academics are awesome as well! I really enjoyed New Haven, the architecture, and the academic culture. One major drawback is that the music professor has not really reached out to me after multiple attempts at contact, and I have no idea who I would be studying under if I ended up at Yale. I’m in the process of talking to some current flutists there to see what they are doing to sustain their flute education.

Princeton: The academics are awesome, the students are overworked but still enthusiastic, the campus is gorgeous, and Princeton was an awesome town (great Szechuan place we found). The flute professor there is super enthusiastic and awesome in general, I really liked her ever since I took a trial lesson with her. One drawback is mainly the orchestra: I have a friend who is in PUO and says it was not as good as the youth orchestra we met in (mainly because students prioritize studying over practicing.) I attended the Preview recently, and the new music building is awesome (Steinway in every practice room, tuned every 2 weeks, great practice rooms) The think that irked me though was the amount of time left over for independent study/practice (not a lot, from what I’ve seen)

Stanford: I actually don’t have a consensus on this school, I’ve never visited (visiting next week though). I heard they have great weather, student body, and professors, but I haven’t heard the best things about the music program and the orchestra.

Northwestern: Loved a lot about the school! The proximity to Chicago and Lake Michigan, great professors, and the opportunity for a BM and BA is great! While I have heard great things about the dual degree program at NU, I have also heard that people tend to drop their BM degree after a few years because they find it hard to keep up with both of the schools’ demands.

Rice: Loved the SOM, the professor, orchestra is IMO the best university orchestra in the US, the students are SO kind, and the food is awesome. Some downsides I found: Houston, while it is cheap, is not the best city for college students because of the need for cars. Also, Shepherd is SO focused on music credits that students are overworked because they have to fill distribution requirements on top of the rigorous music courses. There is no double degree or double major (that I’ve heard of,) the only interdisciplinary study I heard of was UG students minoring in an academic subject, but they knew what they wanted to minor in from the start (I sorta want the chance to explore my options before setting on something.)

[compmom]

You can apply for the Yale double degree (BA/MM) with the tuition free SOM after your third year, if you didn’t apply already.

Princeton has a performance certificate and study abroad/double degree program with the Royal College of Music in London. The Master’s is “accelerated”: in the UK it is one year.

Stanford’s music major may tend to the scholarly vs applied- at least that is my impression. Lessons for a fee (sliding scale) and extracurricular ensembles.

Bienen at Northwestern has a double degree that is a BA or BS and a BM, in 5 years. I assume you got into both the university and conservatory.

At Shepherd your BM program would be immersive, with access to classes at the university, like Northwestern. I could not find any info on double degrees- do they offer that?

Personally I guess I like Princeton. I think, as with any choice for anyone, factors like cost, size, location, and “vibe” are important. Do you want a full BM program? How strong is your interest in sociology?

The fact that you have both strong interests supports the idea of either a double degree (Yale, Princeton, Northwestern) or a BA program with an excellent performance component (like Princeton). It seems to me that a conservatory BM program would not satisfy your academic interest.

[dimkin]

Out of awesome schools, pick the one that gave you most money?

[compmom]

Forgot to add that at Yale, we were told most undergrads study with a grad student, unless exceptionally talented (which you might be). But the focus of the SOM is grads obviously.

[somethings]

I believe the most helpful information would come from current students, especially those similar to you. Did you reach out to your all-state alumni? Maybe NYO discord? Older students from other summer programs you’ve attended?

[nichols51]

@flutieperson congratulations on having such a tough decision! Any updates on your process and where you’re leaning/why?

[flutieperson]

I ended up enrolling to Yale! It has a vibrant musical and academic community, and the course load is rigorous but still allows time for practicing. It was a really tough decision to turn down so many great schools, but I am extremely grateful for the opportunities given to me.

[nichols51]

Congratulations!