gjwhddn

what are some great schools that have great music education programs, specifically choral, with great choral ensembles, but also maintains a great academics curriculum. ( what i mean is, something along prestigious for academics, also.)

musicmomic

Not sure whether geography is relevant for you but in the Midwest, St. Olaf, Lawrence University, and Illinois Wesleyan are LACs that have strong Music Ed (choral) programs with 100% placement and they also have very strong academics. Lawrence is a conservatory but is strongly integrated with the college.

Ohio State is a well-known program for Music Ed. The academics are generally strong for a large state university. If you are looking at large public universities, look at the Honors Programs as a possible means of increasing the academic rigor. If you provide more info on other criteria that are important, I'm sure others will also provide good feedback.

gjwhddn

thank you musimomic. now that i think about, there are other criterias.
as before i said, a school that is prestigious but also maintains a great music education program.
well actually, i really dont have much criteria bc i wanna be offered all advice on all schools with no limitations just so i know every aspect bc i really dont wanna miss anything. cause im willing to ignore my own criterias if its ask the risk of knowing a great music program.

orofie06

Hartt at the University of Hartford has a great Music Ed program, especially Early Childhood. (While U of H is not a great school academically, Hartt's academic standards are higher, or at least that's what they told me.) Gettysburg College's program is also fantastic, with a lot of practical experience, and Gettysburg is great academically. I'm trying to decide between the two! You should seriously check them out.

Patrick27tenor

Westmisnter Choir College of Rider University...it is in my opinion the best university choral program...hence its name, but it is also known for having a simply wonderful music education program...I'd check there...I think it is the best for choral music education. OH, but presitgious academically....Westminster nor Rider university (what it is attached to) won't fit the bill....then, St. Olaf.

musicmom

orofie06-
You're right about U of Hartford; not very selective in admissions.
But Hartt is much tougher. Of course, admission to Hartt will be based primarily on the audition, even for music ed, I think.

orofie06

oh, admission is definitely primarily based on the audition. (even if you "just" want to be a music ed major, you still have to be a good performer.) and also a good department interview can't hurt.

thumper1

Just a question....and please don't take offense...but why is "prestige" so important. Some of the best music education programs are at universities that are not "prestigious" to many. One thing a prospective music education major needs to know is that the course of study is very rigorous beginning in the FRESHMAN year. There really isn't a lot of time to take courses other than those that satisfy core curriculum requirements. At the Hartt School, and Duquesne, two very highly regarded music education programs, students cannot double major outside of the music department if they are music ed majors. Music ed majors have a huge number of required courses for their education certification PLUS they also must participate in ensembles, private lessons, studio classes, etc. The "prestige" part, in my opinion, should be for the music education department where the student will be spending 90% of their time or more...not necessarily the whole university. For example, the Ivy league schools (which come to mind quickly when one is thinking about "prestige") don't offer music education degrees.

musicmom

I hope I didn't convey disrepect of the music education major!
I'm with thumper....music ed major have to fulfill all the state mandated education classes AND participate in all required esembles AND practice hours a day. No small feat!

Our son is a music ed major (2nd year), works MUCH harder than he ever did in high school but is so focused and engaged. It is wonderful to see.

That said, I do believe some schools will hold performance majors to a higher audition standard than education majors. Not all schools, but some.

fiddlefrog

Boston University meets all your criteria.

gjwhddn

thumper,the reason why prestige is so important to me is bc i worked all my high school career getting excellent grades, excellent sat scores, excellent ecs, etc. and though i can say that those only benefited me and it made me a better person and i dont HAVE to go to a prestige school.. it seems a little.iono. it feels like i did all that work for nothing if i do enter a great music program but not sucha great school in general.. something i would look for is this.john hopkins peabody institute. they maintain a high level of academics AND produces the greatest singers and teachers of the world.

thumper1

The Peabody Conservatory students typically do not take classes at Johns Hopkins. They "can" do so, but the campuses are not all that close together. There is a shuttle that runs between the two. Peabody has an excellent program and music education is certainly a strong program there. However, the liberal arts courses for the music majors are taught AT Peabody, not the JHU campus. If you are looking for that "name" on your diploma, then Peabody would work because JHU name is on the diploma you would receive. Your acceptance to Peabody will be based on your audition and interview, not all the "work" you did in high school or your SAT scores. The only JHU/Peabody program that uses those stats seriously (in addition to the audition) is the combined five year engineering program.

srtatzarina

Hm...actually, it seems to me that JHU/Peabody also has the general double degree program which can combine any two majors, not just engineering ones. I actually know of a student who is getting three degrees in four years at JHU and Peabody. Crazy person, but that's pretty amazing.

That said, it seems to me like Peabody and JHU would be a great combination for this person.

MomofWildChild

Rice certainly has the academic prestige, but I would say it is more straight vocal performance rather than music education (choral).