Linnlew

Hi. My daughter is a high school senior and she is looking at colleges. I am wondering if anyone knows anything about BW's reputation as a music conservatory. My daughter plans on going into vocal music performance. We visited and liked it, but I am just looking for some input. She has already applied to Cincinnati Conservatory, Otterbein, Indiana, Maryland and OSU. I would appreciate any comments!

rudysmom

We were there this past weekend for a full day visit & music workshop. The 3 of us really liked it, the location, the staff, the students. We were pleasantly surprised. My husband & I were sold but our son was slightly hesitant. Among a few things regarding his program of interest (cello perf.), he felt it was a bit too small (smaller than his HS) and a bit too conservative (& it was). We drove back through Oberlin and that blew him away - love at first sight. The 2 are vastly different.

I can't offer any info on the VP program. The one thing that was immediately evident to us is BW is less competitive than the larger schools and accepts a large percentage of applicants.

There seemed to be an even balance of majors. I sensed Music Ed. might have an edge though. (I wish I had asked.)

Around our area, BW is a well respected small lib. arts school and w/in a 6 hour drive. But outside this area, I'm not sure how it stands against other small schools.

Linnlew

Thank you for the information. It is funny how different people like different places. My daughter liked BW and we were there last weekend as well. She felt so comfortable there. We visited Oberlin last month and my daughter did not like it at all. She said she does not fit in there with all of the liberal people! I just had to laugh!

cartera45

When you visit Maryland, ask lots of questions about opportunities for undergrads. They have a huge graduate program and very few voice teachers locally - I am in Maryland - recommend it for undergrad. Make sure the doctoral students aren't doing any of the teaching for example. It is a great program with great facilities, and will definitely on my D's list for graduate school. Has she considered Peabody - if she is good enough for Maryland, she can likely get into Peabody.

Linnlew

Thank you for the information regarding Maryland. My daughter is excited about that school. We have not checked into Peabody. She says she will do that tonight. Thanks again for your help.

barbmaz

My daughter looked at Balwin Wallace. She loved it there. Loved the campus everything! She auditions there soon for vocal performance. Your daughter thought it was conservative at BW? Don't look at the line-up of shows in the Musical theater!!

Linnlew

Barbmaz,

I don't know that she thought it was conserative, but she just liked it better than the liberal Oberlin. She thought it was a bit small, but she felt comfortable there...just like Otterbein.

I think she is looking forward to Saturday's audition. I am trying to decide whether to leave here at 6:00 in the morning or get a hotel the night before. I guess everyone has to be there at 9:00 AM.

Singersmom07

Linnlew
If you can afford it we found being there the night before much less stressful. Even when DD was auditioning only 1 1/2 hrs away we stayed at the hotel so she could relax and get into her pre-audition routines. If anything goes wrong on traffic or weather stress level will rise dramatically.

Linnlew

Good Point! Thanks!

barbmaz

We will stay overnight . That's what we did in Cincinnati. I think it was less stressful. Is your daughter's audition at BW Saturday, January 26? That is my D audition day there. She has another audition the next very next day at CM. Luckily, that is only 1 hour from where we live. Thank goodness we don't have to drive far for that one!

What is your D wearing? My D felt a little under dressed at Cincinnati. She had black pants, a white blouse that had a high waisted belt. Her teacher okayed it, but everyone else had on a dress. Yikes!

Linnlew

Barbmaz,

D's audition at BW is this Saturday. We have decided to spend the night.

As far as what to wear...my D always wears a dress. She went to the NATS competition last year in pants. We had judges actually write on her paper that "young ladies should always perform in dresses". We had never really thought about this, however, to this day D thinks she got 2nd place only because she was wearing pants.

So, at CCM she did wear a dress. I wanted her to wear all black but she did not. It was a nice dress and she wore nice high heeled shoes. We did see some girls in pants...just an FYI!

collegesearch2

I was under the impressed that Baldwin-Wallace was more of a musical theater type school. My daughter is interested in studying voice (classical). Is this a place I should look more closely at? What is the environment like? Small? Large? "Cut-throat"? Thanks for the information!

lorelei2702

Interesting issue about attire. When I am hearing opera auditionees, it does not bother me one way or the other about pants. However, I am distracted by cinched belts (especially over clingy knits and when the singer is not athletically sleek), and a short skirt above flesh colored legs. Suits with a belt around jacket are hard to pull off, must look trim, not indented. And a black dress does not hide a lumpy body.....if there is a weight problem, the clothing should skim, not outline and contour.

Linnlew

Yes, we thought that was interesting when (2) judges commented that D was wearing pants. So, we changed that! Now she only wants to wear a skirt or a dress...nothing too long or too short!

Linnlew

COLLEGESEARCH2,

BW is a music conservatory so they offer everything. From what I understand they have a very good voice performance program and the VP majors are allowed to audition for the musical theatre productions. That is very important to my Daughter!