Maybe have him think about what he wants to do in the worse case, he can’t or doesn’t want to perform anymore. Berklee is a very specific place. Being able to attend a university where he can pivot or take a second major is something to seriously consider. My older one went to a small conservatory for acting and he worked hard to make sure that he had other education but it was very, very difficult.
Very good point. Of the 4 schools, UM Frost is the only one that isn’t a conservatory and would probably better allow for that pivot you mention.
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My son was definitely torn between multiple schools and it ultimately came down to the professor. For one school he received a mass email from the professor to all that were accepted with information on their studio. No real personal contact. At another school, the professor called him personally multiple times and checked in on him regularly. He really felt like they were interested in helping him become a better musician. At one of the schools they offered him top spots in their orchestra, but he wanted to make sure that he would grow as a musician, not automatically walk into the top spot, and ultimately he chose the school that he felt could best help him grow and I think it’s been the best decision.
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Has anyone in performance majors heard from IU Jacobs yet today? I know it’s not even 9 am (Eastern) but stiillllll. We are on pins and needles here! Today is the day!
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We anticipate this situation too, but we haven’t even heard from every school yet. I have offered to our son to visit his top two again to sit in on classes if he feels stuck (if time allows). I bet teachers would do a virtual lesson as well if needed, or at least a phone conversation.
I also wanted to get the degree “worksheet” for each school, since some are different enough in what classes they require.
The degree “worksheet” is definitely a great idea. I think he needs to visually see what types of classes he will have to take at each of the schools since it will be so different.
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Yes, in the case of full university vs. standalone conservatory, especially. There are definitely tradeoffs. They each do some things better.
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So the few things we are factoring: 1) would your kid want to be taught by this prof for four years? what’s the vibe, etc 2) how stable is the department? how old is the prof? is retirement soon in the cards? 3) if a non-music school, does the university support the program? how backed is it by alumni? 4) what would pivoting to a non-music degree look like? you never know what may happen. make sure you can still afford it. 5) does the degree itself and the classes be of interest? I can tell you if there is piano involved, the kid would not be interested.
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This is what we did with my daughter last year. But honestly we used it as a tool to show her that the school that gave her the best scholarship also had a lot of other things going for it.
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I believe most schools require keyboard to a certain degree, regardless of instrument. All 5 of my kids took piano lessons when they were young and were able to pivot to another instrument if they wanted to.
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My son received his acceptance to Jacobs in his portal last night (3/17) for MM composition.
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Thanks for the info. Evidently the acceptances for music performance majors are being released today. The other majors found out yesterday.
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Ah interesting. My son had also been told it would be today (3/18) along with all other majors, so was suprised that it was there already (no scholarship or financial info, though).
Congratulations to your son!
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Thanks! If they don’t get accepted to dual, could they still get their acceptance to Peabody tomorrow? Or would that be “No to JHU/Dual” and wait to hear from Peabody separately?
We haven’t heard. Undergrad, Cello performance. My son claims he knows other performance kids who heard yesterday so everyone is freaking out a bit here.
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Does anyone happen to have a firm idea of what day Peabody might release its decisions?
I agree with this 100% Of my son’s top 3, 2 were traditional colleges and the third was Berklee. I’m glad he went with traditional
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there is no firm date….they have said its “By April 1st”
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ALL the things right here! You nailed it.
- Mine tested out of fresh/soph lessons so he went directly to the Dept head for lessons (someone he always wanted to study under and why he picked that school). He eventually decide to sample the lower division teachers and enjoyed each one and learned so much from their different styles.
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