<p>I agree with you imagep that pursuing a dream is worthwhile. There are people who “like music” and decide that is enough reason to pursue music in college. Some don’t have a music background of any significance. At 18 when many of us don’t know what to study in school, music is one thing many people like. Some schools create commercial music programs to tailor to these students desires and the quality of the program is not high and the value of the $ spent questionable. </p>
<p>If my child wanted to pursue a career in music and was not able to get into a top program and they wanted to perform I would suggest they defer school, form a band and start seeing what they can do. Or go to school for something else and do the band on the side. If they wanted to be on the business side and couldn’t get into a top program I would suggest they find a way to get a low level job in a talent agency, booking agent or whatever avenue their dream was and work hard for probably little pay and learn the busines that way. </p>
<p>I have family and friends who have had a result that was predictable from a distance (graduate from commercial music program, never make a living at it) but parents supported child’s pursuit of their “dream” because they liked music. I wouldn’t pay $20-50K/year for my child to be in a program that wasn’t top notch heading into a field that is this difficult. I think I would be doing them a disservice.</p>