<p>I have to agree with everyone else, don’t go into debt to finance a music school education (I tell people the same thing about academics, better to get a great scholarship at a school not as prestigious then to pay the $$$ for the prestige school that gives little; it just isn’t worth it, for the boost that a ‘prestigious’ school might give out of college on the first job, isn’t worth that burden.</p>
<p>Yes, the schools are getting more and more expensive and the scholarships are not keeping up, and I reiterate what I have seen personally and heard, merit scholarships more and more are tied to need, if your family income is above what they consider the level to pay full freight, you are more than likely to get little or nothing from the schools. Schools like Curtis and Colburn get top talent in part because Curtis is tuition free and colburn is full ride, so it makes them very, very attractive. Paying 55k a year or more on music school, which is roughly what the top private conservatories are at, is getting to be more and more of a will of the wisp. One of the reasons for at least some of the influx of foreign students, both Korean and Chinese, is that both countries have a burgeoning well off class, and their kids often go into music, and they will be paying full freight. </p>
<p>And yes,teachers often have their head up the other end, part of it is as others have said, it was different in their era, it was easier to get into the schools in many ways and it also was more affordable. Not to mention, quite frankly, that a lot of teachers may not really know much about the teachers, it is like the local violin teacher who hears the name Itzak Perlman and tells the kid he has to go to Juilliard to study with him (no implied anything about Mr. Perlman, from what I can tell he is a very high level teacher and also knows a thing or two about making music:)…reputation is a funky thing, there are ‘famous’ teachers who are great performers but can’t teach their way out of a paper bag, teachers who probably should have retired years ago, or more importantly, teachers that won’t work for the student…and the reputation of the school simply won’t mean that much, if the goal is to become a musician of some sort. Someone can be a decent voice teacher, be able to get the kid prepared, and not have a clue about the current scene, unless someone keeps in touch with people, the teacher may not know more than the student does about schools and teachers. </p>
<p>The other thing to tell your S is more and more, the ‘action’ is at the grad school level, a lot of music students go that route (and for voice, it isn’t an option from what I hear…), and that is where perhaps the great teacher/school might come in. There are people who will tell you if you don’t go to Juilliard or Curtis or wherever, that it isn’t worth going, and quite frankly, they don’t know, they know the name, not the reality…both of those are great schools, with a lot to offer, but they also aren’t the whole shebang, either. If the teacher at the state school is good, if the program looks decent, has a track record, go for the financially solid choice IME.</p>