How does admission work for prospective music major?

SJTH
Sun, 29 Jan 2012 12:04:52 +0000

Mdndad, I have a son who is in his third year at Oberlin Con., jazz drummer. He had great academic stats as well. First, I highly recommend your son spend a week or two this summer at a conservatory jazz camp. We were given this recommendation here on CC his junior year, and he was accepted to Eastman’s summer jazz program. Those two weeks really helped him to decide that a conservatory or very strong jazz program was the way he wanted to go, BUT he also realized that he wanted to be on campus of a great college as well. That ruled Eastman out for him. He ended up deciding between Columbia Univ., which has a very strong jazz program and obviously is great academically, and Oberlin. He chose Oberlin because (a) he had the chance to study with an amazing teacher and (b) he didn’t want to be distracted by the jazz scene in NYC while he was an undergrad. because it is expensive and, well, distracting. He also felt (rightly or wrongly) that being seen as a “kid” in the NYC scene during college would be a disadvantage, as compared to arriving as a more fully-formed musician after college. Oberlin brings in really fantastic jazz mentors and artists on a regular basis, he’s had the chance to influence those decisions, and he’s gotten a great education both in music and liberal arts. It’s a small town college, but a very vibrant music scene. Just his experience–your son will have his own views, but visit campuses and really think about a summer program somewhere!