Hello!
Did anyone’s classical instrument music kid transfer to another music school BM degree after one year at a music school/conservatory? What was the process?
Tagging @sillinessforBschools
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To major in music performance…or something else?
Wouldn’t happen to be a voice student would it? If so, I can suggest a FB group where this is discussed somewhat regularly.
Classical music BM transferring to another music school studying the same instrument BM degree.
No, not voice. Viola
I could be wrong…but I don’t think I am.
Your student would need to audition for and be accepted to the new music school. It’s almost March…getting sort of late for that for a fall 2026 transfer, I think.
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A friend of my son transferred, twice. He is a string player. The first time he applied as transfer student and auditioned alongside the incoming first-year applicants (my son was one of them). The second time he transferred back. It was a special circumstance.
wait, viola? from where to where? my son is a violist.
It wasn’t classical music. However, I used to have a guitar teacher who had started at the Berklee College of Music. After two years he ran out of money. He transferred to U.Mass Lowell in-state. He was quite good at guitar and I think that he got a merit scholarship at U.Mass, in addition to being in-state and close enough that he could live at home.
He did this for financial reasons. He said that most of his credits did not transfer. I think that he ended up taking five years in total to get his bachelor’s degree.
I am pretty sure that he was good enough both at music, and as an academic student, that getting accepted to U.Mass Lowell as a transfer student was not all that hard for him. I always assumed that he auditioned to transfer, but that would not have been a problem for him at all, and travel between Berklee in Boston and U.Mass Lowell is also not all that hard.
At the time that he was my teacher, he already had his BM but was still trying to pay off his education loans. He would have been way better off if he had just started at U.Mass Lowell in the first place. Berklee is a great college of music. One daughter took a couple of summer classes there, liked it, and learnt quite a bit. A more recent guitar teacher was getting a master’s there and loved it. However, finances matter and two of the U.Mass’s (Lowell and Amherst) are quite good for music particularly if you are in-state and find them relatively affordable.
This is quite common. I know at my son’s conservatory transfer students started as a first year regardless of how many years they studied elsewhere.
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Well maybe the advice given there would apply here. In that group they say for a student to reach back out to the programs where they were initially accepted, explain the situation, and then ask what the protocol would be for possibly transferring in. If you have a personal contact at a program–studio prof etc. start there. Things like this happen and even if your student feels uncomfortable at first about reaching out, schools deal with this a lot and will most likely be receptive to helping how they can.
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But yes, as mentioned above, it is getting late in the audition season so your student would need to get moving. I know IU has at least one more audition weekend coming up if that school would be on his/her radar. Not sure about others.
Yes, I have heard of a “side door” type of approach if the student has a strong relationship with another teacher. Not the norm though.
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Transferring can actually be rather difficult in music conservatories from what I have seen. Typically, spots are filled each year, and those spots are reserved for freshmen and newly entering grad students. Unless there is some really compelling reason (ie your teacher leaves your school and takes the student with them to the new school), or your student is just really, really amazing, it is going to be very hard to find an open spot.
It’s not impossible, but the math is really against you. Usually when I have seen this happen, the student does not end up at as high level of a program than they would have been able to enter if they auditioned there as a freshman.
There is no equivalent path for conservatories comparable to those in the academic world where you can do two years at community college and then transfer in to a higher level institution.
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yes- you can DM me
Peabody has a late deadline
I sent you a message.
I am not sure that it says positive things about possible experiences there (others with more knowledge should definitely share!) but I just saw that CIM has extended auditions with a guaranteed $30000 scholarship for accepted cellos, violas, and violins.
You can DM me; yes
I would avoid CIM - there is a reason they are extending everything and offering money. Everybody is avoiding CIM right now. The faculty is fleeing. Last I heard they only had 2 viola students who are both graduating. Violin students are leaving. It’s likely going to implode unless leadership is changed and the culture is dramatically changed.
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