<p>Have you seen the article in the special Education Life section in last Sunday’s NY Times? There were some interesting pieces about Financial Aid ( THAT was an eye opener!), the usual college savings plans and such, but a half page was devoted to letting people know that transferring into an Ivy League school was no longer an option at some colleges. This struck me as really odd, because, last Friday, an hour of NPR’s afternoon was devoted to telling kids that this was a great way to get into a top school, which leaves me wondering what is true? Princeton closed it’s doors to transfer students in 1990 and Harvard did the same last spring. A few are allowed at U of P, Yale. Dartmouth, Amherst and Stanford(OK, not Ivies, per se…) , but had more success at Cornell, Georgetown, MIT and Notre Dame.
I know that kids are being told that “you can always transfer if it’s not right”, but do you think that this trend, as reported in the Times, might trickle down to music schools/conservatories? There is always the problem with credits being accepted and such, but since getting into a top music program is as competitive, if not more so, than Harvard (consider that the performance majors all have limits on how many are accepted into the program), might it spill over? I was just surprised to be presented with two totally opposite statements/opinions (NPR& NY Times) within the span of 2 days! Thoughts?</p>
<p>My daughter is wrestling with her decision - Louisiana State University or University of Toronto for vocal performance. I’d better not make things worse by telling her she might not be able to transfer if it’s not right!!!</p>
<p>Another consideration in this regard – the same scholarship a prospective student was awarded as an incoming freshman may not be available to that same person as a transfer student, either because the competition may be more stringent or the school’s policy puts a cap on transfer student scholarships as is the case with at least one well-known music school. One of the things I’ve learned about music schools and life in general is that what is true one year may not be true the next and generalizations, ie. “you can always transfer to another school” don’t always serve well in specific cases.</p>
<p>D, as a sophomore, had to transfer from one good music school to another well regarded music school. All the credits technically “transfered”, but since every music schools BM requirements are very specific, the transfer still sent her back one semester. Transfers in music are tricky at best.</p>
<p>Music students frequently transfer to follow their private teachers when the teacher has accepted a new position at a different school. There’s a long history of this - at least in my personal experience - friends, acquaintances, students, etc going back 30 - 40 years across many different instruments and voice types. I know its not unusual when a major teacher is brought into a new institution for the teacher to be allowed/encouraged to bring students along. I’d hate to see music schools disallow transfers for any reason - no better way to really hurt the students!</p>
<p>My D transferred because a hurricane ate her apartment. 
But the harder you work, the luckier you get and somehow everything works out for the best!</p>
<p>I hope you’re right, musicamusica. I like that adage better than the one an old boyfriend told me, “For every bike that gets stolen from you, there’s always a free beer.” I didn’t marry that one.</p>
<p>LOL…where did he get that one, KeyofH?</p>
<p>keyofh----I wish I’d known that sooner. I wouldn’t have been so careful with that bike lock.</p>
<p>The article in the Times focused on Ivy League schools. I say it’s too soon to worry about music schools and other colleges. Sometimes the Ivies just have their own rules.</p>