hi! i am a student trying to narrow down my list of schools to apply to. i’m planning to major in vocal performance/opera, and would love to know if anyone here has any information on these schools! if you have any other vocal performance programs you recommend, please do so! i want to get a lot of performance opportunities in college, so do mention if you know if the school does fully staged operas + if they let undergraduates get cast for main roles! also, i am an international student, and if you have any information on anything related to that let me know. thank you for reading!
colleges:
BOCO
boston university
carnegie mellon university
curtis
depaul university
eastman
ithaca
iu bloomington
johns hopkins university
juilliard
msm
nec
nyu
northwestern
oberlin
suny purchase
syracuse
university of cincinnati
umiami
umich
uncsa
usc thornton
vanderbilt
Really…there is no way to chance a performance major. Your acceptance will largely depend on your audition which will be reviewed along with all others doing an audition on your voice type. No one here can predict the strength of applicants at these schools for the upcoming year.
The Boston University Opera program is not an undergrad program. It is a graduate program.
According to your other thread, you will require financial aid to attend any college here. The schools on the above list…you need to check…but many are need aware for admissions for international students. This means your level of financial need will be considered when your application is reviewed.
And a LOT of the schools on your list do not meet full need for all accepted students. You need to consider this as well.
Are there any opera/vocal programs you are considering in your own country or not in the U.S. that will be affordable.
Schools that are need blind, meaning need does not affect admissions, include Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, Amherst and Brown (for fall 2025). Other schools may give you aid, but these schools don’t consider need in their decisions. Some of the conservatories give merit aid as well as financial, and there is a thread somewhere on this music forum about merit aid. @Bridgenail might chime in here.
hi! thank you for your input. BU and UNCSA both have undergraduate voice performance programs, and those were what i was looking at!
yes, i am aware that acceptance largely depends on my audition. i also understand that funding for these colleges can come from merit scholarships as well as financial aid (which only some schools offer to international students, and even then they are need-aware.) i totally understand the concern! thank you for looking out for me
also, to answer your question about voice programs in my country- the art scene where i live is very small, and the conservatory here does not have the capacity to do fully staged operas. i do not plan to stay in this country, either. my family has plans to move to the us, and that’s why i would prefer to study there!
do you have any information on the voice programs specifically at any of these schools?
hi! thank you for your response! i am aware that these schools are need-blind, but i have not heard anything about their music/voice programs. i think yale has one but only for graduate students! i’m aware about the possibility of obtaining merit scholarships at conservatories. i’ll look for the thread about merit aid. thank you so much!
Those schools do not have BM degrees and I believe MIT doesn’t have a music major. But many or most will give credit for lessons and extracurricular performance, have music majors, minors and double majors (Harvard and Yale have double degrees with MM, though most double degrees are BA/BM). They also often fund summer programs and festivals. If you qualify, these are good financial options.
Princeton has a performance certificate and a program in the UK.
I do have a kid at one of these schools currently for vocal. I can message you about that when I get a chance. It would be helpful to know what you and your parent’s budget is? If your budget is very low, there are a very small number of schools that are need blind for international students. Even schools that are good with music merit can still easily run 25-30K+ a year. Would that be in range?
If you cannot be full pay at a private, some of these are may not worth your while. USC and Michigan come to mind. My kid auditioned at Boston University for last year and we were told that undergrads don’t perform operas and they only have very small merit awards for undergrads so that fell off our list. None of these schools offer need based aid for international students and aren’t likely to give much for an undergrad vocalist. I had 2 kids apply vocal, and many schools with grad programs may not offer much for undergrad voices. Especially for female vocalists.
If you are planning to travel to audition, you probably realistically cannot audition at more than 6-8 schools. I’d try to pare your list down to more like 12 and try to have 3-4 you have a good sense might be more affordable if you really intend on studying in the states. Most of these schools listed that I am familiar with are extremely competitive for vocal.
You might want to consider some liberal arts colleges that have music programs. They may be generous with merit and have some need based money available for desirable international students. Lawrence University and Saint Olaf College come to mind. Maybe Baldwin Wallace. University of North Texas can end up on the more affordable end with a strong audition and has an excellent music program.
hiii! thank you so much for your response! yes i went to the us to do a summer festival, and my teacher there advised against going to BU for undergraduate study. this list is not my personal list i would say, but i just wanted to know more about each program BU is definitely one i would cross off now, so thank you for your insight!
i’ll get back to you with my family’s budget. i would love to get in touch with you to ask you more about your VP kid and VP in general!
SUNY’s tend to be relatively affordable. Maybe look into SUNY Purchase if the budget allows. Again, extracurricular lessons and performance may be one avenue to investigate for financial benefit and sometimes for quality of opportunity. Schools without a grad program as well.
My D graduated recently from SUNY Purchase so I can answer questions related to that school specifically as undergraduate. She is at Indiana Jacobs now as a graduate. For SUNY Purchase - reasonable price, facilities are old as the state funds that, 2 fully staged operas a year - very few graduates students so yes as an undergrad you would be in operas, housing on campus is old but surrounding area very expensive so everyone lives on campus all 4 years. Feel free to DM any questions.
IU Jacobs does 6 staged operas (though I think one leans toward musical theater). As a state school it is pricey. So many people go there do not expect scholarships to be large.
My D got in state tuition which brought it down but that was basically it. There are over 150 graduate students so odds of being in one of the operas is low. If you don’t get in the chorus you are placed in a choral group. Any large programs with graduate students will most likely limit opportunities for undergrad getting performance experience. DM questions but I will have to get my D to ask undergrads specifics).
I know my D specifically didn’t go to NYU as she said the style of music is more classical and less opera. I would research the type of music taught at each school if this is an issue for you (it was for her).
USC Thornton has a strong VP program and undergraduates can audition for main roles in their operas. They music program does not generally give merit scholarships to undergraduates. They do give need-based aid, but I am not sure how it works for international students.
IU has a very strong VP program as well, but based on what we heard during the audition, while undergraduates can audition for operas they don;t generally get main parts. Oberlin is fully undergraduate, so there will be more opportunities there in mai productions.
BU is definitely one i would cross off now, so thank you for your insight!