College Advice? (Warning: Very Long Post!)

LadyPakenham

LadyPakenham

Cathlete
Salutations, fellow Cathletes! :)

As some of you might know, I'm a freshman in high school. Still, I'm thinking about what I want to do when I graduate, go to college, and beyond (might as well start now, right?). I've been a professional singer for about three years now and I really love music and performing, enough that every time I am onstage (or even at rehearsal), I'm thinking to myself, "I need to find a way to get paid for this."

I'm not entirely sure about the details of what I'd want to do yet, but I'm thinking somewhere along the lines of either an opera singer, vocal professor, a opera professor/director, or a choir director. However, if I was to go into teaching or directing, I'd want to work at a college or university. I've heard that, in order to be a vocal professor, you need to go the performance route first (so I'd have to sing opera or something for a while—I obviously wouldn't mind that!).

I know this is something I could do because, for the short time that I've been singing (in addition to the fact that I first joined my choir with next-to-no prior musical experience and still did well), I've been told that I'm pretty good. Not to brag, but I know there's some operatic quality to my voice and that, if I really work at it, I can get somewhere.

The problem is that, in order to open the doors for everything I'd possibly want to do, I'd have to be a double major in Music Education and Vocal Performance. And, since I would need a Masters in both of them (possibly a Doctorate in the former) to teach at the college level, you can imagine how costly it would be in both time and money!

Northwestern University is home to Bienen School of Music, which is considered one of the best music schools in the U.S. Now, it's not Juilliard or anything, but I have met and worked with quite a few people who went to Bienen (and some who work there) and they're just some of the best musicians and teachers I've ever seen. At Bienen, I could double-major in Music Education and Vocal Performance in four years. In fact, I know a senior who's doing that right now! (Also, I could get my Doctorate in Music Education with a guaranteed full-tuition scholarship if I was accepted into the program.)

One problem is finances. Northwestern is ridiculously expensive. It would cost me about $40,000 a year to go now, let alone four years from now! My parents have some money for it, but not all, and I probably wouldn't qualify for a need-based scholarship and there's no way I'm taking out a loan. So my first question is, what could I do to earn a merit-based scholarship? What could I do so that they'd just have to have me, no matter what?

The second problem is getting accepted. I've only been singing for three years, and I don't have time to take voice lessons more than the four summers of my high school years. I started piano in January and I plan to continue it through high school, and I'm going to start assistant teaching with my choir group this fall. Luckily for me, I've performed with major acts, so that would help. My grades are good—I've been a straight-A student for years (yay! :))—but I don't know how much that will help. I hear that colleges are looking at homeschoolers more, and I'm homeschooled. But I don't know. Anything I could do to beef up my resume?

The last thing I wanted to ask for was for experience and anecdotes from people who went or are going to Bienen, or who work as an opera singer, vocal or opera professor or director, etc. I'd like to make sure I know exactly what I'm getting myself into before I do anything.

Thanks for reading this—I know it's long but it's quite an important issue to me. :)

Megan

P.S. Yes, I know, it's early and I'm just a freshman. But the professional music business is extremely competitive, especially if you want to teach. You'd be surprised by how many others like me are out there, and so the only way to get what I want is to start early and work hard, so that's why I'm doing this.
 
Megan, if your school offers it, take AP classes. My kids did and all entered into their respective colleges as at least sophomores. AP scholars (there are certain levels that one has to reach) get tons of scholarships. Go to your guidance office and talk to your counselors about scholarships that are available. Try http://www.fastweb.com/

Do your parents use upromise? Suggest that to them. Does your state offer a program like Edvest?

Keep your grades up and eyes and ears open for scholarships.
 
I second the thought on financial aid. My parents paid for half my college education, and I paid for the other half. It really made me feel good to contribute!

As for all of your other plans... I was convinced I wanted to be a doctor. Always wanted to be one... After a miserable freshman year and horrible grades, I decided to become "undeclared" and that was the BEST time of my college life. I dibble dabbled in courses and decided that I wanted to be a writer... I always advise every person I know entering college to take at least a semester to declare yourself. Learn who you really are first and then decide how you want to spend the rest of your life. Those undeclared days are really amazing.

Just my 2 cents! You are going to love college!!! Good luck!!!
 
Megan and Stephanie.
I wanted to be a TV producer/journalism major and study at NYU instead I went into business, the issues for me was attending an out of state school and the competition to get into the major at that university. Also, I was undeclared for my freshman year.
A former co-worker of mine was a voice/music education major at a bank. She is now an administrative assistant for a company. She has an amazing voice and does solos for a huge church in the area.
Best wishes on your journey.

JT
 
The professional music business has little or nothing to do with academia. If you want to go the academic route, find out right away if you have the ability to do both counterpoint (higher levels of music theory) and harmonic dictation (a graduation requirement for all music majors.) I was unable to do these two things and wasted a considerable amount of time in conservatory and ultimately changed my major to digital media (a much more useful degree btw.)

Most people who go the music route do teach. Most teach privately. Teaching is not required to just sing or to be a performer. I found that school and performance were almost mutually exclusive. The other issue to take into consideration is that these kinds of majors don't typically lead to a good income.

Have you considered instead just recording/performing and earning a degree in a useful field such as business (needed knowledge no matter what your business is.) or computer science (terribly useful when producing your own recordings because just about everything is done in post on a computer.)

A little back ground on myself: I played violin for 10 years, classically trained in piano, music theory, voice (mezzo) discovered at the age of 14 and played in orchestra when I was 15. I started composing seriously at 15. I wrote my first sonata at 16. I grew bored with western harmony/meter at 19 and formed my own trio for 3 years, we played originals that I wrote.
 
Thank you for all the advice! :)

As for financial aid, I'm looking at that. Northwestern does not usually offer merit-based scholarships, but I do know at least one person who got one. My parents have told me not to take out a loan no matter what.

I do not have a school guidance counselor because I am homeschooled.

I want to take AP classes. My curriculum offers some. I'll look into upromise and fastweb.

Being undeclared sounds like a good idea, but it could really hinder my progress. I'm taking the time now to decide whether I'm going to move in this direction. By the time I go to college, I probably will need to have decided whether I'm going to major in music or not.

I'm learning beginning music theory right now with piano. My teacher says that I'm moving along very quickly, so I think I'll be okay with that. :)

Lastly, if you become a professor at a college, you'll make a good paycheck. Double-majoring in Music Education and Vocal Performance gives me a few jobs that I could do: I could be an opera singer, a voice/opera professor, director, or lecturer, and, with a PhD in Music Ed., I can lecture and teach it. That's why I want to double-major, so that I have a lot of choices.

I do have many interests that I'm going to explore, though music is overwhelmingly dominant.
 
Have you considered going to a local, less costly college for your first couple of years just to get the core classes under your belt first? If you don't qualify for grants or scholarships, this could save you some $$$ for the first couple of years, especially if you could live at home and commute. I know it doesn't have the same distinction as going to a university, but from personal experience I can tell you that I had better, more informative classes at my local college than I did at CMU. Just make sure that the core classes you take will transfer to the university that you are interested in going to. Also, if you get rockin' grades at the community college, I would think the university would be more willing to accept you.
 
Megan:
I teach at a university, and give academic advice to young people,and am an ameteur musician. I concratulate you on your ambitions, and for a person so young.

A few points:
1. Go for your dreams. Keep working at your music as best you can.
2. I agree with Angie above, that you might want to consider first pursuing a music education at a local, more inexpensive school first. Geneerally, the level of undergraduate education -- across various schools -- is fairly even. So you do not lose that much going to a local school for your freshman and sophmore years. In your undergraduate years you have to study hard from undergraduate textbooks, and listen to your professors, and earn A's, to make it into graduate school.

It is only at the grauate level where you should look for a good school (like Northwestern). Sharon Stone got her start in community college in Pennsylvania. And generally doing a MA or PhD you can obtain scholarship and teaching assisitanship money. As one person said above, you can earn money teaching music while in undergraduate and graduate school. The general rule is to do your final degree at a good university.
3. Work hard and major in an area that you enjoy doing. If you enjoy singing, go for it. All successful artists and athletes work hard.

Good luck to your future aims.
-- David
 
My DD is a high school sophomore & is well into the college mindset already. She's a bit ahead of her peers, but it's better to plan ahead. Here's some ideas:

You should look into taking subject SAT tests beginning this year. It will help to bolster your academic credentials when you apply to schools as colleges will have independent evidence of your scholastic capabilities. The subject tests you take should be based on what classes you're taking that year. (eg. My DD took the SAT Biology test as a freshman. She'll take the Chemistry one this June along w/ World History. The World History SAT subject test will be in addition to the AP World History test she'll take in May.)

If you aren't already aware of it, AP classes can be taken online for homeschoolers. Look into what your state offers or there are private schools that offer these (for a fee, of course).

Even though you are homeschooled, you may be able to talk to a guidance counselor at your local high school as you are in their district. Local regs vary on this, but it's worth a shot.

Take the PSATs as a sophomore. It will be strictly practice but if you do well, it will put you on the radar of colleges & universities and they'll start sending you mailings & emails about their programs. My DD receives 50 college mailings each week and twice that many emails! As a junior, PSATs determine National Merit Scholarships & Commendations which can further boost your academic standing as an applicant.

Can you attend any summer music camps? There are hundreds held at colleges around the country. At many of these camps, the teachers can be enormously helpful w/ connections, references, and tips for college selection & admission.

I know Northwestern is a fantastic school but actually there are others out there w/ similar or higher ranked music programs.

http://www.brighthub.com/education/college/articles/80291.aspx

http://education-portal.com/top_music_colleges.html

HTH and good luck pursuing your dreams!
 
I'm in a rush but I just wanted to jot this down (I specifically prep students to go into top tier schools)...

1) Score insanely high on the PSAT first. It is the first step to becoming a national merit scholar and that honor still means something.
2) Study and take your AP Music Theory exam ASAP (And get a five). Just because you don't have an AP class doesn't mean you can't take the exam. I'm coaching one student in taking more than 8 exams that he's not taking AP classes in. It looks REALLY good for scholarships and colleges.
3) Absolutely do not set your heart on only one school. Programs change in just two years so you should have a list, not just one school. Smaller programs at the undergraduate level where you can shine may help you get the full ride for the graduate level.

you can pm/email me directly if you want for more advice, but I just wanted to jot this down before I bolted out of here today...good luck with whatever you do!
 
David—It was wonderful to hear from someone who is actually on a university's faculty. I'm going to look into the community colleges around here and ask some of my NU people what they think.

Joan—I cannot attend summer music camps because I already have other music-related activities scheduled for the summer that are time-and-money consuming (and I'm turning 16 this summer so learning to drive is also on my to-do list :)). But I suppose that's just as good and I really appreciated the music school lists. I have a lot of researching to do. :)

hottiescientist—the tests idea sounds like something that could really make my resume look good, but I'm honestly not sure about taking AP tests without taking the classes first. And the tests are expensive. On top of that, again, I'm only a freshman. Do I have to take so many tests now? (Personally, I'd rather just work on getting my first year of high school done and out of the way.) I thought these tests were for older high school kids, though I could be wrong. As for Music Theory AP, while it's a smart idea and I ought to do that at some point, I'm only beginning to learn music theory. While I have formal training as a singer, I don't have much training as anything else and I only started to learn to read music when I started piano in January.

Thanks to all for the ideas. :)

Megan
 
LadyPakenham said:
Thank you for all the advice!
I could be an opera singer, a voice/opera professor, director, or lecturer, and, with a PhD in Music Ed., I can lecture and teach it.
Click to expand...

You won't know that you are good at theory until you are in upper division. You really need to look into Fuch's counter point exercises. You can be an opera singer without the emphasis on that degree. In many ways, thats relatively easy to do. All you need is a vocal coach.

The second major will only slow you down. You should pick one or the other, the difference is years spent in college, not just semesters.

Btw, I was home schooled in high school to accommodate my required performance units/master classes. Do not be fooled by the concept that a unit represents a certain number of hours spent every week studying. That does not apply to a music major. You will be expected to spend 3 hours/day on your instrument of choice over and above your other units as a performance major. What looks like 15 units on paper in real life is like taking 20.

That said, I think what you should do is buy one of those computer ear training courses, use it every day, get a great vocal coach, practice everyday (but don't wear out your voice, its a muscle!!!) and take up running. I know that seems like an odd recommendation, but you would be surprised at how big of a difference it will make in your breath support. I think you should major in music ed. and not take the double major. Collegiate/academic experience in vocals is completely not necessary to be an opera singer, not even in the slightest, littlest itty bitty bit.

Thats just my 2c. I hope it all works out for you, keep us posted,

Alisha
 
If the double-major isn't possible I plan to go with Music Ed.

I know you don't technically need a degree to be an opera singer, but if you want to be a teacher or director in that field it's probably a good idea to have. Still, you're right—a double-major would be tough, even though in some schools I could technically do it in four years.
 
I should also probably make it clear for future posts that for time and financial reasons I CANNOT take private lessons during my high school years except for over the summer. Also, I have never taken private lessons before, so those four summers will be my ONLY experience with them before college.
 
sorry just got back onto the forums -- the cost of one AP exam is about $87 I thinks without any school subsidy. I think $87 is way cheaper than a single unit at Northwestern so financially, I always tell my students to ramp up on the APs since *most* schools take them (my school didn't so there are some that don't at all, some that don't take certain courses, etc.). You made a point about the school being expensive -- one way to deal with it is to take APs and to transfer in lower level school units into the school.

As for taking the AP Music exam without a class, actually every musician I knew in HS took it on their own -- we didn't have a class for it for sure at my school. Some had private lessons and some didn't; it was mostly an independent study. And I would think a good chunk of the Bienen applicants would have this under their belt. I couldn't tell you how hard the exam is as it is one of the few that I prep in, but given the people I knew who got 4s and 5s, I would have to guess it is totally doable with enough studying and effort as some of the students I knew just has started learning music in HS. I'm not saying its easy but perhaps you can keep it as 1.5-2 yr project. You said you were homeschooles so I doubt the discipline necessary would be an issue.
 
Thank you for the additional advice. :) Taking a lot of $87 tests may add up with all the other stuff I'm doing, and I don't know if Northwestern counts it as anything. I'd probably only go with one or two; the Music Theory one would certainly be one of them.

I do have a new question...what about Jacobs School of Music at the University of Indiana? Some things have come up lately and there is a possibility that in the near future I may be moving to Indiana. And I looked it up—you only have to live there for a year to take advantage of the wonderfully-low in-state tuition rate (not even $10k a year!!!). One of my "Northwestern people" is from Indiana and has praised that school and I hear really good things about it. Would that be an option for an undergraduate degree?
 
Hi LadyPakenham,

I just wanted to comments and reiterate some things that have mentioned to try to help you figure out this college process. It can be very stressful!

Are you sure about Northwestern not offering merit based scholarships? I think all schools do in some shape or form. I would check. As people mention, apply for financial aid. It will be part of you’re your application. You get loans, grants, scholarships, work study offers if you qualify.

Being undeclared will not hinder you. In most school, you will need to declare your major by the middle of the second semester of your sophomore year. While you have to have so many number of hours of study for your music major, you will have to do many hours of required course work in other areas. I had to have 2 semesters of science, 2 English, 2 years of foreign language, two semesters of history, 4 social sciences, etc in addition to my hours in my major. You will be busy completing these courses for the first couple of years.

I would definitely look into Jacobs School of Music at the University of Indiana. Even if you don't move to Indiana before you attend college, it may be cheaper to than Northwestern. You could always pay out of state tuition for one year then become an Indiana resident and pay in state for the rest of your time.

As mentioned, please take advantage of the AP courses! Almost all schools will accept them. When I was in college, a girl that entered with me as freshman had so many AP credits, that she was consider a second semester sophomore. She was able to graduate a year earlier than the rest of us, saving her parents $40,000!! Even at $87 dollars a test, you'll be saving your parents a ton of money!! Explain to them that each course will costs around $3000 at Northwestern or $500-$1000 at a state school. $87 vs. $3000? I think that they will like that idea (and think you are a responsible young lady) ! And you'll be further ahead with your college studies. Also Just don’t take them in music. Take them for your core course requirements such as English, math, foreign lang etc, that you can get credit for.

Also, I know you parents said no loans, but I would suggest talking out Stafford loans if need be. You be responsible for it, not your parents. It is not credit based and have a very low interest rate. Plus, they are extremely generous with repayment. You can request extensions for the time to pay them back, very low payments if you cannot afford the regular payments, and deferments if you go to grad school. Plus, you will build you credit history which will become very important as you enter adulthood.

Feel free to PM me or have your parents pm me if you need more information/help. Good luck!
Lorrie
 
Hi Lorrie,

Thank you for the advice. While I don't think I could be lucky enough for Northwestern or Jacobs would consider me a sophomore upon being admitted no matter how many AP tests I took (unless I took a hell of a lot of them, which I really don't want to do considering I have music lessons and an impending internship), I understand that it would probably look really good on my résumé to have a few under by belt.

I do know what majors I want—the question is whether I can double-major. I saw that Jacobs offers double-major programs for graduate students, but I didn't see anything for undergrads. Can you double-major in a performance area and Music Education as an undergraduate student?
 
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