Author: Igloo Bob
Date: 2004-07-12 03:51
If I'm looking to go into music education for sure (not as a second plan in case being a performance major falls through or anything like that), how much an issue is the prestige of the college I went to going to be when I'm looking to be hired? My two choices right now are the University of Alaska Anchorage, and West Texas A&M. I know that I can be accepted to both. However, West Texas (WT) is significantly more expensive than Alaska (UAA), for many reasons. The tuition for WT is a bit more, and going to WT would cost me a load of extra money in that I have no relatives immediately close to there, while I have direct family and a place to live if I go to UAA. My problem is, I have two sides of the family telling me different things (my parents are divorced). My mother (who lives in Alaska) says that while what college you went to might matter just a bit in certain places, a degree is a degree. My step-mother (who lives with my father in Texas, though not close enough to WT to let me live with them) says that prestige is a huge issue, and people are more willing to hire someone who went to a big name college than some "podunk" college that no one's heard of. This is especially concerning with the realization that many people think of Alaska and think of igloos, villages, and Balto, and might take a college in Alaska even less seriously than a small college elsewhere (though UAA is about average-sized). Can anyone give any thoughts on this? While I respect the opinions of both, they're directly conflicting, and neither went to college! (and my father and step-father both took the military route). So I have basically 2 sides telling me opposing things (father and step-mother saying prestige matters, mother and step-father saying that it doesn't). Obviously, both sides have a somewhat vested interest in where I go, and I'm not sure that either side is detached enough to give me a realistic opinion, nor knowledgeable enough in music affairs to be correct even if they were concentrating on being completely truthful.
So knowing that, and knowing that there are many people who visit this board who either are or have been music educators (or are in college to be so), as well as professionals in other music areas, I thought maybe you guys could point me in the right direction? Basically, I just want an answer as to how much prestige of college is going to matter, though any other info you feel that might help me, I would certainly accept with a glad heart also.
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