Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2009-02-12 13:56
Ok.... maybe at least a few of you have been in a similar situation, so I am trolling for opinions and advice. First a little background:
My daughter is graduating from high school this year, and wants to major in clarinet performance (she will make it a double, along with a second field to make her somewhat more employable). She has applied to three excellent schools at universities within the state, and has auditions over the next month or so. I don't really want to name the schools, so I'll just call them A, B and C. All are well-regarded in their clarinet programs, and her instructor, a well-respected symphony clarinetist, approves of all three.
College A: A very well respected academic institution, with a great music program. They have not yet admitted her to the university, as they lost the first two sets of her high school records, which seems to be comon at this place. They have been quite accommodating at the music school, as far as setting up an audition. She was supposed to go two weeks ago, but had two disasters come up that required her to reschedule: a severe sore throat accompanied by her dropping her good clarinet and bending several keys to make it unplayable for the scheduled audition. She will be doing the audition this Friday. She has had a lesson with one of the possible professors. They will have three openings in his studio, plus several in another studio, but have not finalized who the second professor will be.
College B: Another very good (and very large) state university, this one also has a well-respected program. They have recently lost a well-regarded clarinet professor, but the current professor is also well-respected. My daughter has tried to contact this professor several times for more information, and also to set up a lesson, but has never received a reply. She auditions there a week from Friday. My wife is an alium of this school's business college, which may make possible some scholarship money.
College C: A smaller state university, also with a well-regarded program. She has worked previously with the clarinet professor there, and they have an excellent relationship. She has been admitted to the university, invited into their Honors program, and has completed the first round of academic scholarship competitions there. THis gives her a $3K scholarship automatically. If she gets called back, they guarantee another $3K, plus 50 % of the kids called back end up with $40,000 of scholarships for their four years. I believe she would also stand an excellent chance of getting some music scholarship at this institution.
She has the grades and skills to succeed at any of the schools. She is a top-notch high-school musician and a member of NHS, has taken numerous honoors and AP classes in high shcool, and has a GPA above 3.9. SHe is the principal clarinetist and E-flat player in one of the two youth symphonies in the area.
My desire is for her to attend college C, and here is my reasoning. College A is excellent, but it's still a crapshoot who her instructor will be. She is leaning to this college, for its prestige, ans also because her boyfriend (who will also double in music composition and engineering) has been accepted to the university's engineering school. College B has shown no real interest in her, and so far is a distant third in both of our views. College C is high on her list, but boyfriend has not applied there. Still I feel this would be the best place for her: a smaller school where she is more than a number, and where a fair number of folks at the music school already know her. Colleges C and A are only two hours apart, so she could still see her boyfriend, just not every day in classes.
Another member of our concert band has injected himself into this, and is urging her to pick A or B, and to eschew C, because he feels there will e fewer opportunities for her at C. He is an excellent musician (alto sax) and has been through the same thing. His daughter is a gifted flute player, now finishing her master's degree.
So, for those of you who are still awake and reading this, what would you suggest? I don't want to force her hand, but my wife and I will be writing the checks for any amount not covered by scholarships. That is a significant consideration, and we have explained to her that the less we spend on undergrad, the more we will have available for grad school programs.
Thanks!
Jeff
|
|
The Clarinet BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
